I know during this very strange and scary time, a lot of us are working from home for the foreseeable future. I have seen so much advice about how to work from home, none of which seems realistic. As a stone cold introvert, I am in my element when working from home and I’ve worked from home on and off over the last few years. Here’s what I’ve learned along the way and how you can successfully work from home.
1. Have a morning routine
This is a time of high anxiety and essentially trauma. There is no such a thing as a normal routine. But you can get into a groove. Get up, shower, get dressed. You aren’t getting dressed for others, you’re getting dressed for you. So it doesn’t have to be full glam but it can be some semblance of normal and getting out of your pajamas, even if that means putting on a fresh set of day time pjs. For me, I’ve been living in dresses and sweatshirts. Dresses are easy and don’t require me to put on pants, which were already the bane of my existence when working in an office.
2. Use your commute time wisely
If you would have drive to work 20 minutes, use that time to do something that gets you moving. I when I go into the office, I pop out of bed 15 minutes before I leave for work. I have been doing that still but using that time now to have coffee, tidy up, squeeze in a yoga video or walk the dogs. Mostly it’s so I don’t take my first call with a groggy voice.
3. Set the intention for the day
Whether you are someone who’s role is task oriented or someone who has a set goal they are working towards, you can create some level of normalcy by deciding on what must get done in day. to get done and breaking it into chunks. I decide this by working backwards. What must get done in the quarter, in the week and then down to the day. For example, quarter, I must finish renovating our bathroom. So this week, I need to finish tiling the shower to meet my deadline. There are other things that I want to do, but if nothing else gets done, I will feel accomplish if that’s all I do.
4. Isolate yourself (away from the bed)
This has really been the key to successfully working from home. If you have a desk like the one in our guest that serves as a nightstand or a flat surface like a kitchen island, use it. Whatever keeps you from lying down is a plus. If you don’t have one, now is the perfect time to create a little productive corner in your home. It doesn’t have to be expensive and you can do a quick DIY like this desk in our home to make it feel like you.
5. Integrate white noise if you need it
I prefer to work in silence in the office. You can usually find me wearing headphones with nothing playing at all to ground myself. I practice the same at home. (As I write this, I am wearing headphone with no sound lol.) But if you need it, put on a Spotify playlist that you won’t sing along to or listen to sounds of a coffee shop.
6. Make your HDMI work for you
No one was preparing for COVID 19 which means you may not have a dual monitor when you need one. In that case, get an extra long HDMI cord online. It’s cheaper than a second monitor you didn’t plan on paying for and has the added bonus of using up your tv screen so you aren’t tempted to watch.
7. Budget time to do nothing
Whether you have kids that you are attempting to entertain and teach nonstop or its just you, allocate time to do nothing. I have needed this to make working from home work for me. I have been allocating 10 minutes even if its during my lunch break to check social media, email and mindlessly scroll. This keeps me from constantly reaching for my phone during the day. Which leads me to my next point.
8. Move your phone to the other room
If you are not using your phone for work or to keep in contact about an urgently moving situation, move it to another room and at the very least out of your line of sight. You see your phone, you want to use it. It’s human nature. Move it out of your line of sight.
9. Be mindful of what you eat
What this looks like depends on your personal situation. I find myself under eating at home. There’s no shuffle of feet and no coworker accountability partner to let me know it’s time for lunch, so I find myself working through lunch and not eating until well after 5. There’s also the alternative as well. I’ll snack all day and not realize I’ve eaten an entire box of Cheez Its. Everything in moderation friends. If you need, set an alarm to remind you to eat.
10. Log off and grant grace
And most importantly, LOG OFF! Even if you are self employed and your very livelyhood relies on your working and being connected to your computer, you MUST rest in order to be restored. Log off the computer at a set time if you work a 9 to 5. That’s 5:05 at the latest for me and I make every single effort to not feel bad about it. This is our new normal, but it’s not normal. Grant yourself and your coworkers a little grace. Read, a LOT of grace.
Hopefully this helps you (more) successfully work from home. Stay home and stay safe friends
PrepFord Wife