“Ever since lunch today, I’ve been thinking about lunch tomorrow.”
The New Yorker’s Leo Cullum
When a day has structure, humans are more productive. Consider the longstanding institutions: the eight hour workday, the lunch break, and even the 15 minute coffee breaks every worker at Target is entitled to after 3 hours of work. And guess what, they get them, whether or not they’ve worked “hard” in between times.
Work, break, enjoy some tea or coffee, maybe a sweet treat from the vending machine. This seemingly simple reward is underrated by people who punch the clock. Yes, they look forward to it, need it, and wish it was longer at each event, but they only get 15 minutes. That’s the rules.
When you work from home, it is a luxury that you can have coffee when you want, and take breaks as you please. Or is it?
We homeworkers are required to impose our own structure on the day. There’s no time clock or rules. There’s just our own willpower, discipline and the meanie in our heads to get us to do anything at all.
So how should we structure our days so we don’t waste our lives?
The answer is lunch. Simple right? Lunch and a walk, perhaps. The answer is enjoyment. Bake into your day the structure and the expectation of something fun and stimulating. If you can’t get yourself to do the work, think of a fun way to do it. At a diner, in a park, in a box, with a fox, wearing sox? Bring the fun back.
When you can’t get yourself to “knuckle down” “do the work” “be productive,” all the shouting and disparaging your brain can dish up won’t do the trick. You cannot yell yourself into submission for creative work, when you’re all by yourself, alone.
You have to want to do the work. Often, we want to do the work but not actually do the work. It was Truman Capote who defined what writers want… not so much to write, but to have written.
But how to structure your day for productivity? That’s completely – agonizingly – up to you.
- Make your coffee breaks and lunch hours sensual. Yes, bring your senses into the equation. Eat beautifully. Change your scenery.
- Go outdoors. Relax away from the work and return refreshed.
- Find tricks and games and rewards that make your day more fun and your work a pleasure.
I had a procrastinating week last week, and it leaves me down, hard on myself, and overwhelmed by how much there is still to do. That doesn’t seem like the right time to have a nice lunch out – but it is.
The structure of work and reward, is as human as the maternal instinct. Reward yourself into working with discipline.
