If the current coronavirus situation has left you adjusting to working from home - with potentially some home schooling in there for extra personal growth - we are with you on how hard it is to process these huge changes and still have some level of productivity and get up and go! We know there’s a lot of these articles doing the rounds at the moment but here’s what’s worked for us, through trial and error over the past four years of home working.

Get Up & Get Dressed

Staying in bed in your PJs with your laptop is tempting to start off with and no one’s judging anyone for a bit of that at the moment! But in our experience getting up at the same time you usually would (okay, maybe an extra 30 mins lie in) and always being up and moving for an hour before work can make or break your day. You could use this time to get your daily outdoor exercise like you’d normally walk/commute to work, or enjoy some yoga/meditation and a king’s breakfast (if you still have plenty of supplies)!

Getting dressed in something that resembles normal clothes, even if it’s your fanciest loungewear can also take you from bedroom to boardroom brain. Someone actually told me they’ve been wearing their work badge in their spare bedroom while they work from home to get them in the work zone! It really does work for a lot of people.

Find Your Corner & Block Your Time

Depending on your house/flat, you may have your own home office with colour coordinated paper clips all good to go, or you may be working out if a Harry Potteresque under the stairs office is your only hope to hide from above mentioned children that are asking for their tenth snack of the day. Jokes aside, setting boundaries both physically and time wise can help you to focus when you’re in work mode and be fully present with your pets/kids/Netflix account when you’re not working.

Could you convert your dressing table if you have one? Is there a spare bedroom that could be remodelled with existing bits around the house? If all else fails, magic can be made from the kitchen table and cleared away at the end of your working day to make way for family life.

Also block your time, especially if you’re juggling family life with kids! Now is the time to put all your team work skills to the test and get tag teaming on tasks, with clear slots for who’s doing what and when.

Treat Yourself

Coffee shop working and mingling with people may be off the cards for now but can you recreate some of that atmosphere in your house. We’ve listed some great podcasts and Spotify playlists below to help you feel less lonely and more inspired to do your best work. This is one of those times where it’s worth treating yourself to the ritual of making a fancy coffee and bring out the best biscuits too!

Coffee House Playlist

Armchair Expert Podcast

Tangentially Speaking Podcast

Happy Place Podcast

Do Good Podcast

Stay Connected

Have you ever heard the word Zoom so much as in the past week? Keeping in touch with colleagues and seeing their familiar faces can get you through the worst days, which let’s face it, we’re all going to butt up against in this scary new world we find ourselves in at the moment. Whether it’s Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams, there are so many ways to connect now and that’s something we can all be grateful for!

Lists

We love the three things to do list model of every night, setting yourself three core tasks for the next day ahead. Doing this at the end of each day rather than waiting till the morning makes a HUGE difference and will leave you feeling organised and in control of something at least.

Give Yourself a Break

Trust us, being at home you can VERY easily get distracted. For instance you feel the urge mid task to go grab a bite to eat, tidy up the kitchen, organise the post etc. Do your best to accomplish one of your work tasks before you go do one of those, rather than leave it half finished mid task. And when you have finished your task, treat yourself to something lovely like a lie out in the sun or a bit of kitchen dancing.

Photo by Hello I'm Nik 🎞 on Unsplash