Hi! My name is Lindsey, I work for Inizio, and over the last two months of quarantine, I have found ways to embrace working from home by creating a balance between work, mental health, and leisure. I have gathered helpful insights and tips on how to take advantage of working from home and creating a balance during quarantine!
This series will be divided into three parts: balancing work, mental health, and leisure – with all topics addressing #WFH life. This week’s topic is all about creating a balance when working from home: giving you insight into how I am managing work from home life and sharing helpful tips on how to stick to a routine, create a distraction free workspace, and maintain a friendly and productive relationship with coworkers!
Balancing Work:
Stick to a Routine
During quarantine, I have found that following a daily routine has helped me stay balanced throughout the day and week. Creating a new routine during this time has also allowed me to incorporate daily and easy goals that help boost my mental health and creativity outside of working hours. Each day I write down my goals, both for work and leisure, and incorporate them into my routine – I always feel accomplished when I complete my goals knowing that I stuck to my routine. Beyond goals, I use my morning to catch up on local and global current events before work and at dinner time I check in with friends and family while cooking dinner.
Tips:
- Make sure you wake up at the same time everyday during the week and do your morning routine like you usually did before Covid-19. With the extra time spent not commuting, perhaps do a workout or do some morning reading.
- End your day at the same time everyday if possible. When working from home, it can be difficult to step away from work, but it is essential that you stop and either shut down your work space or hide your work tabs until the next day.
- Make sure your coworkers are aware of the hours you plan to be online and working, and that they adhere to your schedule.
- When you need a work break, listen to a podcast or watch a TEDTalk to keep your mind stimulated, and if possible for where you live, go outside for a quick walk to get some fresh air.
Create a Work Area with Minimal Distractions
Where I live, three of us are working from home so there can be a lot of distractions. At first we all worked at the dining room table with our computers together, but now we work in separate rooms of the house – now having the privacy to chat with coworkers and focus on our individual projects. Since I work on my laptop, I have found it helpful to create a makeshift workspace by stacking coffee table books on top of each other to elevate my laptop screen to make my area more ergonomic. Additionally, I have started turning off my phone and distracting post notifications that pop up on my screen so I don’t get easily distracted when I work.
Tips:
- Make sure your home office/workspace is set up somewhere with minimal distractions. If you live with multiple people that are also working from home, invest in noise cancelling headphones so that you can zone your environment out and are less distracted.
- Make your workspace ergonomic. Your body’s health is important, so invest in a supportive and comfortable chair and make sure your computer monitor is correctly aligned with your vision.
- Create time limits on distracting websites or social media apps, or simply shut them down while you work.
- If you have kids, make sure you explain to them that you need time and privacy to work. And if you co-parent, take turns with your partner as to who looks over the children and entertains them while the other works.
Continue to Check In and Socialize with Coworkers
Being away from coworkers has made it tricky when it comes to collaboration and communication. My coworkers and I have found that creating more shared calendars and to-do lists has helped keep each other more informed. We also have daily check-ins with each other over the phone to clear up misunderstandings and to brainstorm new ideas.
Tips:
- In order to not feel isolated from coworkers, make sure to check in with them everyday. If you have already been doing that, check in with them to see if they have a preference for a certain communication method. At this point, your coworker may prefer video chat, instant messaging, email, or phone call when discussing work or catching up on life.
- Make sure to talk about life beyond work and refrain from discussing Covid-19, as it brings some individuals anxiety, and instead ask them about how they are spending their leisure time.
- Have weekly happy hours with your team/company. Digital happy hours are a great way to catch up, play games, and learn more about each other.
In the age of #WFH, being able to balance work by sticking to a routine, creating a distraction free workspace, and checking in with coworkers, can ensure that you are still a productive and focused worker. Remember to take this time of working from home to focus on yourself and your needs without feeling stressed or feeding into the 24/7 grind culture, especially during these unusual times.
Once again this is Lindsey from Inizio, sharing my tips and insight on how I am balancing working from home during these unusual times and I hope they have inspired you.
Tune in next week to read about how I am balancing mental health during #WFH!
Stay healthy and safe out there!