Is Your Home Office Working For You?
For many, the remote work life has become the new normal, offering greater flexibility and a better work-life balance. However, working from home can often blur the lines between professional and personal life, leading to burnout, distraction, and the infamous "work from bed" habit. What's more, it can be harder to stay motivated when it's only yourself you have to count on. Here are 20 tips designed to help you create a work-from-home routine that fosters productivity and well-being.
1. Separate Work & Home Life
For most people, the most challenging aspect of working from home is maintaining a separation between their professional and home life. Creating clear boundaries is key to avoiding burnout.
2. Designate A Workspace
While it can be tempting to just wake up and open your laptop in bed when working from home, it's a bad habit as it can blur your boundaries too much. Whether you have a designated office in your home or just a corner with a desk, create a designated work space that's separate from where you do other things.
3. Set Consistent Hours
Maintaining consistent work hours is one of the most important boundaries you can set for yourself. Even if you receive work emails and messages at all hours of the day, refrain from responding outside of your 9-to-5 unless it's an emergency.
4. Minimize Distractions
Your house is full of distractions from other family members to the laundry that's staring at you from the corner of the room. Remove distractions from your line of vision and make sure that anyone you share your home with knows to respect your working hours.
5. Eat Lunch Away From Your Desk
Give yourself a chance to mentally recharge by taking your lunch away from your desk. It's been shown to improve focus, creativity, and even digestion.
6. Take Breaks
Schedule yourself ten-minute breaks throughout your day to boost productivity. Better yet, take your breaks outside where you can get some fresh air and serotonin-producing vitamin D.
7. Eat Healthy
Research has found that the majority of people gain weight after switching to a work-from-home routine largely because they have trouble resisting the temptations of their fully stocked kitchen, mere steps away. Fill your cupboards with healthy snacks to ensure you continue to eat healthy.
8. Have A Morning Routine
Even though you have nowhere to go, it's beneficial for your mental and physical health to continue preparing for your day in the morning, just like you would if you were going into the office. Take a shower, get dressed, and even go for a walk before work to maintain a healthy routine and help you mentally prepare for your day.
9. Exercise Regularly
Exercise is about more than just staving off those extra pounds that work-from-home life often contributes, it also helps improve your physical health, focus, and energy. Even small stretches or push-up breaks can help get the blood flowing.
10. Get Out Of The House Daily
Even though you don't have to, it's good for your mental health to get out of the house every day. Even just a short walk around the block can help break up the day and re-energize you.
11. Interact With Colleagues
Interacting with colleagues just like you would if you were in the office is important for your mental health and for maintaining morale. It can be as simple as asking about someone's weekend.
12. Maintain A Social Life
It's easy to forget to prioritize hanging out with friends when your life is busy, but it's more important than you may think. Socializing is crucial for your mental health and well-being, especially when your whole workday is solitary.
13. Hydrate
Remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Often, the reason you feel low-energy or unproductive is simply that you're not hydrated enough.
14. Set Goals
Goals inform your daily habits and create a sense of control and purpose, things that are sometimes lost with the work-from-home dynamic. Having clear goals and a roadmap with achievable milestones helps maintain motivation.
15. Take Sick Days When Needed
When working from home, many of us will feel inclined to work through sick days. After all, we'd just be sitting at home anyway. However, being sick is your body's way of telling you that you need to take a pause, so continuing to take sick days when needed is important for your overall health and for avoiding burnout.
16. FaceTime
Scheduling FaceTime with colleagues is a great way to continue to feel connected and avoid feeling isolated. It's also much easier to collaborate when you can have face-to-face interactions.
17. Create An End Of Day Routine
Whether it's taking a short walk or closing your laptop and putting it away, having an end-of-day routine that signifies that your workday is over is important for symbolically breaking up the day. It's key to maintaining a separation between your work and home life.
18. Don't Try To Multitask
It's tempting to try to multitask while you're working from home, especially when there are tasks around the house, like a sink of dirty dishes staring you in the face. Try to minimize distractions to avoid the temptation, as it usually results in lower productivity and work quality.
19. Avoid Social Media
When no supervisor is watching you, it's easy to fall into the trap of scrolling when you have a lull at work, but it can easily get out of hand and doesn't provide your brain with a proper break. Instead of looking at social media, spend your breaks stretching or going for small walks.
Timothy Hales Bennett on Unsplash
20. Ask For Things You Need
As your employer, the company you work for should be committed to your well-being, and it's their job to provide you with the same comforts you would have if you were in the office. If you need additional items to create the perfect work-from-home setup, especially if it would improve your productivity, don't be afraid to ask your manager.
