Working From Home 101

With the pandemic of the corona virus many businesses and organizations are utilizing technology to keep productivity going as usual. This provides job security and flexibility for many employees. I have been working from home by choice for the past two years now and I can honestly say it is not as easy as one might think. For many today, working from home is a disruption from the everyday routine, a period of isolation if you live alone, or full distraction if you live with family (specially children), and a lot more to do under the circumstances we find ourselves in. Here are some of my tips on how to keep the sanity while working at home.

Morning routine

As tempting as it sound to hit the snooze alarm button and catch more sleep since you don’t have to commute, don’t do it. It is in your best interest to wake up 30 minutes to an hour from your regular schedule and prepare your day.

Clean

To prevent the spread of infection in your home I suggest practicing cleanness in the morning. It takes just a few minutes to fix your bed and wipe down high touch surface within your area, using a spray or wipes.

Dress and Groom

Don’t make a habit of staying in your pajama to work, you will find yourself much more productive when you get dress, brush your teeth and fix your hair to tackle the day.

Eat breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day so make it a habit of preparing yourself a healthy breakfast each morning along with your coffee.

Create a work space

Your work and home life ought to be separate so it also a good idea to have a designated area to work. Even if it is just a little corner in your house, make it a comfortable spot. Add all your office supplies from your laptop/desktop, a headphone which will mute background noise (if necessary), a comfortable chair, some natural light and few decoration if you can. This help visualize and separate your work time from your down time.

Plan your day

You will find it extremely helpful to jot down your plan for the day. From the time you are giving yourself to work on a project to the time it takes to read and reply emails, even the time where you would take a break. You will feel well accomplish when you can put a check mark next to your “to do list”.

Communicate

If you work with a team, make sure the line of communication is clear between all of you. Share expectations and guidelines as you are all getting use to the idea. Decide as a group the best solution to keep the flow as you did when you shared an office space. Be proactive and prompt in replying to email or returning phone calls.

Turn off distraction

This is where many of us struggle, now that big brother is not watching you it is time to really practice self-control and stay focus on your task. I know it is hard to do now a day with so many update on COVID-19 online and living with family and children who demand our attention, distraction can easily set us back. Even if you live alone, the silence in your home can make you bored easily that you might feel the need to check your phone to scroll on social media timeline or chat with friends. I suggest turning things off from the time being, and set up boundaries with people in your home.

Take your breaks

It is unhealthy to stay cooped up in front of your computer all day so take a break every couple of hours. Stretch your legs, walk around, get out to the balcony for some fresh air. Make yourself a cup of coffee or tea, have lunch,and use that time to talk to family and friends or stay up to date on current event.

Stay healthy

You may find yourself wandering more in your kitchen pantry and your refrigerator now that you are home all day.Frustration and anxiety may lead to mindless eating where our mouth is constantly asking for taste that makes us feel good. On top of the fact that you are moving less, you may find yourself gaining more weight than you would like. I suggest you reduce junk food in your home and replace with healthier items. Drink lots of water and walk around or stand more. If possible prepare your meals ahead of time so you don't find yourself scrambling for whatever is left in the kitchen.

Stay connected outside of work

It is so easy to get caught up in our own bubble while working at home, while the virus may have given us a scare I still believe we thrive on connection with others. While we might not be as out and about as we want to be with the help of technology we still have access to face time, workout, stream a movie with our peers.

Log off

You must have a log off time, end your working day with a habit that signal your brain you are done and you will resume in the morning. Whether it is to start your yoga class, or eat dinner. Log off everything and get out of your work station. You need to relax, refresh and start again in the morning

Be easy on yourself

It took me close to a year to find a routine and stick to it. Don’t be too hard on yourself, we are living an unprecedented time. We are trying to figure things out as they come so don’t expect to get it all down. You might find yourself working longer hours than normal with higher volume of work. Simple tasks that usually takes a few minutes may take hours. Sharing space and longer period of time with family can become problematic. On top of it all keeping up with the news can create anxiety and panic, so breath! You got this!