Working from home: Top tips for maintaining your productivity & your health

Many office workers will have been asked to work from home by employers in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic we are currently experiencing. In many cases, this means working from a small home office, or a kitchen/dining room table, with little to no contact with the outside world. 

Maintaining your productivity and your health from both a physical and mental perspective is paramount in these circumstances.  

Here are a few simple tips to keep your mind and your body healthy, and firing on all cylinders.

Start the day right (morning routine)

• Get up at the same time you normally would. Don’t waste these valuable early hours. Say ‘goodbye’ to your commute, and ‘hello’ to extra time in the mornings to start your day right, and get more done. “Own your morning, Elevate your life” a quote from  ‘The 5am Club’, by Robin Sharma.  (In my Top 10 books ever).
• Hydrate your body. Drink 1-2 large glasses of water upon waking. Add lemon and salt for additional health benefits 
• Start your day with some light exercise. Do some stretches, yoga, or body weight exercises. Prime your body for the day. Do this before you sit down to start your work. Your body and your mind will thank you. Benefits of morning exercise.
• Take a shower & get changed. You don’t necessarily need to put on your shiniest shoes, or your best shirt, but don’t sit around in your pajamas all day. Cold showers may seem extreme to some, but even 30 seconds at the end of your warm shower can give you the boost you need to kick start your day. (Benefits of cold showers, Wim Hof). 
• Meditate. In the Tim Feriss book ‘The Tools of Titans - Tim interviews some of the most successful people in the world at everything - athletes, entrepreneurs, billionaires, and hollywood stars. There are 3 common threads across nearly all of the ‘world leaders and champions’ interviewed in the book (1) nearly all get up early - 5am or 6am (2) they all have coaches/mentors to help them learn and evolve each day (3) pretty much all do some form of meditation. There are many ways to meditate, it doesn’t need to be crossed legged on the floor, and in silence. For beginners I recommend the apps - Headspace or Calm. For others, using meditation soundtracks or visualisation techniques are good options. Practicing focus first thing in the morning is powerful, and can often lead to out of the ordinary results. 
• Plan your day. Take some time to evaluate the Most Important Tasks (MIT’s) on your to do list. Book time slots in your diary to make sure your MIT’s  happen. Using a journal you fill out every morning is a good way to get started with this; I use and recommend the BestSelf journal to my clients. 

During your working day

No commute, no office distractions, no unnecessary meetings - this should all result in a more productive day, right?! You would think so! 

However, quite often we know this is not the case. Our intentions are good, but our productivity can often be low when we are not being held accountable. 

This has two possible outcomes - working even longer hours just to your work done, or worse still ‘not getting your work done at all’ . 

A few tips to prevent this from happening. 

Fix your working hours. Set your working hours, and stick to them. You may choose to start early, and finish early - this is a good option. Depending on the work you do, you may be able to fit your other lifestyle commitments around your work - work a few hours in the morning, take a break to spend some time with your family, and then get through another 3-4 hours of work in the afternoon/early evening. The key is communication, make sure your boss knows how you have fixed your schedule, and stick to it. This is an opportunity to show you can still get your work done, when left to your own devices. Great for when you need to ask to work from home in the future. 

Work in time blocks. Block your diary out into chunks of time. Each chunk of time should be associated with a task. For example, 9am-10am: Finish proposal for big project. Make sure your day is task orientated, don’t just aimlessly 'do'. This will help you to avoid wasting time, and get more done. 

I would also schedule breaks from work. Give yourself a break every 90 minutes. Get up, stretch your legs, walk around for a bit, get some daylight. If you are on your own all day, maybe call a friend or a colleague. These breaks will help you stay focused and work harder in the time blocks you have scheduled for work. Managing energy, Not time is the key to high performance: The Power of Full Engagement.

Schedule time for exercise. By the nature of working from home, it is likely you are going to be a lot less active. Let’s not let Coronavirus impact your health or your wellbeing. There are many ways to stay active whilst working from home. 

• Home workouts. There are many varieties of home workouts - most of which you can do with just your body weight, so no excuses. If you have some dumbbells or a kettlebell, get them out and start moving. Contact me if you want some ideas for this - we are delivering online exercise & nutrition programming via our app.
• Go for a run in the park. 
• Hire a PT for 1-on-1 park sessions 
• At home yoga 
• Go for a walk 
• Have a stretch at home

Plan your meals. It is really easy to let your healthy eating habits slide when you are out of your normal routine. When working from home, it is important to plan your eating, so you don’t end up emptying the biscuit tin, eating poorly balanced meals, or snacking on the wrong things. 

My suggestion is, plan your food a few days in advance. Make sure you know what you are eating each day (at least the day before). Stock your fridge with plenty of fresh vegetables and whole foods. 

Start with a healthy breakfast - eggs, oats, chia pudding - there are so many great options you can find online, check out Healthy breakfast ideas from the Food Medic. When you cook lunch - cook enough for the next day or two. Same applies for dinner. If you can prepare your meals for the next few days, it will save you hours, and hopefully help you stay on track with what you are eating. Easy to cook - healthy lunch & dinner ideas. Another great website I use is Fit Men Cook.

“We are having a daily stand up for 15 minutes, a virtual team lunch on a Wednesday, and virtual Friday drinks. We are making sure we put time aside for exercise and doing the things we love. We are being mindful of continuing to share 'glass half full' stories. We are also looking into what we can do to help with the bigger issue that people are facing in regards to the CoronaVirus - local charities, food banks, the elderly.”

Ollie Sharpe, VP Revenue at Saleloft

Evening routine 

You would think this is the simple bit. It is really, however many of us fall into the same traps. 

Two simple tips. 

Have a ‘no more work’ time. It is important to have an agreed cut off point, where you are no longer available. It is all too easy to work through into your evening without ever switching off. This is unhealthy, and will lead to burn out. Agree on a time where you will stop working, communicate it with your boss, and honour it. This will keep you fresh, and ready to go and again tomorrow. In 95% of cases, answering the email at 8am the following day will be sufficient. 

Wind-down routine. We all had one when we were children, and it was what helped us sleep well, and through the night. As adults, many of us grow out of these routines and replace them with ‘over stimulation’ - mobile phones, Netflix, computer games, work emails, online shopping. 

A few things I recommend to ensure you close off the day in a positive way, and set yourself up for success tomorrow. 

• Review your day. Give yourself a pat on the back for the ‘wins’ you had, reflect on what went wrong, and the lessons that you learnt. This is a really good practice, and will help you stay motivated and grow each day. 
• Plan tomorrow today. Before you hang up your boots for the day, re-evaluate your ‘To Do’ list, and prioritise what you need to do tomorrow. Block out time slots in your diary to tackle these tasks. This will save you time in the morning. 
• ‘End of work day’ ritual. Do something that signifies the end of the day. This could be something as simple as closing your laptop and saying the words “right, that’s me done for the day”. Other options are - go for a walk, exercise, meditate, play with your kids, give your partner a hug.     
• Do something you enjoy. This is quite straightforward, just do something you like doing. Play some sport, eat dinner with your family/partner, call a friend/family member, watch a movie. 
• Do something that relaxes you. In the last hour before bed, try to stick to activities that are relaxing. Take a shower/bath, dim the lights, relaxing music, meditation, read a book. Try and avoid TV, mobile phones, any form of blue light. 

At Absolute Mind Body we help organisations to create healthy, high-performing work environments. Whilst COVID-19 is forcing many of us to work from home, we are committed to supporting our clients and their employees with the tools to stay healthy and productive from the comfort of their homes. Contact me for more info on our remote solutions.