Can You Be Productive in Your Pajamas?
Gone are the days when a scruffy business suit was the symbol of a savvy and seasoned entrepreneur. Since technology-enhanced communication broke the distance barriers, you no longer need to be in a glass office to do your job or even run a C-level execs meeting. In fact, the last rugged-looking guy you spotted getting Pop-tarts in a supermarket and wearing his flip-flops at 12 PM might have been an entrepreneur who works from home.
Full disclosure: in case you haven’t guessed yet, I am one, too. Yes, feel free to envy me; I spend my days in comfy clothes (yes, pajamas, too, some time, usually when I’m either too busy or too lazy to change). I don’t wear high heels on a daily basis, but I do have daily meetings with start-up founders or CEOs of established businesses all over the world. However, before envying me too much, let’s take a look at what I learned about productivity in pajamas:
- Self-discipline is taught…painfully
You don’t have an office job anymore, so coffee at 9 AM, followed by a short chat with your co-workers and then work by lunch is no longer part of your reality. Instead, you might feel the need to indulge yourself in an extra hour of sleep and replace chatting with co-workers by one (OK, a few) TV shows or online games. That’s perfectly fine; you can do it, but not too often. After a while, you realize the day is half gone and you haven’t even started working; there’s no way you can pull that off forever, especially since you’re now the sole responsible not only for your income, but for other people’s, too.
So, the painful realization of SELF-discipline hits you like a truck: there is no boss to remind you of the deadline and no co-worker whose productivity and eagerness to work may eventually rub off on you. But don’t worry; it isn’t all that bleak, either – after spending a few nights working on what you procrastinated during the day, you start to make changes. You realize you can’t live (survive, even) like that and you pull yourself together. Easily and steadily, you will learn what your own rhythm is and hack into your own productivity.
- No colleagues = no distractions?
Don’t fall into that trap; even if there is no one near you to pat you on the back, show you a cat movie or pictures of their newborn learning to sit on the port-a-potty, distractions are still there. And yes, a chat window totally equals a pat on the back and sometimes even more. I bet a lot of you already know this scenario: you receive a link to a funny clip from a friend and you decide you’ve earned 2 minutes of laughter, so you click it. But then, oh my god, then you realize that video links to another EVEN FUNNIER video and so on until you’re so far down the rabbit whole you’ve already wasted one hour. Here’s a tip from someone who knows that rabbit whole all too well: if you know you’re prone to procrastination, there’s no need to try and avoid all potential sources of distraction. Instead, allocate 10 mins every hour and do something you like. It will be easier to go back to work if you know a new break is just around the corner.
- The e-mail trap
As a new entrepreneur, you are all about business and want to please every customer. In the early stages of any company, client retention is your golden ticket and you hold on to it for dear life. As a consequence, whenever an e-mail pops in your inbox you jump to reply it. Imagine the client’s delight when he sees you replied in less than 5 mins, right?
While that might be right, try to also imagine what this does to your productivity; constantly shifting between matter you deal with makes you much less efficient and much more prone to making mistakes, even in things that matter a lot to you, like client satisfaction. However, since I’ve been there, I completely understand the urge not only to read every new email as soon as it pops in, but also reply to it. I KNOW you couldn’t possibly wait for the end of the day to reply them all. Here’s what I do to keep my clients happy and my productivity level as high as possible: I start my day with e-mailing; I reply to what I’ve received during the night (that happens quite frequently when you work with clients from multiple time zones), then I work for at least two hours before I check my e-mail again. If I’m not waiting for anything urgent, I also shut it down to avoid any distractions. Replying to an e-mail two hours after you’ve received it is quite honorable, right?
In a nutshell, the answer is “yes”, you can be productive when working in your pajamas. The catch (there’s always a catch!) is that it will take you some time to get the hang of your new routine.
Photo credit: sittingrooms.com.au
