Staying at home: 9 tips to keep you positive and productive

We are all having to adapt pretty quickly at the moment as our lives have changed at an alarming rate in recent weeks. 

Here are nine tips for staying positive and productive and helping those around you. 

As a society, many of us are now home-based, either working our jobs remotely or making changes to the way we run our Forever businesses.

It’s natural to feel anxious right now, but what always helps is taking some positive action – it makes us feel more in control and helps us to stay focused and productive. Some people adapt to working from home more easily than others, where there are other responsibilities and demands on our time; the needs of our children, domestic responsibilities, and other relationships to maintain. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed as we are pulled in so many directions, without the normal routines of our day to day lives.

Getting organised and developing a schedule as much as you are able will help you to feel in control and be more clear-headed. Try to develop a routine with scheduled work time, breaks and family time. If your children are old enough make sure they understand and buy in to the importance of this. It makes everyone feel more secure and you will be surprised at how quickly everyone adapts.

Whether you are working your Forever business around your existing job or around the family who are now all at home, all of these apply.

1. Carve out some time for yourself. Setting the tone for the day by getting up even half an hour earlier will allow you to start the day feeling calm. Resist the temptation to check your social media on waking and instead try journaling or meditation, read something inspirational or do some simple stretching/yoga postures. Our mindset is so important – you either run the day or the day runs you. Hal Elrod’s book ‘The Miracle Morning’ is an excellent read on this subject. 

2. Get online. We’re all becoming more digital and the current situation is only going to accelerate this. It’s probably fair to say that we will not return to old ways of working once social distancing ends. Now is the time to embrace change and it’s a good opportunity to either learn new digital skills or enhance the ones you do have. You could try:

• Getting comfortable with video conferencing platforms to stay in touch with your upline or downline.
• Learning how to use your social media platforms more effectively, and perhaps trying out a social media tool, ( Call me to help you )  in order to schedule, manage and write social media posts.

3. Work in bursts of time. Focus on your most important activity for an hour and a half without distractions or interruptions. Switch off notifications on your phone or email alerts on your laptop. Increasingly it’s being shown that this level of interruption affects the quality of the work we are producing. Take a proper lunch break away from your laptop or desk, then for the remainder of your day work in blocks of an hour. Remember to take ten-minute breaks between tasks, being sure to move around and stay hydrated.

4. A good deed a day. We are social creatures and we need to feel a sense of belonging and contribution for our mental health. What can you do to help someone else? Try to do one kind deed every day. It could be making a phone call to someone you know who is on their own or offering to get the shopping for a vulnerable neighbour. Perhaps you haven’t spoken to some of your Forever customers in a while – why not make it a point to call them just to see how they are doing and if you can offer them some support? We are a Forever Family – the close bonds we form now will last long after social distancing ends and the help you offer to others will be remembered.

5. Focus on your goals. Perhaps it’s time to review your business goals? Do they still resonate, or have they changed? Have an honest appraisal and perhaps talk to someone you respect and trust. Re-evaluate your ‘why’ and move the goal posts if you need to reprioritise. If your goals still hold, re-affirm and re-commit to them! Utilise our business tools to start making progress.

6. Make exercise a priority. With gyms closed for the foreseeable future and people taking fewer steps during the day, we’re all at risk of becoming sedentary. Our playlist of at-home workout videosshould help to keep you going – and why not get involved in the #AloeRallyChallenge on Instagram? (Kick ups with an Aloe Vera Gel bottle – what’s not to love?)

7. Start something new. This is a great opportunity to upskill yourself. Perhaps you could try learning a language or developing a craft or skill you’ve always wanted to try. There are great podcasts, videos and books online that you can utilise to learn these skills. 

8. Build your communities. It’s time to really work on building those online communities. We all need more close bonds to get us through limited socialisation in real life, so get online and start conversations. Ask others what recipes they’re managing to create if they have limited cupboard supplies. Prompt them to reveal their at-home work setup. Find out how they’re entertaining the kids during the time off. 

Building your own small communities of customers and FBOs are a great way to engage and socialise, which in turn will eventually help your business to grow. And don’t forget about bigger ones that already exist if you need some socialisation and inspiration. 

9. Relax and unwind. Try to get off your technology at least an hour before you go to bed to allow you to properly unwind from your day, and sleep better. Aim for at least 7 hours sleep – if you can establish a regular sleep pattern and bedtime routine this will help keep you focused for the day ahead.

We’ll be writing more of these kinds of posts in the coming weeks and we’d love to hear from you about your own tips for home working and staying happy, healthy and upbeat.