How to be productive when living alone is a question I ask myself often. It’s so easy to fall off of the right path when no one’s looking over your shoulder to make sure things are getting done. Here are 7 ideas that will keep you productive when living alone.
This year I moved out to live on my own for the very first time and honestly, it took a bit of a toll on my productivity. Being alone and not having any social pressure around me to get anything done felt freeing at first, but the tasks kept piling on.
Between doing the dishes, cleaning, cooking, working, and making more of a physical effort to see friends and family, there were things that got left on the back burner.
But becoming an adult and learning to live on your own comes with balance. And I knew I had to make some serious changes to my motivation and productivity. And honestly, once I got my systems in place, it really wasn’t so bad.
So if you are in a similar boat and struggling with how to be productive when living alone, here are the very best tips to get you in the right mindset. So you can find balance between getting everything done, and still having time to enjoy the freedom of living alone!
This Post Is All About How To Be Productive When Living Alone
CHECK OUT THIS POST: 7 AMAZING YOUTUBE VIDEOS TO HELP GROW YOUR MIDSET
Here's How To Stay Motivated When You Live Alone
Define Your Goals - Get Specific With It
I don’t know about you but nothing gets me more motivated than crafting a plan… Not going to lie, sometime’s crafting the plan is honestly more fun than actually working towards your goals after though.
But it’s important to remember that setting goals gives you a roadmap for the direction your life if heading. Think of setting goals like setting the destination on a road trip. If you don’t know where you’re going, you will drive around aimlessly and possibly not really get anywhere.
So spend some time sitting down and figuring out a good plan for where you want to go in life. What’s important to you? And most importantly find your why! Get detailed, write down your exact goal, why it’s important to you, and how will you know when you have achieved it.
Setting your goal and knowing why it’s important to you will be extremely motivating and will push you into the right direction. Setting goals is one of the most, if not the most important thing you can do for how to stay productive when living alone.
Create A Designated Workspace
If you are looking to be productive, trying to work from your couch just isn’t going to cut it. Especially if you also also work from home, creating a designated workspace is going to be crucial to your productivity.
Not only does a designated workspace create a barrier between work time and chill time, it also let’s your brain and body know when it’s time to get serious. Having designated spaces for work, sleep and leisure has been proven to help your mind balance all 3 and create clear demarcation around each activity.
Over time if you stick to working from a designated area, it will become easy to start to focus the minute you sit down at your desk.
A few ways I have made my office more enjoyable is by adding a standing desk and a treadmill. Every day first thing in the morning I hop on and walk while checking emails and drinking my coffee which makes it way easier to continue working from that space all day.
Focus On Health
Anytime I fall out of my productive and motivated phase and into my ‘I just want to sit on the couch with snacks and TikTok all day’ phase, the first thing that goes wrong are my food habits. I stop paying attention to what I eat and how much exercise I get, and the rest follows.
It truly is a slippery slope!
So if you want to find motivation and be productive when living alone, try focusing on your health first. Start slowly by incorporating walks, stretching, and making healthy food choices.
It doesn’t need to be a drastic change, or you may not stick with it long. But add healthier habits slowly, one at a time. Focusing on your health will also give you more energy which will ultimately help you become more productive too. Start with small steps and build up from there!
Stay Consistent With A Routine
Finding a healthy and balanced everyday routine is honestly the secret for how to be productive when living alone. A mistake a lot of people make it by trying to change everything all at once when they decide they want to be more productive. But changing everything all at once never leads to consistent changes.
Focus on building your routine slowly and just focus on doing little things daily that will yield results. For example, try setting a timer every night and doing a quick pick-up of your house. Put away anything that’s out of place, or set out your workout clothes for the morning. Either way, this will set you up for a better next morning.
Anyone can create a solid routine. Even if you don’t work a consistent schedule, you can set multiple variations of your routines for different days. Focus on making your routine achievable, and simple, and don’t be afraid to tweak it as you go to best fit your lifestyle.
Write To-Do Lists
To-do lists RUN my life. And I cannot recommend them enough for anyone who lacks a bit of motivation from time to time… because SAME!
The key to writing a good to-do list is to not overcrowd it. But also include both super achievable to-dos that you were going to do anyway, plus the things you may not be super excited to do as well. For example, I would mix things in that I always do such as cook dinner and take a shower, with things like doing a treadmill walk and deep cleaning the bathroom.
By checking off the easy tasks, it makes me want to finish checking off everything on the list. And I end up doing things I didn’t even really want to do just to get that little satisfying check mark!
My favorite purchase at the start of the year was a huge calendar that I hung up beside my work desk. Every morning I write my little to-do’s on it so I can see them every day and work towards completing everything. You can also use a planner, a notebook, or even an app on your phone. The best phone app I found is called MinimaList, it’s super cheap and super simple to use. Plus it makes it satisfying to cross things off once you have completed them.
If to-do lists overwhelm you, try numbering your tasks in order of importance. Or even just assign tasks in a random order. Do what works for you and your mind, but give the good ol’ to-do list a try. There’s a reason it’s such a popular productivity method.
Find An Accountability Partner
Living alone can honestly get pretty isolating and start to feel really lonely. If you feel like you are unable to be productive due to not having people around supporting you. Or you feel like you need to feel social pressure to get things done. Then finding an accountability partner may be what you need.
Friends, family, or even online groups can be a form of an accountability partner. It’s just about having the social pressure of another person knowing your goals, or to-do’s and supporting you in making sure you get them all completed.
Having an accountability partner isn’t for everyone. But if you need a little extra motivation then it might be the move for you. You can help each other stay motivaed and on track, and offer a fresh perspective to you when you need it!
Make Sure To Still Leave Room For Fun
Focusing on being productive when living alone is a good thing. In fact, living alone allows you to have zero distractions and can help you stay motivated, focused, and on top of everything. But that being said, you also need to remember to leave room to do fun activities you enjoy!
Staying constantly productive can lead to serious burnout and you will end up being stuck in a spiral of focusing for a few weeks and then taking a long break due to burnout. That’s why it’s so important to practice balance in your life.
Make sure you are spending your time also doing things you enjoy and being social. Living alone doesn’t mean you need to stay locked up in your house working all of the time.
Reach out to friends, visit family, or just get outside and take a long walk. Everything in life comes down to finding a healthy balance. Mastering it does take some time though, so make sure to have fun with it and never be too hard on yourself!
