Many of us are working from home right now and if you aren’t used to it, it can be a bit of a shock. Why not do the laundry in between calls? Or trying to play with your kid while also trying to get emails finished – how hard could it be? Let me be the first to tell you, it’s tough. Balancing your home duties with your work duties while trying to keep everyone happy can be a struggle. And now that it looks like this will be our “new normal” for a bit, I wanted to share some of my top tips from working from you to hopefully make this challenging time a bit easier for you.
- Keep Regular Work Hours – Most of us are used to working 9-5. But now we have access to our work at all hour. Wake up at 6? Why not dive into the emails? While that is one way to potentially “get more work done”, it will throw your work-life balance out of whack. If you wake up at 6am but aren’t used to “clocking in” at work until 9 am, use that morning time for yourself. Do an at-home workout. Have a healthy breakfast. Journal. Mediate. Take time for yourself before you dive into your regular work.
- Establish Your “Office Space” – I can’t stress this enough: don’t work from your bed. I know it is tempting, but it will lower your productivity and it will blur the boundaries of the bedroom as a space for rest. If you don’t have an actual office, pick a designated area of your house to become that space (dining room, kitchen table or I’ve even used a closet before to set up my workspace). Treat it as you work space for the time being. When you are in that space, you are working. This will help to keep your mind focused and give you some sense of structure so when you finish working at the end of the day, you can feel like you a distancing yourself from your work.
- At the End of the Day “Clock Out” – Technology is great because it keeps us all connected, especially during these times, but it can also make us feel like we need to be working or accessible all of the time. If you usually would leave work at 5 or 6, wrap up your work around that time and give yourself the mental “clock out” and shift your mindset away from work. This will give you time to slow your brain down before going to be and allow you to connect with your family.
- Take a Real Lunch Break – Whether you give yourself 30 minutes or an hour, set a designated time in the middle of your day to take a lunch break. Use this time to nourish your body, start that load of laundry or take a stroll around the neighborhood. Taking a real break from work in the middle of your day gives you some boundaries and give yourself a goal to work towards at the beginning of the day when you “clock in.”
So there you have it! My tips for working from home! Do you have any tips of your own or did you find these helpful? I would love to hear from you!
xo, Sabrina
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