Staying strong working from home
For some, like Sarah here at Juniper, working from home was already the norm but for others Covid necessitated a sudden change in our work and home lives and let’s be honest it took some getting used to. It’s been a rollercoaster of highs and lows as the year has progressed, the Summer sun gave way to short daylight hours and we’ve tried and tested everything we can to make our set-up better. Given we have a pro in our midst and we feel like barely being allowed to leave the house at times has actually taught us a few things about how best to cope, we’d like to share some tips that we’ve found have kept us strong working from home.
Establish A Routine
We’ve found getting into a good routine definitely helps us better manage our day and maintain a healthy work life balance. We suggest you get up with plenty of time to get ready and relax before work so that you have a period of transition between home and work life and so that you aren’t rushing from your bed to quickly eat breakfast at your laptop before hopping on your first call. Despite the temptation to live in jogging pants and hoodie, we also always try to get dressed in clothes we’d usually wear for work to get into the right mindset.
Having a clear timetable for the day with a planned start and end time means that we set conscious boundaries. You might also want to think about how you work best and plan activities around this. Perhaps you’re a morning lark (like Sally) or a night owl (like Sarah) - put anything you need to focus on at a time you know you concentrate best. Don’t forget to take regular breaks, check in with colleagues and if you’re working with others in your house co-ordinate tea breaks and lunch breaks so you don’t disturb each other.
We like to plan in some social time too so that we have activities to look forward to away from work and can stay connected to friends and family. Another video call at the end of the day may seem like the last thing you want to do but we find once we get into a quiz or get chatting it makes us feel a whole lot better.
Tidy Desk, Tidy Mind
We’ve found having a dedicated work area that’s separate from where we spend social or meal times, helps us to remain more focused during work hours and detach better at the end of the day. If you’re lucky enough to have the space, try and find somewhere with no distractions, away from the TV, other members of your household and make sure it’s clutter free. If you don’t have the luxury of a permanent space you could create a pop-up office environment that you can pack away at the end of the day. Making the effort to pack away your set-up will hopefully provide you with a cue that work has ended and allow you to relax more easily. During work time, we also make sure we turn off any personal e-mail, social media and phones whilst working to avoid added distractions and continue to maintain a separation of modes.
Get Out, Keep Moving
We believe that keeping active has been one of the biggest contributors to us staying strong working at home. When you plan your schedule see if you can get in some time to be active. Whether you can fit in just a short walk or have the time to do something more energetic, doing something every day will bring you both physical and mental health benefits. In these Winter months it’s especially important to make the most of the daylight and get outside where possible to ensure you are getting a change of scenery and some fresh air. Having a proper break and rest away from work will also give you chance to re-charge and refocus.
Stay Hydrated, Avoid Snacking
There’s no denying snacking has increased more than significantly in our households over the last few months - from biscuits and cakes to those little treats to perk us up and keep us going when boredom sets in. We came to the realisation that for the sake of our wellbeing it couldn’t continue! So we made sure we limited the number of snacks in the house and kept them out of sight and away from our working area. We started meal planning and making sure our shopping lists didn’t extend beyond the things we really needed. This helped us regain control. We’ve also made sure we’ve been keeping hydrated with a glass of water always close at hand. All this helped us avoid feeling quite so sluggish, stopped us suffering from sugar highs and lows and generally made us feel more focused.
Set Short Term Goals
When things change quickly and there’s a lot of uncertainty it’s easy to feel a little lost. We can’t control everything right now but we’ve found setting short term goals helps us manage the day-to-day a little better and allow us to feel a sense of achievement. When there’s a lot to do, it can feel daunting so we find breaking everything down into smaller tasks allows us to prioritise our work and gives us a better sense of progress. We’ve tried a few ways of doing this from allocating slots in our diary across the day to specific tasks to good old fashioned pen and paper to do lists. You might want to experiment with different techniques and see what works for you.
These are just a few of the things that have been keeping us strong over the last year of working and living at home day after day. It’s important to remember there are benefits to being at home and if you use them to your advantage and get the approach right it can be a positive experience. Our tips may not work for everyone but we’d urge you to give them and go and keep trying things until you find something that works for you. As always we’d love to hear more about your experiences so do get in touch!
