My Top 3 Work-From-Home Time Wasters (and Fixes)
Clever W.A.H.M. Life | Clever Chronicles - Week 3
Let me tell the truth right out of the gate: I’ve wasted a lot of time working from home.
Not on purpose. Not because I didn’t have things to do. But because working from home blurs every line. The line between rest and work. Between chores and deadlines. Between "I’m available" and "I’m drowning."
Early on, I felt like I was working all day but never actually finishing anything. I was exhausted by 2 p.m., yet somehow had nothing tangible to show for it. That’s when I started paying attention not just to what I was doing—but to what was draining me. What was stealing my time, energy, and attention.
Here are my top 3 time wasters as a work-from-home mom—and the fixes that actually helped me reclaim my day.
1. Defaulting to “Just One More Thing”
You know the feeling: You get up to refill your coffee and think, "Let me just switch the laundry real quick." Fifteen minutes later, you’ve started folding towels, wiping counters, and checking the mail—and you’ve lost your flow.
It seems harmless in the moment. But those tiny pivots add up. Every task switch pulls your focus, resets your momentum, and eats your mental bandwidth.
“I wasn’t working all the time, but my brain felt like it never stopped. Because I never gave it a chance to fully focus.” (Chapter 4)
The Fix: I started using a parking lot list. I keep a notepad by my desk. Every time I get the urge to “just quickly do something,” I write it down. That way, it’s out of my head—but I don’t derail my work block. I come back to those things on purpose, not on impulse.
2. Unstructured Social Media “Breaks”
I’d tell myself I was taking a quick break and open Instagram "just for five minutes." You already know where this goes. Twenty-five minutes later I’d still be scrolling, comparing myself to strangers, and now behind on everything and emotionally drained.
Social media wasn’t the break I thought it was. It was noise.
“Rest doesn’t always look like stillness. Sometimes it looks like permission. Permission to pause without filling the gap with something that drains you.” (Chapter 6)
The Fix: I started setting real breaks with a start and end time—and giving myself something non-digital to do during that time: stretch, sip tea, walk outside, or sit in silence (yes, silence). I also moved social media apps off my home screen and stopped using them as a reward.
Now, when I scroll, it’s a choice—not a default.
3. Over-scheduling My “Productive” Hours
I used to load up my mornings with back-to-back tasks because that’s when I was “fresh.” But what I didn’t realize was that I was setting myself up to crash by noon.
“A full schedule is not the same as a full life.” (Chapter 2)
The Fix: I learned to batch work in waves—not marathons. I now have a rhythm: high-focus work early, light admin tasks mid-morning, and creative/reflection time in the afternoon. I leave buffer space between blocks so I’m not racing through the day.
More importantly, I stopped measuring success by how busy I looked.
These aren’t flashy fixes. But they work because they’re honest.
And that’s the heart of The Clever Work-From-Home Life. It’s not about finding magical hours or superhuman discipline. It’s about paying attention to your energy, your habits, and your reality—and building around that.
So if you’ve been wondering why you feel like you’re always working but never catching up, maybe you’re not doing it wrong. Maybe you’re just leaking energy into the wrong places.
This week’s Clever Chronicle is live—don’t miss it.
Grab your copy of The Clever Work-From-Home Life or follow along with the full 52-week series at CleverWAHMLife.com
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