March 2020 - The start of a crazy 2 years. We spent this time in and out of lockdowns, having to book everything in advance and it was the start of the WFH (working from home) routine.
Fast forward a couple of years and, in reality, we won't ever return to normal working routines. Working from home will probably always be a thing. From a productivity, financial and time standpoint, it makes sense.
You will have developed new routines and habits during this period but even now, after a substantial time WFH, people are still struggling to perfect their day.
There are still common issues, whether this is a motivational problem, productivity being down, energy levels low or even feeling out of touch with society.
WFH opens up so much to us but also comes with some downsides.
If you haven't quite found a routine or habits that work for you, here are 5 things I would highly recommend implementing. Doing these 5 things will, without doubt, improve your mindset, quality of work, improve your health and overall happiness.
- Start and end your day with a walk - Day light first thing in the morning has many benefits, as we know, but starting and ending your day with a 5 minute walk can be very useful as a conscious trigger to beginning and ending work. Often working from home can cause us to blur the lines between work and normal life. By having clear time frames for separating work and home life, you will find it easier to switch off.
- Exercise everyday - Seems basic and it is. Make sure you are exercising. Exercise doesn't have to be going to the gym, you can do classes, sports, go for a walk, whatever, just aim to get some form of movement in. Starting your day with this works really well as it sets you up nicely, but lunchtime can also work as it allows you to break up your day. I find that if you leave training until the evening, you are more likely to not do it. You never regret training early after you have finished.
- Eat away from your desk - It is very easy when WFH to work more than you would in an office and, actually, this is what we see. Make sure you are taking your breaks, refresh yourself and avoid eating as you go. Having this time to go away from your desk to eat and chill will improve your productivity over the afternoon.
- Regular resets - a reset is when you break away from your task and take 5- 10 mins to refocus, breathe and set intentions. These are even more important when WFH. This doesn't have to be anything complicated. Get up and do a mobility exercise, fill up your water bottle, do a lap of the house, go to the toilet, you can do anything that breaks you away from your task. Research has shown that every 45-55 minutes you want to do this, so if you do something every hour, you will be there or there about. Our attention goes after this time and so by adding these in, you will see improvements to work quality.
- Change of scenery - You don't have to always work from your home. Where possible, try to change up your working space. This can be working from another room or going to a coffee shop. You can do this by setting a day where you go out and work, or even switching it up in afternoons, for example. Going to the office everyday and seeing the same things is hard in itself, but especially when you are seeing the same walls during work time and then non work time. Subconsciously, this will negatively impact you. Try to have 2-3 options of working space. Some of the best routines I have seen are those where people go to the office for 2 days, WFH 2 days and go to a coffee shop for 1 day.
