Working from home can be tricky, can’t it? Especially if you’re used to going to the office each day, chatting with co-workers, seeing people, and, you know, going to work like most people do! I have been to ‘proper’ work before, but for the last 10 or so years, I’ve been working from home. So I hope I have some tips to share that might help you. I have to say that even with ‘significant’ work from home experience(!) this situation is still a strange one. The children are at home all the time. Nursery is closed (and they used to go every morning until 1pm or 2pm) and my mother-in-law, who used to over two afternoons a week is staying away, as she should be, at this time. Here are a few tips that I hope will help…
Working from home during lockdown
Here are few tips for working from home during lockdown. I’m not an expert on this situation – who is?! But I think my 10 years working from home experience helps a little here!
- Accept it’s not normal and it’s not ideal. Also accept that it’s not forever. Don’t look too far ahead as no one knows what’s going to happen exactly – the people who are writing about it often don’t know any more than you do.
- A vague plan is good. Stressing yourself out over the plan is not.
- There are some amazing online resources to help you exercise and move your body online. Even if you’re working from home and you can only leave the house once a day for your exercise, you can still exercise in the house. You can also do things like pilates, yoga, , HIIT – there are lots of things you can do in the house. It’ll help your body and mind to get it moving.
- Have a rough plan for work too. If you have the kids at home, you might find you can only work in evenings and weekends. If you don’t, you might find that your partner might be on Skype for work all day and that means that you can only do certain jobs at certain times. Make it work around the ‘issues’ you have and think about when you can get that window of time.
- Try and create an area to work – even just the corner of a room. You can have all your stuff in the right place then and it’s slightly easier to draw a line between work and life.
- Try not to get distracted by social media and news websites. First of all, it’s not a good use of your time if you go down one of those rabbit holes, but reading articles that are written just to sell papers and get clicks can also have a negative impact on your mental health. And that can change your mood and the trajectory of your whole day. Don’t let it.
- Join good groups. The Small & Supercharged group is a great example of this. This is my group (so I’m biased!) but it’s a fab, supportive community and I’ve seen the good work it continues to do. The Small & Supercharged Extra group and the Small & Supercharged Mastermind group are amazing too. It doesn’t have to be a business group – it can be one that supports your passions in life. But make sure you find a good one.
- Use the technology. Get on Zoom, get on Facetime, do whatever works for you and reach out to people. Have a group meeting at lunchtime. Have a chat over morning coffee. It’s not the same but it’s pretty damn good.
- Write lists. It’s easy to lose your ‘thread’ at the moment on what you should and have to be doing as so much has changed, so it’s easy to miss things as you might not be doing things in the same order as before.
- Learn a new thing in your ‘travel time’. Amanda from 3 Donkeys is using lockdown to teach her pigs to sit. It doesn’t have to be a business thing you want to learn, but it can be.
- Plan your food, snacks and drinks. I need to get better at this, but when I do, it helps.
- Give yourself downtime. If you don’t, your work/life will become one big lump of stuff and it will feel relentless.
- Think. Think about what you’re doing now and if that’s what you want. It’s a very good time to review what’s going on in your world and how you can make adjustments to improve your life.
- Be grateful. Annabel Brocks did an amazing video about this for my IGTV channel and talked about her gratitude rainbow and I loved it. Being grateful can help a lot.
- Keep in mind that it won’t last forever. Remove the pressure. If you can get help to do things – do. If you need to use the Paw Patrol to help you manage your children for 22 mins to have a breather, then do. Give yourself a break. Seek help and support.
- If you’re struggling with your mental health – please reach out. There are lots of places online that can help you. Mind is one I hear a lot about but definitely have a google and see which organisation sounds like a good fit for you and the way you might be feeling.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this podcast. And more than that I hope that some of the tips have helped you. As I say, I’m not an expert on this exact situation, but I have worked at home for a about 10 years now and I hope that the tips I’ve picked up along the way have helped. Thanks for tuning in.
