7 Ways to Work From Home Effectively
Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, a new era of working has emerged - the working from home culture. For the self-employed and freelancers who typically work from home by choice, it feels much the same - except the fact we can’t leave the house and spend all our money in coffee shops when we fancy a change of scenery. But for the employed folk who are used to heading into the office Monday - Friday 9 am ‘til 5.30 pm, I realise this is quite a shock to the system.
A realisation that I (and a lot of my freelance pals have had) is that we’ve been somewhat self-isolating for quite some time now. I wouldn’t consider myself an expert in this field, but I do have a few tips on how you can effectively transition into the work from home life AND remain productive (and sane).
01 / Creating A New Routine is Paramount
The two most important parts of your routine should be the time you start work, and the time you finish work. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you should be putting in extra hours and working until 7 pm just because. Set an alarm or a reminder for 30 minutes before the end of the day so that you can make sure you tick all the important stuff off your list before you close your laptop for the day.
“Set an alarm or a reminder for 30 minutes before the end of the day so that you can make sure you tick all the important stuff off your list before you close your laptop for the day.”
Here is an example of my new affectionately named ‘Rona Routine
7.30am Alarm + Affirmations
8.00am Rise + Whine with Twerk After Work
8.30am Herbal Tea + Read
9.00am Write Daily Intentions
9.30am Coffee + Begin Work
11.00am Breakfast
12noon Workout, Shower + Lunch
1.00pm Back To Work
3.00pm Check Emails
6.00pm End of Work Day
7.00pm Exercise / Read / Chill
02 / Get Dressed
A controversial one I know, but I am a true believer that the clothes you wear affect the way you think. I’m not going to lie, last week, I stayed in my pyjamas all week and it was great. I felt so comfortable and cosy, but when you’re running a business and you’ve got sh*t to do it doesn’t reflect the urgency of the situation. As a result of being in my PJs all week, I had quite an unproductive week.
I’m not saying wear a suit and do your full hair and makeup, I’m just suggesting you swap out the PJs for a pair of culottes, switch up the dressing gown for a jumper and brush your hair - you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes. The slippers can stay though…
03 / Have a Designated Work Area
By setting yourself a work station, you know on a subconscious level that when you’re sat at that desk or table that you are there to work. It creates a state of focus and activates ‘work mode’. It’s easy to want to work from bed all the time, and somedays, you might treat yourself to that, but as a long-term solution for working from home, it’s a bad idea.
“By setting yourself a work station, you know on a subconscious level that when you’re sat at that desk or table that you are there to work. ”
Your bed should be for sleeping and relaxing only, when you work from your bed it can cause confusion to your mind - is the bed a place where I relax or a place where I work?
04 / Schedule Time For Things You Enjoy Doing
Just because we’re on lockdown and stuck indoors doesn’t mean that we can’t spend time doing the things that we love! I’ve created a Friday Beers Zoom call on Fridays at 5pm, where my friends and I get together (virtually of course) and have a chat and have a few beers. Though it’s not the same as popping to the pub after work, it’s a great way to keep a social element into our weekends and seeing their faces is always a delight.
“By scheduling in fun things, it gives yourself something to look forward to, which is fundamental as a lot of our Summer plans, gigs, holidays, festivals, have been cancelled or postponed.”
If you’re feeling motivated, you could even use this time to learn a skill or brush up on an old one. Last weekend my flatmates and I did a Bob Ross painting - we learnt that we’re all not very good at painting landscapes or taking instructions from painting master Mr Ross, but we had a great time nonetheless.
By scheduling in fun things, it gives yourself something to look forward to, which is fundamental as a lot of our Summer plans, gigs, holidays, festivals, have been cancelled or postponed.
05 / Schedule In Your Housework
I know I know, that is probably the most mundane advice that anyone could give, but if you allocate a specific time to do your laundry, empty the dishwasher, give the house a quick hoover, then you’re less likely to be distracted and procrastinate with cleaning. For me, Friday is laundry day, Sunday I change the bed sheets and every night before I go to bed I wipe down the kitchen - and this is scheduled in my diary.
It’s important for me to do this as sometimes, when I have a task on my plate that I don’t really want to do, I’ll start cleaning or doing anything I can think of to avoid doing it.
06 / Stay Active
For me, moving my body once a day is a must. Exercising boosts your immune system (which we could all do with right now) as well as releasing endorphins which keep us happy. I’m not suggesting you run a 5k every day, just simply dancing along to some tunes, or doing a couple of sit-ups here and there will help keep your body and mind fit and healthy!
I also start every weekday with Rise + Whine with Sofia from Twerk After Work. It’s a 15 minutes Zoom session where she plays some amazing tracks and we all just dance in our pyjamas and dressing gowns to start the day!
07 / Check-in With Yourself
We’re spending a lot of time talking to our friends and families, perhaps even more than we did before the virus, which is a beautiful side-effect to this whole mess, but don’t forget to check in with yourself too.
How are you feeling? What’s on your mind? Every Sunday I like to have a little self-reflection time, I don’t write anything down (though I’m sure that would be very helpful) I just spend 10 minutes checking in with myself and seeing how I’m feeling about everything. Being self-aware of our emotions and our consciousness at a time like this is really important, and if you’re not feeling too hot or you’re feeling overwhelmed just remember that a) you’re not alone and b) pick up the phone and call a friend, that’s what they’re there for.
“Being self-aware of our emotions and our consciousness at a time like this is really important.”
In this madly disrupted time, it’s important to remember that we can’t control coronavirus or whats happening in the world, but we can control our routines and the ways that we choose to spend our days (indoors).
