Work from Home Tips
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Well this is certainly a weird Women in the Workplace Wednesday… Over the past week, the United States has drastically changed its mannerisms and protocol, due to COVID-19 / the Coronavirus. Anyone who is able to is being asked to work from home until the end of the month, perhaps longer if we cannot succeed in flattening the curve. While working from home has its challenges, there are definitely some benefits, one being the fact that you are able to do so. Many of our friends in the service and event space do not have this option, so be sure to keep them in your thoughts and prayers, andddd maybe tip a little more than you usually do when getting take-out and such.
Before I get into actual tips regarding working from home (WFH), I want to address it in general. When I write articles, I write them from the perspective I want to share, but also what the general public wants! One of the sites I use to do this is called Answer The Public. You basically type in whatever you want to talk about and it pulls up questions and searches people are typing into the internet. One of the biggest sections for “working from home” on my search was in regard to drafting a “I will work from home today” email and “telling your boss you are going to work from today”. I wanted to bring this up, as I totally resonate with it. The majority of my positions over the years could be completed from home 99% of the time. At one of my places of work, there were certain departments who could and those who couldn’t. I used to get really upset about this, because there were days were I wanted to work from home. It was just easier! My commutes to work have always been 45 minutes +, so there’s that, but also just the average turmoil of being in the office. Towards the end, I was really burned out and over-worked, so I got a lot of headaches. It wasn’t unusual to say that I was working at home due to a migraine. Even though those days were needed for my mental sanity AND I was completing 100% of my work, I still felt bad about doing it. If anything, I hope this nationwide WFH policy changes the way it is seen!
Currently I live on the West Coast and let me tell you. Everyone is already on board with work from home. Working in Los Angeles is vastly different than working in Dallas. I remember when visiting LA, people would be out doing yoga at 10:30 am and I’m like WHO CAN DO YOGA AT 10:30 AM?! Well, let me tell you. Angeleños can. I will say, as a type ‘A’ person, working from home might be harder here, because everyone for the most part seems to be “peace, love, work from home” types, but that also could be because my personality is vastly different. My work is super important to me and if I don’t think I was productive for the day, I feel bad about it.
While I have worked from home here and there for other companies i the past, I currently run my blog. It’s really hard to work from home with this, because my work is really never done, and since making money is literally only up to me, my brain pretty much is always running. Last summer I was let go, so for the last 8 months, I have been working from home. At first I was frazzled, because my blog had always been this crazy side thing that I barely had time for and all of a sudden I had all the time in the world. It honestly made it harder! I would leave the house for yoga and of course was still taking time to apply for jobs (still am!); however, for the first couple months, I was like someone was always pulling the rug out from under me.
I’ve gotten better since then at my WFH strategy; however, nothing is ever perfect! Here’s some tips and tricks, do’ and don’t’s, and some personal experience to hopefully help you during this recent switch to working from home!
DO THESE THINGS
Create a routine. If you are working for corporate America, this is usually easier. You have set hours you are expected to be working, but this routine is harder when you’re working for yourself. Get up at the same time and go through your day like you normally would if you were going to the office. My best days are when I follow this rule. For example, when I get up at 6 am, workout and get ready, my days are a lot more productive than rolling out of bed at 7:30 am or later, and trying to workout, then have this big chunk of day missing where I am sweating, showering, getting ready, making breakfast, etc, then I look down and it is already 11:00 am. I suppose this depends if you are a morning or night person, but I am more productive in the hours before lunch. If I’m going to be writing and need to focus, I prefer to do this in the morning. As far as strict hours, I don’t have those, but I do have a little routine I like to keep. Most days it goes as follows:
Wake up
Brush my teeth, wash my face, etc
Drink lemon / lime water
Make breakfast
Have a quiet time
Review emails
Schedule social posts for the day
Workout
Shower / get ready
Lunch
Whatever I need to accomplish this day
I try to end the day with doing a chore around the house, begin making dinner, and sign offline
I also like to assign certain things to certain days, to try and carve out specific time:
M - emails, follow ups, Wednesday newsletter, laundry
T - blog posts, shoot days (if I didn’t shoot on the weekend)
W - blog posts, calls
R - Friday newsletter, sale prep
F - blog posts, cleaning the apartment
Form an area. Sorry, your bed does not count. GET UP. We have a desk set-up in our guest room, but most days I enjoy working from the kitchen table. I drink a lot of tea and water, so I have easy access to that, plus there is a window in the kitchen that lets in nice natural light. I also like to have my Himalayan Salt Lamp plugged in. My “area” includes a BKR Big Water Bottle, a mug of tea, my planner, a pen, and my laptop.
Write it down. I did this even when I worked in an office and people would make fun of me for it. I had a legal sized notepad, where I would section off different projects I was working on, what needed to be done, and more. Every day, I would place a sticky note on it with my top 3-5 things I needed to accomplish that day. Prioritization is so important. Not only does it help you focus on what you actually need to get done, but it also makes you more efficient! Because my work is vastly intertwined with my personal life, I love to use a planner to write everything in. I didn’t really like this when I was working in corporate, but I may just be weird. Either way, writing something down and being able to check it off, FEELS SO GOOD and really helps me feel like I’ve had a good workday. I love the “My Next 90 Days” planner.
Take breaks. I implemented this when I worked in an office as well. Whether it is getting up to fill my water bottle or even just going to the bathroom, looking away from your computer screen is needed! I have several regular breaks I take during the day. For example, my mom calls me at the same time every day and we catch up! Since you are working from home, I highly suggest power naps. Lately around 2:00 or 3:00 pm, I have hit a wall and set a quick 20 minute timer. It helps SO MUCH. I also take much needed “time to snuggle my pets” breaks.
Set yourself up for success. Working from home is nice, but it is also hard. You may find yourself getting in a funk and feeling overwhelmed. While I do like to big, hard things first, giving myself a few easy wins help to get me going. What can you do first thing, to get your motor running? This could be sending a couple emails and crossing them off your list or even prepping your meals for the day, so you can eat and keep on moving.
DON’T DO THESE THINGS
Don’t stay in bed. I know it is really tempting, but don’t. Sure I may bring my computer to bed every now and then, but I try not to make it a habit. This is probably why my work is sometimes on the brain for me when I go to bed. Oops! Your chair doesn’t have to be uncomfortable, but make sure you are working somewhere else besides where you relax. This goes for the couch too!
Don’t forget to wear pants. Yes of course, wear a dress if you want to; however, getting dressed into something besides what you slept or worked out in is crucial. I don’t put on makeup and I don’t always put on jeans, but I always try to wear a fresh set of leggings at the very least! This helps get your mindset right and ready for work.
Don’t sit all day. Seriously. Get up! If you can’t go outside, just take a lap around your home, backyard, or patio. My Apple watch tells me when I have been sitting for too long, but you don’t have to spend money on one of those to get up. An easy way to do this, is to make a point to get up for a couple minutes every hour. If you have the space and the budget, you might look into a standing desk and an anti-fatigue standing mat. Nick loves to do this in the office - it would work well in home too!
Don’t work all hours. Like I said… hours can be weird! Working for myself, I work until what I need to get done is complete. When I worked for corporate, I would complete what I needed to and then just monitor my email from my phone, to see if I needed to hop online for anything else. Unless you absolutely have to, messed up, or are being asked by your boss to complete something out of the ordinary, there is no reason for you to stay up until 2:30 am to complete something. THE WORK WILL STILL BE THERE TOMORROW. I used to struggle with this before I learned to prioritize and shift my thinking.
Don’t work in quiet. Just have a little background noise, whether it is white noice, music or even a show like Friends playing. Hey! When I have to write, I turn the TV off, but if it is mindless like linking or making a collage, I like to have Hulu or Netflix on. I also really enjoy listening to podcasts or audio books. Having things on like this, actually helps keep me stay focused!
MY OWN STRUGGLES WITH WORKING FROM HOME
House work. I have a problem with doing laundry, dishes, etc instead of my work. Just last Friday I spent from 7:30 am - 1:30 pm doing laundry instead of getting ahead for this week and now it is 11:30 pm Tuesday night and I’m not done with this blog post. You feel me? I’m very good at prioritizing, but when it comes to the apartment, it is like I forget everything I preach. I have started assigning certain things to certain days in an effort to help combat this, but I’m still working through it. It doesn’t bother me per se, but a cluttered environment gives me anxiety and clutters my mind, decreasing productivity.
In-house co-workers. I love my husband, but it’s a different kind of WFH day when he is here. He is an extrovert and I am an introvert. The fact is that I typically get less done if he works from home. We haven’t tried much yet, as it is usually only once every week or two; however, with this quarantine, we may need to implement different rooms or something. He has a lot of calls, and I write a lot, which can be hard. No matter the issue, it is important to communicate it! You’re both working towards a common goal, so just figure it out!
Valuing Time. I have this problem of saying “okay” to things I don’t actually have time to do. Because I don’t make a ton of money from this platform, I often feel like I will let others down if I say no or push hanging out, simply because I have work to do. When I do this, I am not valuing myself or time and sacrifice something for it. I often feel like others don’t consider my “work” as important or needing ample time, which isn’t necessarily true. I’m trying to learn to be flexible, but not too flexible to where I’m constantly sacrificing myself for something that isn’t worth it, ie a movie. Though sometimes it is important to throw all cares to the wind and make memories. It’s a tough balance! Still working on it.
RANDOM TIPS
Drink a lot of water. Working from home, somehow makes raiding the fridge that much easier. You should be drinking a lot of water anyway, but drinking enough water an help you curb binge eating. I love my BKR Water Bottle.
Invest in blue light glasses. These drastically decrease headaches for me. Doesn’t really matter the brand. Here’s some on Amazon.
Use a good alarm. It can be hard to actually get up if I don’t have to go into an office or a scheduled work out class. The normal phone alarm just doesn’t cut it for me. If you need an app to get your booty out of bed, Alarmy works great. I also like to use the “bedtime” section of the alarm on the iPhone. It gently wakes you up and you can see how many hours of sleep you are getting, which I have been trying to prioritize. If you want to use something other than your phone, I have this rise to wake alarm clock, which mimics the sun AND has noise options. I like to use the chirping birds.
Meal prep. Even though you are working from home and have access to all your food, it is a good idea to meal prep, or at least know when you are going to eat, so you can spend less time on it and spend more time working. I don’t usually take a “lunch break” like I would at the office, but I also get to end the day when I want to and not just have my butt in a seat to show face until “the day is over”.
Switch up your work area. Sure there are lots of cool places like co-working spaces, but those are often really expensive. I prefer to work from my house, but going to a coffee shop or book store are great options. Of course when we are done with this quarantine stuff! You can always try switching rooms, tables, and more. You know, fung shui! I don’t know if hygge is something you want your workspace to feel like though, so perhaps not that one ;)
Taxes. Don’t forget that you can write off part of your rent, etc if you are using where you live as a space of work!
Travel. Okay, so it doesn’t help right now, but if your company continues to offer remote work after COVID-19 is over, it is great for travel! You can leave on a Thursday, work remotely Friday and already be in your destination for Friday night dinner! Plus, Thursday flights are usually cheaper!
Do you work from home? Have you always, or is it a recent switch? Any tips or suggestions that I left off? I’m always trying to get better, so feel free to leave your tips and thoughts in the comment section; plus, other people can read them there too!
P.S. I don’t have kids, but I do have a Great Dane and a loud husband and I imagine that they are similar. That being said, I don’t have many tips for WFH with children. Maybe some day!
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