If you are reading this article, you might be a little demotivated like me. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love working from home. I prayed for years to have this schedule – days in the office, days at home. I am blessed, but sometimes, I don’t know, sometimes might be a little tricky to complete my projects.
I like planning, I like being productive, and mostly I like getting things done.
How do I do that? Here are a few of my tips to tackle working from home and just DO IT:
- Establish a routine – You may not be commuting in the morning anymore but it’s important to do something that wakes you up and gets you energised for the day. This could be anything from some stretches followed by a hot cup of coffee or even a 10 min abs session. Whatever works for you.
- Have a dedicated workspace – Let’s be honest, working from your bed all day is very tempting but not entirely practical. Mentally, it’s good to have spaces for work time and others for chill time. Otherwise, you may feel you never get away from work. You don’t want that.
- Take breaks – It’s good to stretch your legs, make yourself a cup of tea or check in with a friend over the phone. Set yourself some time in your calendar. Do that now. Set an alarm if need be. Make sure you move away from your workspace, those emails and slack messages. Set aside at least 30 minutes to eat some lunch. That’s an important one. Breaking up your day like this and moving around will make you more productive. Promise.
- Protect your time – and here I fail often. More than once I found myself working at 11 pm because I ”just” wanted to finish something. Stopping at 5:30 might be challenging – this takes some practice so don’t be too hard on yourself when you trick yourself into working passed ‘log off’ time. Happens to all of us. Working from home makes it harder to “leave” work. The lines can become easily blurred. Make sure you have strict boundaries on work time and communicate them to your colleagues and stick to it.
- Over-communicate – Sounds easy, right? Don’t be fooled. When in doubt share, share, share. Don’t assume or think your colleagues may know something – ask or let them know. Communication becomes even more important when you work remotely. Also, check-in with your colleagues, ask them how they are – you’ll start to miss those small interactions you had whilst you were in an office together.
Honestly, I thought that by now (October 2020) things will get better – we are safe and God is still good no matter what, but all over Europe we see countries going back into lockdown, that means, more days at home, more days inside, and sometimes that can get to you.
We were made to be around other people. As humans, we need friends and we need community, but no matter what, remember that you got this. You are stronger than you think and whatever you are going through, these days – will not define your future.
The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.