AF240 - Success Strategies While Working from Home

On today’s episode, we’re going to dive into work-from-home success strategies, Amazon FBA style. This is not your typical WFH advice; this is the entrepreneur’s guide on how to be more successful when working from home. Because let’s be honest, there are a lot of distractions at home, a lot of things that get in the way of productivity, and with no boss to keep us in line, it can be really hard to stay on track. But I’m here with a whole bunch of strategies that can help you reduce stress and work effectively and efficiently as a home-based entrepreneur. My first strategy is to set a routine and an intention for your workdays—have set working hours and act like you’re going to the office by getting dressed (down to your shoes) every single day. This will help you differentiate between “work mode” and “home mode” and get you in the right mindset to be productive. Then, follow my second tip and structure your day, so you know exactly what you’re doing, including building in breaks to make sure you’re recharged and re-energized throughout the day.

My third strategy is to create a dedicated workspace that makes you feel inspired, motivated, and productive. That means that if, like me, your office tends to be a dumping zone for things that don’t have a home, you need to get rid of the clutter and put boundaries around your space to make sure you’re not distracted. Strategy number four, meanwhile, actually involves getting out of the house and finding somewhere different to work, even just for a few hours a week. A change in environment, whether that’s your public library or your local Starbucks, can be just what you need to find new inspiration and motivation and creative ideas that you might not have just looking at the same four walls over and over. Then my next tip is to limit your communications while working, the most obvious method of which is to make it harder for yourself to use social media. But this can also extend to limiting your availability to your friends and family, making it clear that you’re not available when you’re at work unless it’s a genuine emergency. And speaking of boundaries, strategy number six is to find your productive zone—the time (or times) of day when you’re most productive and your performance is highest—and then protect that time like a mother bear with her cubs. And if you need help to structure your life around those rockstar hours, ask for it, and make sure you can use that time properly. And my final strategy is maybe the most important one: find your community. Working from home can be incredibly isolating and lonely, so it’s vital to find people who really understand what you’re going through and can offer support and understanding through the highs and the lows of Amazon entrepreneurship.

A great place to find a sense of community and belonging is the Amazon Files and Mommy Income community. You can join our Facebook group with today’s codeword ISOLATION to learn more about bundling, ask questions, and participate in the conversation with other sellers. And if you’re ready to take your business to a whole new level, visit MommyIncome.com/Coach to schedule your one-on-one coaching call today.

This week on the Amazon Files:

• Isolation as an Amazon entrepreneur
  
• Strategy #1: Set a routine and set an intention
  
• Strategy #2: Structure your day, including breaks
  
• Strategy #3: Create a dedicated workspace
  
• Strategy #4: Change your environment
  
• Strategy #5: Limit your communications
  
• Strategy #6: Find your productive zone
  
• Strategy #7: Find your community
  
  

“When you feel truly understood, there’s so much inspiration and motivation that comes from that, knowing that, hey, if these people can do it, if this person can do it, if these people can get over these obstacles and solve these problems and get through it, so can I.”

- Kristin Ostrander

WATCH:

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LISTEN:

Quotes:

“If you’re always running around like your hair’s on fire, like a chicken with the head cut off kind of thing, then there’s some things that today’s episode would really help you do even if you just narrow in on one of them.”

“When we have people that understand us, when we have people that can relate and can kind of laugh through some of the struggles together and also help each other with that, that is such a different sense of motivation and inspiration to keep moving when you know you’re not alone in this journey.”

“Y’all know I’m going to tell you the truth. I’m going to be honest, I’m going to be upfront, I’m going to be vulnerable, I’m going to be transparent. I never have nor ever will tell you that this entrepreneurship journey is the easy road. Because it’s really not. It’s not the easy road. There is no easy road.”

“Structuring your day as if you’re going to a nine-to-five kind of job will really help you to set intentions and know exactly what you’re doing. Being intentional about planning your tasks and other things throughout your day to structure your day really will help you flow through the day rather than being flexible and willy nilly.”

“If you set yourself up ahead of time to create that kind of environment that allows you to be very creative in certain moments, then you’re already pre-planning your success.”

“Making a plan based on those schedules and then setting reminders and tasks is something that has really helped me to be, I would say, a hundred percent more productive, probably, in the last two years because I have had to be more disciplined about my time, about my distractions, about my getting things done,”

“I want you to visualize right now, instantly, with no judgments, what your current workspace looks like. What does it look like? Is it a work environment that you absolutely love going into, and it’s like, oh my gosh, this makes me feel inspired and motivated and productive, and I can’t wait to get into it? Or is it a hot mess?”

“Having a calm, comfortable, ready-to-work space is really important. Because what we don’t realize is that this visual clutter around us, if you have visual clutter anywhere, also hinders our productivity,”

“This needs to be part of our happy place, not the stressful place that we’re trying to avoid. Because if that’s how you feel when you walk into your office or your dedicated workspace, wherever you have it, then that’s a problem. Because you’re going to come into your work with that mindset.”

“Working from home doesn’t mean you have to work from home, you can work remotely. And if you’re inspired or motivated, or just feeling like that, or even if you don’t know if you are, try it out, go to a different place.”

“Don’t underestimate the power of changing your environment, even temporarily, to re-inspire you to continue moving in the direction that you’re moving.”

“Nothing on Facebook, nothing on Instagram, nothing on Snapchat or TikTok or YouTube, or any other thing is urgent. It’s not urgent. If it’s there now, it will be there in three hours or five hours or at the end of your workday.”

“When you have your rockstar hours, you need to protect that time like it is, you know, you’re the mama bear protecting its cubs.”

“You’re the team. You’re the boss, you’re the janitor, and the CEO. So you have to self-regulate.”

“Community is everything. We need answers, we need support, we need help, we need a place to vent, we need a place where we know we can come and, like, this person understands the struggle that I’m going through, or this person understands the challenges that I’m facing in my business every single day.”

“Nobody else on the planet understands that first sale on Amazon happy dance that you do when you’ve created a bundle, and you’ve put all the work in to put it out on Amazon, and then someone buys it. Like, your friends, they don’t understand that. They don’t understand that kind of joy. They don’t understand how hard you’ve worked in order to get that there.”

Related Content:

• 2022 Workshops - Coupon code: workshop50
  
• Wholesale Bundle System
  
• Email questions
  
• Learn With Us
  
• Coaching
  
• The Amazon Files Hub 

Grow Your Amazon Business!

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Amazon Files, the show to help Amazon sellers along their business journey one step at a time with Amazon expert and your host, Kristin Ostrander. If you enjoyed this episode, head over to Apple Podcasts, subscribe to the show, and leave us your honest review. Don’t forget to share your favorite episodes with your friends on social media! Use the codeword ISOLATION to join us on Facebook. Each week, Kristin hosts a live discussion on how to grow your Amazon business. Don’t forget to check out our website and subscribe to our mailing list for even more resources.