Working from home these days? Prime-time for creating new habits

For more than a month now, our work practices have been shaken and a new normal is established. I am in the privileged position that even before this, a lot of what I did could be done from home office - not only because most of my team and colleagues are seated around the world but because our company, Continental AG, has had flexible work policies for more than a couple of years now. I wish I could say the same for my dermatology doctor wife who day 1 into a new job a week ago had a brush with COVID-19 and who cannot wait for telemedicine to turn into less of voodoo and more of tech opportunity.

Policies or not, home office isn't for everybody and I had to re-evaluate some of my own expectations and home-office habits to keep this going. I took audio notes of some tips while jogging the other day and here they are:

1. Have a proper desk and a proper chair - it seems obvious but until the corona lock-down, I didn't have either. And now that I have them, I cannot imagine going back to the dining room table. [The leading picture of this article is before the chair arrived]
2. Board markets + windows + post-its - 3 essential staples of the office. They also work in the home office. Without children (apart from a 4-legged one which did indeed "highlighted" the carpet once), I don't have to worry about a coloring mess. But I do have to worry about running out of windows (or writing something confidential).
3. Do sports - even more of it. Hard to overstate, incredibly easy to underestimate. Without the commute time (which I haven't had for more than a year now since my office is just one street number removed from where I live), it is tempting to engulf yourself in work. Engulfing in work increases risk of trousers being engulfed by fat. Not to mention the additional levels of stress, uncertainty and limited availability of healthier food options during a pandemic - staying fit cannot be underestimated.
4. Dress for work - if not even better than before. We've all heard that a number of times and if you don't do that for the occasional video conference (where you also must dress your *bottoms* for work), do it for your own self-confidence. Only magazine ad people look good in sweats and that's only because that's their job - yours isn't it.
5. Being a virtual smart ass still means you are a smart ass - in fact, in this situation, that makes you a "villainous virtual smart ass". The extreme conditions we live in, amplify our peculiarities. So avoid sarcasm, cynicism, conspiratorial mongering, sadistic questions, and anything that would suggest that you know better.
6. Be a "yes, and"-er - not a "no, but[t]"-er. That's a difficult one but let's just say that saying "no" to every idea you hear is only going to make sure that you do not get invited to the post-corona party.
7. Turn the stress into positive excitement - we all have it, even the well-composed-and-always-appearing-so-wise of us have it. I bet even Arianna Always-Perfect Huffington has moments when she wants to just 'sleep it off'. Don't let stress turn you into an emotionally charged hot potato. And if you can't just 'sleep it off' or 'run it off' (see point 3), then the next best thing is to 'dance it off' - turn on the volume on the "Feel Good" Apple Music playlist and dance around the house (just make sure the blinds are down - not because of the neighbors but to recreate the club environment we all crave).
8. Now is the time to put your fancy coaching hat and be a people-focused leader. More than ever before, in times like these, we need to put on a human face with emotions, empathy, and desire to help others. Ask yourself: how successful your team is, how aligned people in it are, who has what interests and motivations, what drives people most, what hinders them. Keep a list and speak to your team how you can help them develop now more than ever. Excite them with the new opportunities (that's what it is so important that you do number 6 and 7 before you expect it of others)!

On a scale from existential to wasteful, this crisis is probably closer to the former than the latter and so we need to keep asking ourselves "what does it mean for me" and where the opportunity for growth is. I know it is hard (there are days I want to close myself in the shell and stay until this is all over) and that's ok - nothing great happens in comfort zones. So I keep pushing myself to develop new routines and habits, outside of the realms of comfort (to the chagrin of family, friends and colleagues). Remember: "this, too, shall pass".