1. Mixing your work life and home life

Here’s the thing: when your couch becomes your office, your brain doesn’t know when to switch modes. You wake up, open your laptop in your pajamas, and boom — you’re in “half-work, half-chill” mode all day. It’s exhausting. You might even find yourself checking emails at midnight because, technically, you “didn’t work that much today.”

Solution? Create a real boundary. A desk, a corner, even a small table near a window — that’s your “office.” When you sit there, you work. When you leave it, you’re done. It’s not about space, it’s about mindset.

2. Ignoring routines (because freedom!)

Freedom is great. But too much of it? It’s chaos. Without structure, your day slowly melts into one long, unproductive blur. You start breakfast at 10, answer emails at noon, and somehow end up doing laundry at 3. It’s 7 p.m., and your to-do list hasn’t moved. Sound familiar?

What works: Keep a light routine — not military-style, but enough to give your day a rhythm. I like to block my time: “deep work” in the morning, quick tasks after lunch, admin stuff late afternoon. You don’t need perfection, just consistency.

3. Sitting still all day (and wondering why you’re tired)

It’s funny — you’d think sitting all day would keep you full of energy. Nope. After six hours at the desk, your body turns into mush. Your back hurts, your brain slows down, and suddenly, you’re reaching for the third coffee even though you know it won’t help.

Try this: Get up every hour. Stretch. Walk to the kitchen, look out the window, do ten squats (yes, really). A two-minute break can restart your focus better than caffeine. I started doing this after realizing my Apple Watch wasn’t judging me — it was right.

4. Thinking multitasking is a superpower

Answering emails while attending a Zoom call and checking Slack? You’re not multitasking — you’re splitting your brain into confetti. Research (real one, from Stanford) shows multitasking kills efficiency and lowers IQ temporarily. That explains a lot, doesn’t it?

Instead: Focus on one thing. Close the tabs. Put your phone on “Do Not Disturb.” Finish the task, then reward yourself with a break or a scroll through memes. It feels weird at first, but your brain will thank you later.

5. Working non-stop because you “don’t commute anymore”

This one is sneaky. You think: “I save an hour a day by not commuting, I’ll just work more.” Sounds productive… until you realize you’ve turned your job into a 12-hour marathon. Burnout is real, even (especially) from home. You don’t need to prove your worth by overworking.

What helps: Have a clear “shutdown ritual.” Close your laptop. Turn off notifications. Do something that signals “day’s over” — take a walk, cook, call a friend. That mental switch is what keeps you sane.

6. Underestimating the power of human contact

I get it — you love working alone. No office noise, no small talk. But after a few weeks, you start missing… something. That random chat by the coffee machine? Turns out, it’s good for your brain. Loneliness hits harder when you don’t even notice it creeping in.

My advice: Schedule real human moments. Video calls, coworking days, lunch with a friend. Even a quick “how are you?” on Slack helps. You’re not being “unproductive” — you’re recharging your social battery.

7. Not setting realistic goals

Ever made a to-do list with fifteen things, then felt terrible at 6 p.m. because you only finished three? Yeah. That’s not laziness, that’s bad planning. When you work remotely, you lose the visual cues of an office — people leaving, meetings ending. So, you overcommit.

Fix it: Write down three must-do tasks for the day. Just three. Nail those first. Everything else is a bonus. You’ll feel way more accomplished (and way less guilty).

In the end…

Remote work isn’t the enemy of productivity — your habits are. Once you stop treating home like a “softer” version of the office and start building real boundaries, you’ll get the best of both worlds: freedom and focus. And honestly, when you find that balance… it feels amazing.

So tell me, which of these mistakes do you catch yourself making the most? Be honest — your cat’s not judging you.