So here we are. A lot of us yearned to be at home a little more often than the office, now we’re at home forever (probably not, but longer than we’d actually liked). Personally, I love my house and I couldn’t wait to roll out of bed, wear pyjamas and eat biscuits whilst doing our usual dailies. But this approach to our usual process wasn’t going to work (shock horror). Here’s a few things i’ve learnt in my WFH experience:
Using your time is crucial to maintain a healthy workflow and output. It’s the most challenging aspect to address, given how leisurely life is at home. Distinguishing your work time and life hours is important. Set designated times to start and stop your work day and stick to them hard. It’s much, much easier to dip in and out of work post-5:00, but make your time outside of work yours.
Take regular breaks throughout the day and take time out for having a proper lunch. Even use your freed up commute time in the morning to have a healthy/hearty breakfast and make yourself fresh for the day.
One of the strongest of home comforts is being comfortable at home. Sounds obvious, I know. It’s an appealing idea to lounge on the sofa in your PJ’s with a laptop drapsed over you and have Netflix rolling with a 12 pack of Diet Sprite and half a box of biscuits. Often this is a dream of mine, but don’t do this.
When it comes to this extended working from home period, make a designated work-space and make that space somewhere you’d feel most productive. i.e. away from Netflix, biscuits and the now 7 cans of Diet Sprite. Make that space personal, not a makeshift desk ‘that’ll do for now’. Pre-lockdown, your office would be a productive space, so do the same for your LockDown Office. Whilst making that personal workspace, why not sort out your entire house? Sounds simple in practice, but long term you’re gonna be there a while so it’s best you don’t live in a slowly mounting trash pile of 12 Diet Sprite cans and biscuit boxes.
The most important thing to take care of, is yourself. Your space doesn’t matter if you are fundamentally not ok. Keep talking to people and don’t isolate yourself completely. If you work as part of a team, make an attempt to keep active as you would in the office and keep encouraging each other’s creativity and energy. If you’re a freelancer, get in touch with other freelancers and grow communities. Now is a great time for networking and growing your skills. But always keep in mind, this time is not a creativity contest and never feel pressured to be more productive than anyone else. Be yourself and enjoy your skills, otherwise they’re not skills; they’re chores…
