Working From Home Tips - The Weekly Edit

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 Working From Home, WFH, Remote Working, You're On Mute! 

If you have heard any of the above phrases over the last two years and you are still working from home you're in the right place. 

Over the last two years it has become inevitable that a large number of people have had to work from home and some people are now finding themselves in a situation where remote working is the norm. This post isn't going to be a "how to" of how to juggle work whist the kids are running around your feet circa early 2020 but instead an ongoing weekly post for those of you that that are now finding yourselves in a more permanent home working situation and feel your day lacks routine and structure. For those of you that haven't read any of my blogposts before, my name is Jordan and I am a full time working mum of one, I started this blog as a place to build a community where we can share our ideas whist supporting and empowering each other. 

Below will be Part One of a series over time that I will expand on as I learn and teach myself new tips that work in helping to elevate productivity and also overall wellbeing whist working from home. The tips that I share here will be based on realistic goals and although what I am sharing may seem simple, I think they are very effective. I also think that their simplicity is the key their effectiveness as over the last two years I have read many articles about home working and what to do to be the most productive version of yourself and some of the ideas have been so far fetched, that I didn't even try to implement them into my daily routine as the thought of doing so felt too daunting. 

1. Create a morning routine that works for you! 

You may have seen countless morning routines about how the most successful people start their days at 5am and go for an ice cold shower etc and that is great if it works for you, but if it doesn't and you consistently tell yourself that's something like that is what you will do and then don't do it, you will start your day always feeling like you have failed at the first hurdle. Instead, do what works for you. I am a mum of a particularly early rising child and therefore early mornings are the norm for me but for a long time they felt like such a slog until they became my daily routine. 

My biggest piece of advise for you on this one is try not to change everything all at one time. If for example you want to wake up one or two hours earlier and be in that consistent routine then try to start by waking up 10 minutes earlier for a few weeks and gradually make it a little earlier every few weeks. I think it is also really important to know why you want to add things into your routine. If you are doing it just because it seems to be what other successful people are doing it you may find you are not consistent with it, whereas if you are looking at it from the perspective of "this is what I want to achieve with my extra time" you will be far more inclined to stick to it as you have attached a personal why to it. I want to be really honest also and say that if you're like me you may just want to wake up to have some 'me time' before the rest of the house wakes up and the hustle and bustle of every day commences, that is absolutely fine. The things you implement in your morning routine do not have to be complicated they just need to work for you. Think of your ideal morning and take small steps towards that visions. I may even share my morning routine with you all one day if that is something you would be interested in.

2. Prepare ahead of time!

Now this one will apply to many different people in many different ways but the way I like to look at this is that the more prepared I can be now, the easier my life will be in the future. It sounds so simple, yet so many people tell me if I could just be more prepared my days would be easier. it really is simple we just need to make it a part of our overall routine. I think for me when working from home there are three key areas that I would call out as vital for creating a more seamless working week when it comes to prepping for the week ahead. 

- Food prep 

- We are all busy in some capacity in our lives and sometimes we can all feel from time to time like we are too busy to make a healthy meal during our work day. Sometimes the even flows into the evening, once you have had a moment to think how hard your day has been and how much easier it is to jump on Just Eat to grab a takeaway. Prepping food ahead of time will mean you have good healthy food that will see you through your day's and evening's for at least a few days of the week. The same rule also applies here as it did in tip one, start with something manageable for you. You don't need to be a pro meal prepper, maybe just having one healthy batch cooked meal in your freezer to start with will help you on at least one of your days. 

- The night before

- Something that helps me a lot as a mum and just in life is making sure that I have the majority of the things that I need for the next day laid out or sorted into bags and categories the night before. This means that when you are trying to hustle to get the kids to school on time or get on that virtual meeting on time you are not fumbling around looking for your things and this will help keep our morning routine a calmer one which I find helps me get off to a better start in my day.

- Study your calendar 

- I absolutely live by my calendar as a lot of my days are consumed with meetings and so knowing where I need to be is key otherwise my entire day can feel chaotic. I will review my calendar every evening to look at timings and make sure I am not double booked and if you work in a Flexi way where sometimes you have to travel be sure to factor your travel time . I also implement time blocking into my day when I am working solo so that if I have a task to do I know I have a set amount of time to complete it and this stops me procrastinating. When looking at my calendar, I also know that I work in a very visual way and so I like to colour code the type of meetings I am having, this means that I know what things are happening and when without really have to look at the meeting detail if it something that is reoccurring.

3. Make your workspace inviting!

At the beginning of my working from home journey, it was in circumstances far beyond our control and like many others at the time we did what we could to set up a workspace in a house that had never been used for this purpose before. My personal experience of how working from home started was with me having in my old house having to set up my workspace on my dining room table whist living and working alone with a two year old 24/7. It was stressful and what I learnt over time is that the environment felt stressful to work in too. So please don't look at the photo above and think I have always had a lovely home office as that is not the case. During the dining room table phase of working on a full computer set up and not something that could be packed down every night, I did learn some tricks to keeping my workspace feeing inviting but also separate from my home which meant I could disconnect far more easily at the end of each day.  

- Add plants into your work space - whether you prefer faux or real it's completely your choice but having plants and flowers around you will instantly help to give a more relaxed feeling to your environment especially if you live somewhere that does not have outdoor space.

- Make sure your surroundings are clean - When working anywhere I find that if my physical space is cluttered then my mind also feels cluttered, so next time you have a deep clean or organisation day, make sure you prioritise your workspace first.

- If you can, set boundaries with your workspace -  If you are working from a location in your house that is used by others, make sure you have a conversation with them about being respectful of your space whist you are working. If you have children I know this will be a whole different ball game and keeping them out of your personal space is not something I have mastered yet soooooo....... we can just keep trying!

- Pack down your workspace at the end of the day - I say this in terms of organisation. if you can't physically pack down your set up, make sure that your desk is organised and that your diary is up to date and ready for the next day. Give the surfaces a wipe down and get it to a state so that it doesn't create stress for you if it is communal and you see it. This will help it feel more inviting the next morning and also it will create that separation routine, so you know once that is done it means no more working for the day. 

- add something that brings you joy - this may be a photo of someone you love or a keepsake, even a candle that you only light when you are working. As long as it makes you happy, make sure you add it.

I hope even just one of these tips has helped even just one person, I will continue doing a weekly post on this until I have exhausted all of my ideas.

Remember as I have said throughout, when trying to make change, if it feels like to much all at once then just start small and once you feel comfortable with your small changes then you can implement more over time.

Have a wonderful and happy week! 

Jordan x