4 Tips for Working from Home and Staying Sane during Insane Times

Obviously, there’s some big stuff going on in the world right now.

Fear is at a fever pitch, and the sudden mandates to work from home can either feel like a welcome blessing or an interruptive curse, whether or not you’re accustomed to it.

So, to try to make the most out of a challenging situation affecting so many aspects of our lives, I thought I’d start your week off with a few tips for keeping on top of your deadlines while working remotely (courtesy of a certified remote warrior, me!).

#1 - Set clear boundaries for your home workspace. 

The biggest distraction to my home office, by a landslide, is other people. Use a physical signal of sorts to signal to well-meaning family that you’re currently in Boss Mode. I used to have a sign on my office door saying “Call in Progress”, or you can put a little Do Not Disturb sign on your desk.

Now, don’t forget to create special time for family inside these circumstances. When the workday’s done, snap that laptop shut and go make some memories. You have all that time back from your commute, so put it to good use.

When the workday’s done, snap that laptop shut and go make some memories. You have all that time back from your commute, so put it to good use.

#2 - Use time management to stay focused on the task at hand.

The Pomodoro method is a productivity technique where you focus on a single task for 25-minute increments and then break for 5 minutes. The sprint keeps you on point and the breaks help your brain breathe.

My favorite Macbook and iPhone apps for that are called Be Focused. You can also try the Marinara Timer website.

#3 - Prevent online distractions.

new book Indistractable offers TONS of tools for fending off that Facebook notification about a cactus-shaped scratching post that sends kittehs into a psychedelic frenzy. 

My favorite tip? I’ve turned off ALL social media app notifications on my phone, and I put my Macbook on Do Not Disturb for the entire day. 

This may sound uncomfortable, but I also turn off all email notifications popups and check email only twice a day. This sets the expectation that I’ll actually be working at home.

Real emergencies will make it through. Your father texting to ask if you still like broccoli is not one of them (yes Dad, I still do).

Now, here’s my biggest productive-from-home tip of all:

#4 Take this rare opportunity for self-care.

In my digital agency days, I commuted to the city 2-3 hours each way every day. I was so exhausted from the endless driving, buses, subways, walking, and then 9-hour work sprints, there was nothing left of me by the time I got home. 

Self-care wasn’t in my vocabulary back then, and my mental and physical health showed it. As a result, my health eventually tanked and I had to work from home by medical mandate. 

I had to work in self-care (like meditation, yoga, singing) into my day as a matter of surviving. It wasn’t until then when I began feeling more energetic and my brain worked better.

As a result of that, I started thriving when working from home. And my productivity showed it in a big way. I was no longer a slave to my bus schedule or snowpocalypes every day, which was a huge stress reliever. 

A small amount of freedom went a long way towards my job satisfaction.

BTW, self-care isn’t limited to woo-woo stuff like crystal chakra clearing (although I highly recommend it ??). Self-care is simply doing something that’s only for you, be it reading a good book, watching your favorite movie, or taking your pupper for a walk. 

How often do you do that for yourself?

Whatever you choose, make the most out of this unique time to treat yourself right. Self-care is a more important practice than ever in these times of health uncertainty.

Final Thoughts

I hope you find those tips helpful from a career work-from-homer. 

Now, I have the luxury of a seamless work experience because I already work from home full-time on my own clock.

I consider remote work one of the many, many benefits I gained once I started demonstrating my value, mainly through mastering compelling and inspiring data presentation.

I found that the more value I demonstrated inside the conference room, the more productive I appeared to my managers and clients when I was nowhere near the conference room.

What I’m even more grateful for is the ability to teach these presentation skills to data practitioners from afar. Learning doesn’t have to come to a standstill just because we’re holed up in our home offices. 

I have something coming your way that can extend the learning experience no matter how long you’re stuck at home.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear what tip are you going to try first. Let me know in the comments below.

Nama-stay well,

Lea

P.S. - I'll be producing a series of short articles like this on LinkedIn in the coming weeks. To make sure you don't miss an update, visit my profile and click "Follow".