I am a veteran home-worker. For the last 21 years I have spent most of my working life working from home. I’ve done a few jobs here and there where I worked in an office for short spells but mostly I enjoy working at home. So, as you can imagine, I’ve developed a way to work from home and stay sane – not necessarily an easy task!
Why do I say stay sane? When you’re isolated it’s very easy for any bad feelings to come to the surface because your attention can often get stuck on yourself as you’re not interacting with other people in the “real” world. You may be talking to people electronically – texting, video, email etc. – but it’s not the same as the interaction you get with someone in person. When working in an office there’s the in-office banter that goes on, it’s easier to talk to people and generally, your attention is more out than in.
So, here are my tips for “staying sane” when working from home – and tips to stay productive too!
1. Start the day with a walk
Before you sit down at your desk, before you check your emails, before you listen to your messages – go out for a walk. It’s easy to roll from your bed, eat breakfast and then roll into your chair at your desk – and vice versa at the end of the day! If you go for a walk it punctuates the day and gives you a “start”. I always think of it as “walking to work”. It gives me a chance to get into the right frame of mind to tackle the work for the day.
It may not be the nicest weather but it’s still good to go out – even if it’s only 10 minutes – and then “start!”
2. Shower and get dressed
It might be tempting to wear your PJs all day long but again, this won’t put you in the “work” frame of mind. I’m not saying put on your best work clothes – wear something comfortable if you like, but make it a point that you are dressed. And if you feel better when you have makeup on then do that too.
3. Set yourself a schedule
This might be an obvious one but the reason I say it is because it’s very easy to stop work for a snack, read the paper, check Facebook. There are plenty of distractions when you work from home!
That doesn’t mean you can’t take a break for a snack but make sure you include this in your schedule. If you like to have things exactly laid out as far as your routine goes then this is ideal for you. But even if not I would recommend it – perhaps you don’t stick to the exact times but near enough.
For example, I generally eat lunch around midday but sometimes it’s later. I’ll have a break mid-afternoon for a tea and a snack – this might be 3pm or it might be 4pm, depending on what I’m working on.
4. Write a to-do list
At the beginning of the day write a list of things you want to accomplish that day. Make sure you break it down into bite-size doable actions.
I find this a vital action to do every day – even if it’s the same thing every day. It helps to keep the focus on what you’re doing, it’s satisfying when you can cross things off your list and it will help you to progress and complete the bigger targets.
If your job entails a number of “hats” it’s a good idea to write the to-do list based on these hats. This is especially important if you’re self-employed and have to do different jobs within your business.
For example, write headings on your to-do list for the hats:
Marketing
Production
Finance
And then under each of these headings write the actions you’re going to do for those hats for that day. This is also a way to ensure you don’t just fixate on one hat and let the other important hats get forgotten.
5. Set up your workspace
Ideally you would have a desk to work on and not just the dining table. Get a comfortable office chair if you’re going to be sitting for long periods. Dining chairs are not so good for that and long term will cause you to have problems with your back and neck. If you do have space for a desk then set this up like you would in any office. Keep it tidy and when you’re at your desk you are “at work”.
It can be difficult to work from home if there are young children around so if you can set up in a separate room that’s good but if not, explain to your children that when you’re at your desk you’re working and not to disturb you – sounds simple I know, and I also know that they may completely ignore your instructions! That is one of the hardest things about working from home so whatever works for you in this respect, then do that.
6. Take regular breaks from the computer
This is for anyone who spends a lot of time working on a computer. This might sound contrary to point #3 but it doesn’t mean take a break and eat something!
It’s very easy to get into the habit of working for hours non-stop staring at the screen. This is bad for your eyes, bad for your posture and bad for you because your attention is fixated. Ideally, take a little break every 30 minutes or 1 hour. I have a reminder on my computer which pops up every 30 minutes. It tells me to look away from the screen for 30 seconds and even recommends some eye exercises to do. I tend to use this as a reminder to stand up, do a few neck rolls, knee bends, hip circles etc.
If you use Chrome, search for “Take a Break for My Eyes” and you’ll find it. There are other similar apps for different browsers like Firefox and Safari.
7. Control your eating habits
This is an extension of #3 above. When working from home it is so easy to keep popping into the kitchen and grabbing a snack. This can be because you’re bored, lonely or just because it’s handy – whatever the reason, don’t do it! Time your breaks for snacks – or don’t snack at all if you’re not hungry.
8. Take actual meal breaks
This means don’t just grab a plate of food and continue working but move away from your desk and eat at the dining/kitchen table or on the sofa. If you eat food while continuing to work there are a number of things that can happen.
First, it’s not good for your digestion as you don’t concentrate on what you’re eating. It’s easy to just wolf it down when you don’t take the time to enjoy and savour the food.
Secondly, there’s no break in your routine and this will eventually result in burn-out. Constantly looking at the screen, constantly working can make you feel like there’s no end and no beginning – it’s all work, work, work. Believe me – I’ve done it!
9. Arrange to meet a friend once or twice a week
Meeting up with a friend (or colleague) for tea/coffee gets you out of the house and helps to keep that “human contact” factor in your life. It’s a chance to talk about anything and nothing – you can talk about how it’s going in your life or just talk about the latest movie you watched, or the weather! It’s also a chance to listen to what’s going on in someone else’s life. When you do that it takes your attention off yourself and your problems and can actually make you feel better about your own problems.
Choose someone who is a good listener as well as a good talker. That way you won’t feel like they’ve done all the talking or you’ve done all the talking.
10. Take some “me” time
If it all gets too much then take some time out for yourself. When working from home it’s very isolating and sometimes this becomes too much, especially if you don’t like the work you’re doing.
This could be a trip to the hairdresser, beauty salon, reading a book, do a bit of shopping – whatever. As long as it refreshes you and makes you feel like you can get back to work.
I used to have a job which I really didn’t like and on Monday morning I felt so unhappy and so unmotivated I just couldn’t get started. So I used to walk to my local coffee shop (30 minute walk), have a coffee by myself and then walk home. This would take the best part of the morning and you might think it was a waste of time, but it actually meant that when I got back home I was in a better frame of mind and motivated enough to get going.
I hope you’ve found these tips to be useful.
If you’re feeling particularly stressed about working from home you might be interested in this 10 Day Stress Detox Course – giving you one thing to do each day to help reduce stress.
