Working from Home - Tips

I think these tips will help, not just working from home, but more in general as we are faced with longer lockdown during these crazy times. I've included two pictures of my workspaces. As you can see I like flowers and tea:)

I've worked and studied from home for a long time.

Firstly I find it is helpful to define a workspace. I do have an office but I like the large dining table we currently have so that I can spread out a bit with my work. Doing a PhD and running a business can all roll into one sometimes so its good to try to separate different pieces of work as well. When defining a workspace, and with the length of time we might be doing this, I'd suggest having a look at how your home works for you, what is a good space, how can you section areas off. It might be as simple as only working at the table and maybe not working at the end that is set for dinner. Flowers do give a nice colour boost and don't have to be real to give you the colour and vibrancy that acts as a pick me up. I have a blanket and some tea so that I am always warm and hydrated. I have a blanket so that I don't turn up the heating. That would make me sleepy. I also make sure there is a good light source near the laptop so that people can see me on skype and its not a dark background. It's good to be organised so a pen holder, a filofax or diary and a notepad is always a good thing to have close. Packing up at the end of the day signals that its time to switch off and work is over, so you can then transition into you time.

Once you have the workspace set up its a good idea to get a routine together. Now you aren't commuting there is more time in the day. You can be more flexible with work so if you have an appointment you can always work a little later or earlier if you need to go out. Factoring in exercise time is quite crucial to giving your brain time to think about the tasks it is doing and you can again make a dedicated space for this too so some yoga or kettle bells, go for walks go in the garden. I find that really helps to be active. Have a solid lunch break and get away from work even if it is just to watch an episode of something or go for a walk as that mental space helps. Diary things in, one of my friends said " arrange at least one thing per day" and I've found that helps a lot to keep active. It is much easier to keep bed times and waking times with this type of routine as your body gets used to it and without the constant stress of commuting it is easier to be less stressed.

Meal times are different when working from home as we don't move about as much so I find the following helpful; I either load the larger meals towards the beginning of the day or I eat lightly throughout the day. A meal plan might be avocado on toast an egg based breakfast like an omelette, a fish lunch with a couple of new potatoes or a small portion of rice and then a chicken salad for dinner. I do have pot noodles sat in front of netflix sometimes for lunch. Watching an episode helps me process. Also, I might go the other way and have bacon sandwiches for breakfast then a salad lunch and fish dinner.

I would say as well that facetime and skype is your friend. I just discovered netflix party and youtube party where you can watch films with friends. It's important to treat yourself and try a new tea or coffee for variation, have a bubble bath, have a steak dinner with wine on Friday. Whatever works for you. Be flexible with yourself but enjoy the time this brings to do simple activities like read, go for walks and spend time with your family. Remember to invest in yourself and be less stressed.