As someone who has worked in 9-5 office settings and now freelance full time for the last 1.5 years – there are five habits I do on the daily to keep my sanity. Whether you’re a 9-5er or a freelancing hustler, or just starting to pursue a side hustle of your own, odds are you spend countless hours at your desk, these five things save me from distraction, stress & fatigue. This way I can keep doing what I love everyday, all while preventing burn out.

you’re a human. you need water.

Amongst all the coffee & caffeine (which is life) it’s really important to stay hydrated. Dehydration can make you feel drained and fatigued and if you’re sitting at your computer for most of the day lost in fun projects, you will forget about being human & the need for water. So my first tip is to keep a full bottle of water on your desk (and away from your keyboard – just saying). I keep a carafe (this ikea one is pretty great) on my desk at all times. I put it in the fridge the night before. It’s a life saving refreshing boost of energy!

it’s the little things.

The average worker spends over 40 hours in the office each week. For us small business owners or freelancers, I know it’s a lot more than 40. So taking an afternoon or day to make your desk & office somewhere you like to be is the best investment you can make, as far as productivity goes.

There are a few ways I keep my office peaceful & zen.

candles. yay

If your office allows candles, it’s worth investing in a good scented one. I always have one burning no matter what time of day it is.

The action of lighting it makes me aware of the present moment. It’s a way to send myself a signal that now it’s time to work.

diffuser & essential oils

Another way to bring some zen is use a diffuser, and have some essential oils on your desk. Other calming  things to keep nearby are plants, essential oil rollers & tea lights.

plants

You can pretty much fit small plants anywhere, and that’s where you should start, a small succulent or spider plant already creates a more zen workspace vibe. Check out this quick guide to office plants, that actually improve air quality. Gimme

don’t stress out your brain.

You have a lot to do, and if you’re like me it’s written down everywhere – in various notebooks, planners, post it notes and tiny paper scraps. To avoid overwhelm I like to keep a very specific simplified to-do list right in front of me. You should be able to complete all tasks on this list within a 30 minute period and there should be be no more than three tasks on the list. The main thing is to be as specific as possible. For example example don’t just put blog post, write the specific action you need to take to help that task along.

vague overwhelming task:               blog post

super specific do-able task :            spend 30 minutes writing copy

one more example for the win:      write intro to blog (1 paragraph)

Try this on something you need to get started today, get specific and break it down to something you can accomplish in 30 minutes. Be realistic & easy on yourself when doing this, it’s something that takes practice. This practice helped me so much with preventing overwhelm & procrastination. Because nothing crushes starting a work day like a 3 page to-do list.

win the paper war.

You’ve got to keep your paper game strong, and not let dumb papers take over your desk. I know a lot of people who have very messy desks and don’t feel the need to clear them, because they still get stuff done, regardless of the chaos. If you are one of these people, just try it! It does so much for keeping your focus and being able to stay on one task, when you’re not distracted by papers & things you need to do later. There are so many easy ways and systems that can help you seamlessly sort your papers. I’ll get into this in another post, because creating paper organization systems is kinda something I love!

take breaks.

This is something I didn’t start doing until about 6 months after I started freelancing, I would just “push through” keep working & feel mostly fine, until burnout started creeping up on me.

Making a conscious effort to stop work for a moment, even if it’s just to make tea or stretch, is crucial to a healthy workspace. Go for a walk, run an errand, take a reading break, go for coffee with a friend, stretch for two minutes.

 If you want to be productive & keep doing what you love for the long term, getting into the habit of taking breaks – specifically breaks that involve you stepping away from your desk is such an important habit to build.

I use a desktop app for this, called Focus Booster

It;s essentially a technique where you work for 25 minute sessions followed by a 5 minute break. I’m doing a post on this next Wednesday so look out for that!

These are my main five, I focused on the daily techniques, because there are a lot more. Please share a technique you use on a daily basis to keep the balance in your work life.