Working from home can be tough. Aside from all the distractions keeping you from actually working, being in a comfortable setting isn’t always the most conducive environment for being productive. But since everyone is stuck at home, it’s time to make the best of it. So, if you’re ready to take control back over your day, take a look at this list of productivity hacks, the at-home edition. Give these researched-based productivity boosters a try and take back control over your day.
Start Your Day Early
Believe it or not, waking up at 5:00AM or 6:00AM isn’t the root of all evil, it can actually do a lot of good, according to SleepAdvisor.org. As the website states, our brains are actually most active in the mornings. It’s no surprise that some of the most successful people claim that they are super early risers. Get in the habit of waking up early by adjusting your biological clock — wake up and go to sleep at the same time every day. For help gently waking up instead of getting shocked by an alarm clock, consider looking into purchasing a wake up light alarm clock. These clocks use a gradual increase in light to naturally pull you from your sleep, as opposed to abruptly ripping you from a stage of deep sleep. Getting up early may stink at first, but the payoff is worth it — besides, going to bed late and waking up late may compromise how restorative your sleep is, anyway.
Try Intermittent Fasting
This new diet craze probably sounds like a strange addition to a list of productivity hacks, but it’s science, after all. After going 12+ hours without food, the body goes into a state called ketosis. Long story short, studies show that fasting revs up the body’s natural production of a calming neurotransmitter called GABA. GABA is essential in the overall reduction of brain fog and anxiety, while also improving memory and focus. GABA helps with stress management and boosts our mood. So if you’re looking for a productive morning, start intermittent fasting the night before, and get those GABA levels up.
Write When You Wake Up
The first two hours that you’re awake, with your GABA levels soaring, your mind is not yet shackled by stressors of the day or inhibited by the overwhelming stimulation that is your cell phone. If you’re a writer, use this time to start writing, free-flow onto the page before you even check your phone. This will be a great thing to read through later to find some hidden gems to expand on in whatever it is you’re working on. If you’re not a writer, this is still a great time to destress and get your day started by journaling or goal planning. If you’re up early enough, say at 6:00AM, no one will be expecting to hear from you for a few more hours, so this is your time to let your creative juices flow.
Exercise
This tip seems to make every list — but it’s for a good reason. Exercise not only bumps up the body’s natural production of mood-boosting neurotransmitters like serotonin, according to every study ever, but it can actually make you smarter. {Sort of.} Studies show exercise improves semantic memory, which is one aspect of intelligence. To boost your mood, get mentally sharper, and make yourself more alert, go get some exercise while you’re cramped up at home. Gym closures are no excuse to not break a sweat!
See More: Local Fitness Businesses Offering Online Classes + Streaming Options
Front-Load Your Day
Break out your to-do list and pick a few of the most important and time-sensitive tasks. Those are your goals for the day. Take advantage of all those heightened feel-good neurotransmitters flowing around your brain from intermittent fasting and exercise, and take on those heavy hitter tasks first. You’re ready for it. Plus, science shows that you’re naturally most productive in the earlier hours. Ticking off tough tasks from a to-do list early on in the day is a great confidence boost and it frees up afternoons for more enjoyable activities.
Limit Your Social Media Time
This is self-explanatory, but a critical addition to this list. During this time of isolation, it’s not exactly realistic to quit social media cold turkey. Staying in touch with friends and loved ones is essential to surviving this crazy time, and social media can be an invaluable tool for keeping businesses afloat with all these mandatory shutdowns. Nonetheless, it’s clear that social media is the number one tool used by the world’s greatest procrastinators, and it can kill creativity. Studies show that the less time we spend stimulating our brain with social media, the sharper and more productive we are.
Set some social media boundaries to increase the time you spend being productive every day. Check your phone’s screen time app, see how much time you’re spending camped on your phone, and set a *realistic* goal to decrease that time. Maybe start by cutting an hour your first week, then two hours the next week.
Set a Schedule
Consistency is key, people. Take a minute out of your day to draw yourself out a schedule. Budget your daily hours, set a plan, and most importantly, stick to it. Next step — create a weekly schedule. Come up with some weekly {quarantined} hopes and dreams. Then take it a step further: Create a monthly schedule. Now, don’t get ahead of yourself here and try to plan exactly what you’ll be doing at 3:16PM, April 23rd, but do set some goals you plan to accomplish throughout the month. Following a schedule is imperative to productivity and consistency is the most defining factor of success.
Read More: If You’re Working From Home, Here Are Some Great Tools to Use
Get out of Bed
No matter how tempting it may seem, don’t try to do your work from bed. Not only will this make you work less efficiently, but it could also negatively impact your sleep, which will make you more tired and less productive — it’s a vicious cycle. You don’t want to associate your bedroom with the pressures and alertness of work-time, and you don’t want to associate your work with the relaxation of lounging in bed. Your work is important, so treat it with the respect it deserves and find a more structured place to do it, even if that means your kitchen table needs to double as your office.
Hopefully, these productivity hacks can help all of our readers stay focused in a time where it seems so easy to slack off and feel a little hopeless. If you’ve been catching yourself snoozing until noon, racking up about 600 steps per day, or staring at your phone until your eyes burn, remember — this isn’t the end of the world, it just feels like it right now. Maintaining a normal, healthy schedule is essential to the foundation of your mental health right now.
Have any tips? We’re trying to stay as up to date as possible.
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New Bookstore + Cafe, Àbákẹ́, Opening in Jersey City Heights
Coffee shops are not hard to come by in a place as big as Jersey City. Whether it's in Paulus Hook, Journal Square, The Heights, or any other diverse JC neighborhood, locals are bound to come across at least one spot that will satisfy their caffeine cravings. Something that is a rarity, though, is a coffee shop that also serves as a bookstore and an event space for creatives, drawing in all kinds of people with literary and artistic interests. Enter the newest spot to announce its future arrival to the crown jewel of the Garden State: Àbákẹ́ Books + Cafe. This shop, located at 2 Webster Avenue in Jersey City Heights, plans to open in June 2025 and will be a bookstore, coffee shop, and event venue, all in one. Read on for what we know about Àbákẹ́ Books + Cafe coming to Jersey City Heights this summer.
The Details
Àbákẹ́ Books + Cafe, located at 2 Webster Avenue, will be the newest addition to The Heights' coffee and creative scene come June 2025. This space, which is a "one-of-a-kind fusion of literary passion and distinctive coffee flavors," as per its website, is owned by Jacquees Thomas (aka Peace), a Jersey City resident, writer, and creator of "BLK LIT," a podcast surrounding black literature.
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Upon opening, this shop will feature brews sourced from African regions like Tanzania and Rwanda and provide space for special events and projects, such as podcast recordings and film shoots. Àbákẹ́ will also provide workshops for writers, author events that highlight works from across the African diaspora, and be a spot for local small businesses and creators to host their own classes.
"One thing I love about Jersey City is that there's a lot of entrepreneurship," Peace told The Hoboken Girl. "Because of that, there's an opportunity for learning and for us to share what we've learned and what we're creating with one another."
Peace decided to bring Àbákẹ́ to The Heights community because she felt that the neighborhood needed a "place where people can convene and celebrate literature and art," she told HG. Coffee brewing is art in itself and, according to Peace, it tells a story. "Coffee was born in Ethiopia but has traveled across the world and I want to take people on that journey."
Another reason why she decided to open her business is because she wants to share her love of reading with others. "I truly love being read to and reading to others," Peace said. "There's something special about this form of intimate storytelling, and I believe many people miss it and would enjoy it just as much."
While customers wait for the official opening date, customers can shop a handful of its products on Àbákẹ́'s website. Among the highlights are the Àbákẹ́ Onward Blend, a blend of coffee beans sourced from Tanzania and Rwanda; The Blind Date Mystery Book Gift Set, which comes with a curated book and custom seasonal flower bouquet; and The Coffee Nomad, a travel set that features a coffee cup, bean grinder, stainless steel 600-milliliter kettle, glass sharing pot, coffee filter, travel case, and bag of the Àbákẹ́ Onward Blend.
About Àbákẹ́
For Peace, the shop as well as its name carries profound personal meaning. While doing research into her genealogy, she discovered that "Àbákẹ́" is a name that can be traced to the oldest known family member in her ancestry. It also translates to "To be loved" in Yoruba.
The history behind this new spot is a "powerful alignment of heritage and purpose," which "inspired the creation of a community-driven haven, one that honors both her roots and the shared connections between people," according to its website.
See More: Mud Clay Studio Opening 2nd Montclair Location in Former Moss + More Storefront
Hours
Àbákẹ́ will be open Tuesday to Friday from 8AM to 7PM and Saturday and Sunday from 9AM to 3PM. While the coffee shop will be closed on Mondays and the majority of Sundays, it will accept pickup orders over $25.
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