With all of the Covid craziness here are some tips to stay sane, positive, and productive if you haven’t been used to working from (and spending so much time at home)
I’ve been working from home (on and off) for the last 15 years, and for the last two years I’ve been lucky to have an online business which means I’ve had to find the most effective ways of managing my time whilst mostly working from home or wherever I happen to be, so I thought I’d share some of my top tips for making the most of working from home.
1. Know Your Preferences
Let me start with one of the most important pieces of advice I can give which is to make sure you know and manage what your preferences are, so that you can catch yourself when you start to get stressed or anxious from them not being met.
For example, one of my preferences is derived from what Meyer Briggs’ calls being an “introvert” - which basically just means that I get my energy from being on my own or being able to have time to reflect and think in my own time.
So, for me working from home suits my preference.
For extroverts - if you are one - you know it’s quite the opposite.
Typically extroverts derive a lot of their energy from having a lot more contact and interaction with other people, talking through their thoughts out loud, which could be especially difficult during these periods of forced isolation and working from home.
And knowing and monitoring your preferences is like putting on your own oxygen mask first. Make sure you’re taking care of your needs - no matter how odd or selfish it may feel - so that you can ultimately have enough energy to go around for everyone and everything else you need to attend to.
2. Make Technology Your Friend
More than ever, now is the time to embrace technology and try things we may not have before.
Some of us already use platforms like Slack, Teams, Monday, Skype etc. for work and some of us use other platforms for more social outlets.
Now we all have the opportunity to mix and match them for personal and work purposes in more creative ways.
For example, if you’re feeling lonely and isolated, consider scheduling a Zoom lunch date with your friends - there’s a free 40 min limit which will give you all just enough time to “sit down” and have a meal, drink and catch up together.
Consider starting a vlog or blog with your kids and committing to posting something everyday to keep you all stimulated and engaged.
Create a Facebook group of friends and take turns doing a FB live when you feel the need to take a break, joke around, give some updates and extrovert your thoughts!
Technology has really allowed us to all stay connected during this and we can leverage it to our advantage.
Relish the time you’d usually be commuting and fighting traffic to tune into a podcast or sit and read a book or to do some journalling, or any other form of personal development.
3. Exercise First Thing
It’s going to be natural that we all may feel more stressed and anxious with the combination of uncertainty, drastic life changes, and isolation we’re all experiencing, so it’s more important than ever to get the endorphins going!
This is a no-brainer but can easily get forgotten or steamrolled by other tasks/activities and it’s imperative for your productivity that you get fresh oxygen flowing.
Exercise improves your blood and oxygen circulation which helps to reduce stress, fatigue and helps the quality of your sleep.
And with all the free workout options online nowadays, there really is no excuse to get in at least 15 min a day of a good sweat. I find that working out first thing in the morning is the best so there’s no excuse later on.
There are so many amazing YouTube channels for home workouts and there is nothing stopping you from rolling out a yoga mat or towel and taking 10, 15 or even 5 minutes to get your heart rate up and body moving.
Three my favorite channels for home workouts for all fitness levels are:
Even if it’s a dance party with the kids - or playing hide and seek so you can combine quality play time and exercise - do something to get that blood flowing and heart rate up so your happy chemicals have a chance to improve your mood!
**4. Use Your Time and Space (and Involve the Kids) Having a designated space to work from is a must. Even if you don’t have an extra room to call your office, make a plan to have a place where you can work comfortably from everyday.
Here are some tips:
- Choose a location in your home that has limited distractions and ample natural lighting
- Maintain good posture where you sit
- Take regular breaks (5 min of every hour) to look away from the screen and improve circulation
- Stay consistent with your eating, sleeping, and exercise routine as appropriate
- Structure your day, building in social time with colleagues and others
- If you have peripheral devices, connect an external keyboard, mouse, headphones, and/or monitor to increase your comfort
- Maintain boundaries to prevent overwork – unplug at the end of your work time
Make sure you set expectations with others in your home regarding your interactions and availability.
Use the spaces in your home as places to ‘go out to’ consciously. Meet family in the kitchen for lunch and then ‘go back to work’.
Enjoy the fact that you can actually have lunch with loved ones, when normally you’d most likely be a the office and only seeing each other in the evenings.
Having your kids with you at home, while you’re working can be frustrating but it can also be very special for them to see what you actually do, so get them to ‘assist you’ in fun ways like help you cross off tasks or how many calls you’ve made for the day, participate in a ‘count down’ or some research for meal options or the next activity until you can take a break.
Let them be responsible for making some of the decisions about what they like to do with you when it’s their turn.
This article has great tips for educating and stimulating kids who are different ages: [https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/tips-for-homeschooling-your-children-while-schools-are-closed-1.4855197?cache=]
5. Be Flexible and Solutions Focused
It’s important that you allow for flexibility in your days and especially during these times of added pressures and that you seek alignment on what is realistic with your boss if you are employed.
Stay calm when things don’t go according to plan or you have added distractions to deal with at home.
Everything will ultimately be ok. Know this. Breathe. And allow yourself the space and time to be calm and flexible so you can actually be solution focused.
6. Take Stock While the Planet is getting a well deserved and needed break to regenerate and replenish for the relentless pressures we place on it day after day, use the this unprecedented time to take stock…
Take stock of what you appreciate now that you don’t have it - maybe it’s an office to go to, family close by, food on the table, friends whose company you enjoy, etc.
Also take stock of what changes you want to make in the future…and couldappreciate more in the future.
We all don’t know what we will miss until it’s gone, so use this time to signal to you what you might not have been appreciating enough.
But also take stock of what’s not working.
Is the work and lifestyle you’ve chosen fulfilling you? Is now the time to consider what else is possible and how else you can choose to live your life or what work you do?
Take stock now, because we are all being given a collective opportunity to re-set, re-charge, re-consider, re-evaluate, and re-establish the ways in which we choose to live our lives and contribute to the Planet.
Wishing you all ease and calm and strength during this time.
Please share your tips and resources down below!