Today marks the one month mark of me working from home due to the stay at home orders from the government due to the Corona Virus pandemic. Many of us who did not work from home are now adapting to it due to social distancing. Working from home has proven to be quite challenging for me due to the lack of structure. During this time I am learning new ways to create structure while working from home.
Below I am sharing 5 tips on how to make working at home more productive. I hope that one or more of these tips help you in some way and I am also eager to hear how you have been managing if you are working from home. Comment below or send me an email at:Lonnie.Woods.3@gmail.com.
I leave you in love, peace and style,
Lonnie
Tip #1
Make Up Your Bed
Making up your bed in the morning has been proven as a great habit to have under normal circumstances. Making the bed in the morning sets up your day for success and helps you to make a small step towards creating a neat and organized environment which trickles down to the rest of your day. Now that I am spending so much time at home It is key that I make up my bed every morning. It gives me a boost of energy and lets my mind and body know that the day is about to start. Making your bed takes less than 5 minutes but has a huge impact on my workday.
Tip #2
Keep It Moving
Health experts suggest that 30 minutes of exercise a day is imperative to a healthy lifestyle. And although the gyms are closed it is still important to workout. Living in New York which is a walking city I would get in cardio daily from activities like walking to the train but now that outside is closed until further notice It is important that I keep my body moving at home. Fortunately for me my top choice for working out has always been at home workouts, now the challenge is making sure that I fit in the workouts while I am at home. I watch fitness videos on YouTube from channels such as Fitness Blender and Self and they help me to stay active and allow me to mix it up.
Tip #3
Get Dressed
Yes, you read that right. GET DRESSED to go to work… at home. I am the first to admit that putting on real “ work clothes” to commute from the living room to the home office (my dining room table) is really hard to do. But dressing up can really change how you feel when you are working from home …even if you only dress up from the waist up for a video conference call. So the next time that you have to go to work, trade in your PJ’s for a casual work outfit..throw on a red lip, or a dress shirt or even some jewelry! Dressing up can change your mindset for the better inside or outside of the house.
Tip #4
Create A Dedicated Workspace
If you are like me and you don’t have a separate home office in your home, this tip is for you. Getting all of your work done from the comfort of your bed is tempting (and hella comfortable) but I am here to let you know that it is a bad idea! Set up a dedicated workspace in your home helps you to feel like you are at work because lets face it, it is hard to train your mind to believe that it is not at home while working from home when the fridge is an arms reach away but setting a dedicated workspace can help.
Tip #5
Set A Schedule
Before this stay at home mandate my work day included commuting to the office and a daily work schedule which created built-in structure to my day. Working from home does not provide the same type of structure automatically. There are no lunch breaks or in-person meetings or co-workers to interact with. Now that I am working from home I have to create structure in order to stay focused and to complete my daily tasks. The easiest way for me to build structure is to create a schedule. Below is my work from home schedule. Feel free to use it as a guide or simply for inspiration.
