Work from Home: What’s Worked for Me
Good afternoon & happy Tuesday! I don’t know why, but it feels like it’s been forever since I wrote a blog post… even though it definitely hasn’t been. I know we’ve all been feeling like everyday is just the same day repeating itself since this pandemic started, and quite honestly, working from home I think may be a huge part of that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying if you work from home, even before the pandemic, that it’s a bad thing that leads to everyday feeling like groundhog day, but working from home when you can’t really do too much else, is kind of making it feel like each day really is the same. Before I continue, yes I am aware we can go back shopping outside of just to the essential stores, but I’m still a firm believer in only going out when we absolutely have to.
Working from home has definitely been an adjustment, but in all honesty I’ve liked it a lot, and I think to a certain degree, I prefer it over going into an office every day. I think in an ideal world, I’d like to have the option or a certain amount of days working from home, and some in office. Happily adjusting to working from home has come with some trial and error when it comes to what works for me, so today I want to share with you all what has been working best for me in keeping me focused while working from home:
Get Ready in the Morning
Yep, getting ready every day. I know this is probably on so many peoples’ how-to-successfully-work-from-home list, but I’m here to reiterate this way of thinking. Getting ready in the morning is what helps me switch from a mentality of “I’m at home”, to “it’s time to go to work for the day”. Now, I’m not saying you need to get up and put on a full face of make up and business-casual attire – I mean, you can if you want to – but, what I mean is do yourself a favour & get changed into something you haven’t slept in (I usually opt for leggings & a sweater), brush your hair, wash your face. It really doesn’t need to be a big process, or your usual morning routine, but the act of not working in my pjs has really helped me to be successful while working from home.
Dividing My Responsibilities Up
In my current position, I do a little bit of a balancing act between helping create new product assets, and working on a bunch of other products. I know this tip won’t help every single person that reads this, and every job is unique in what your employer requires from you, but for me, dividing up my responsibilities into morning & afternoon has helped tremendously. It allows me to focus mainly on one task in the morning (usually working on getting new product assets in the works), and then I can focus on my other projects in the afternoon. This definitely isn’t just a work from home way of thinking, but without having people showing up at my desk like what happens when I’m in the office, it allows me to mainly focus on certain tasks. This being said, I’m definitely going to be trying to implement this way of working whenever going back into the office is a thing again!
Communication is Key
This is so, so, so important to be successful while working from home. It’s successful in the running of any business, really, but while working from home, it has be absolutely key in knowing what people need from me, and knowing where projects are at. In my job, a lot of my job involves meeting with my team mates relatively frequently & working together in person. Obviously with COVID-19, that really isn’t do-able, even if we were in the office, so having a clear way of communicating, whether it be by phone, instant message or zoom, is absolutely fundamental for reaching deadlines and meeting goals while we all work from home.
Set Boundaries for Yourself
Do it. Set the boundaries for yourself. If you work 8-4, you are done at 4, and you are not reachable after that. Just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean you’re on call 24/7! This can be a tough one to do, but I promise it’s going to be 100% worth it at the end of the day. I used to be someone who constantly worked overtime, and the best thing I ever did for my mental health, especially while working from home, was set these boundaries for myself. When I am done for the day, I don’t answer any messages, emails or phone calls. In fact, if I’m on my hour lunch, I don’t answer anyone either! If you aren’t already doing this, you need to start & I can almost promise you will see a huge increase in your mood.
* I know that not all professions or jobs allow for this, but if you can set these kind of boundaries, I highly encourage it.
Hydrate & Get Up From Your Desk
When I’m in the office, I normally would be up and down from my desk, running to a meeting, or popping by someone else’s desk to ask a question, but of course with working from home, I’m pretty much plopped in front of my computer all day without any real reason to get up other than quick bathroom breaks & a one-hour lunch. While you should always be doing this, I make sure to keep hydrated throughout the day – not only is it good for your kidney function during regular, non-pandemic times, but it’ll especially help given that we’re all stuck in front of a computer all day. Don’t forget to also get up from your desk a few times a day, walk around for a minute or so, or stretch a little bit. If you have an Apple Watch, make sure to leave that annoying Stand Up notification on as a little reminder.
Protect Your Eyes from Eye Strain
If you’ve read my blog before, you’ll definitely know I’m a huge fan and advocate of blue light glasses. I know there currently isn’t enough scientific evidence that blue light is seriously harming our eyes, but hey, I always figure that if wearing blue light glasses isn’t harming us, why not throw them on just in case. If you’ve never tried blue light glasses before, my experience with them has been that I notice it takes me longer to feel “awake”in the morningthan when I don’t wear them. I know that sounds like a bad thing, but I think it’s actually probably a pretty good thing. Just goes to show how tired I am all the time, LOL! I also notice a lot less eye strain. One time I got up from my desk to ask a co-worker a question, and I couldn’t see out of one of my eyes for a few seconds and that’s when I was like “I need blue light glasses”because it scared the hell out of me. If you don’t know where to find blue light glasses, here are some of my favourites: Quay Australia Hardwire Blue Light Glasses, Clearly Main & Central Joliet-50 Glasses (you can add just plain old blue light lenses into these, or get a prescription with, or without blue light!) & Penningtons Blue Lens Coral Glasses.
So what’s been helping you successfully work from home? It’s definitely been a transition and I know it’s not for everyone, so I’d love to hear what everyone’s been doing to help themselves adjust to this new way of working. Are you loving it or hating it? Like I mentioned above, I’m quite enjoying it actually, but I totally get why lots of people may be more for working in the office for a social aspect. See you guys again on Friday!
* Note: Some links above are commissionable affiliate links.
