How to stay productive when you’re working from home in SEO
Good quality sleep, and use the 3, 2, 1 rule
It sounds obvious, doesn’t it? But I can’t work effectively if I don’t get the right sleep. Seriously, if I get to sleep too late, or I’ve had a really disruptive night’s shuteye, the cogs slow down a little. I’m not as ‘on it’ as I like to be. When you’re dealing with client calls, things going wrong in SEO (because they do!), and you’re often knee deep in research, you need your brain to be in action. And I can’t do that on poor sleep.
So make sure you’re winding down at a reasonable time. Everyone knows that. But my personal trick I learnt from Mel Robbins is this. When your alarm goes off, use the 3, 2, 1 rule. So turn your alarm off, and before you have chance to think, count in your head backwards from 3. And then when you get to 1, get out of your bed straight away. 1, 2, 3 won’t work.
The reverse order distracts your brain from thinking about how tired you are, or about how much you don’t want to get up today. It tricks it into doing. It’s worked a gem for me and keeps me on time!
Get some fresh air
Another obvious one perhaps. But again, it really does help me stay productive when I’m working from home. Every single day, I make sure I get outside for 10 minutes in the morning for a short walk with our dog before 8am. Sometimes it’s longer. Sometimes I still feel half asleep. But every single time I know I’m reaping a benefit in more than one way.
I can feel my body waking up from the gentle movement, and the fresh air. I’m in the UK, so I’m not always lucky enough to feel the warm sunshine on my skin, but sometimes I am. Rain, snow or shine though, every day. Of course it’s easier to do this when you have a pet. But now I feel the benefits of naturally waking my brain up in this way, I would do it regardless.
I’d also agree that getting a longer walk or run in without a pet works wonders. Just get your body moving. It helps your brain so much more than slumping at your computer eyes half shut at 08.59.
To do tables - not lists
I’m an SEO and so my list is never-ending with all sorts of tasks. But that’s exactly what I’ve put “lists” in the bin. I create a to do table every morning, completely inspired by Grace Beverley.
This is what my own to do table might look like. But let me explain:
Quick ticks = Action I can do in less than 5 minutes
Tasks = 20 to 30 minute tasks.
3 Non Negotiables = These are 110% urgent for today.
Schedule = I will ‘time block’ around my calls and then blast through my quick ticks and tasks in that ‘chunk’
Take screen breaks
I’m not super human. None of us are. So every so often I’ll find a reason to have a break from a screen. When you’re working from home, there are so many things you can reasonably do in that 5 minute screenbreak. Ideally something that makes you stand up and move around. Here’s a few prompts:
Walk to the end of your road
Meander around your garden if you have one
Do the dishes
Make a nice drink
Grab a healthy snack
Stretching is my personal favourite though.
Use ‘DND’ only when it’s urgent
I remember a time when I worked at an agency, and I was still a little inexperienced. I thought I have an overwhelming amount of work to do. I need to set my workstation as ‘do not disturb’. So that’s what I’d do all the time. That wasn’t healthy. Every single task became ‘urgent’. So no task became urgent. But I would still feel the ‘urgency’. And I was getting far less interaction with other SEO staff because of the big red light at my name.
Today, I’ve been in SEO 6 years now, and I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve marked myself as “DND”. Perhaps that’s due to the to do table and the rest of the tips I implement from this article into daily life.
But I only set myself on “DND” if I’m working on something that I absolutely must finish in the next hour or so as urgent and need to keep my focus. When everything else must wait and there are consequences if I don’t get it done, then I toy with the “DND” button.
Otherwise, I stick to the to do table, and I’m pretty much always available should a colleague, my line manager, a client or another member from a different department need me.
Optimise your emails
This is a game changer. We all talk about the dream of the zero inbox. We’re all drowning in emails. You clear your emails. You come back the next morning and bam, 192 more. Sigh. Sound familiar? It doesn’t have to be this way.
I use Gmail and I set up labels and filters via the settings for all of my emails. For example, if we onboard a new client, they have their own label. I’ll then get a list of each person I’d expect to receive contact from, and add their email to that label. All of my clients are set up like that. I filter out spam. I filter out internal emails to be set up in a similar fashion.
That way, every single day, I’m not faced with 192 new emails. Instead, I can look at the left pane of my Gmail and see how many clients have contacted me and therefore need actioning. I go one step further. I set up a rule so that any emails I don’t need to action, such as log in confirmations or automated reporting exports, will “pass” the inbox. So you don’t get a “ping” 294 times a day. Of course I only do this when I’m certain it’s not for me.
Setting up like this means I don’t face email clutter, ever… I log in and it’s easy to see what needs actioning. And during the day, I know I won’t be disturbed by emails that don’t matter. So I can give the ones that do the right headspace and attention.
Use AI
I talked to David Bain all about using AI for the book “SEO in 2024”, on behalf of Majestic. You can check out the full interview via that link. The brief was to give your tip for how we can get the best out of ourselves in the SEO world in 2024. My tip is this: Make the most of your time by thinking more and rushing less.
You can, and should, use AI in the right way to stay, and be more, productive. Don’t just churn out the answers that Chat GPT spits out, add an internal link and call it ‘great’ content. That’s not good use of the technology. But that’s a whole other article!
Here’s my advice on how I use AI for better productivity. For example, if I onboard a new SEO client and I need some inspiration for content ideas. Or if it’s and industry I’m very new to, I’ll use AI for a light nudge. My favourite prompt is “explain X as if I was a two year old”. I’ve said this before and I stand by it. Obviously, you’ll need to use common sense to sense check it because I have seen it chuck out some interesting answers!
Set timers
Have you got tasks that might take hours? You’re already feeling overwhelmed and tired at the thought of the prospect. Break it down. A big task or even a whole project is a chunk of tasks. Set yourself a timer for 20 or 30 minutes, knuckle down and see what you can get done. I bet you’ll get more done or at least make more progress than you think, just because you’ve set the timer.
I really do think great work can come from working from home. Since COVID, the rise has been obvious, but I think there’s sometimes a bad rep about it. Not everyone who works from home is lazy, you know? And if you do work from home, hopefully you feel a little lighter about how to get productive, not just busy.
