Being Your Best in the Home Office

Being Your Best in the Home Office

Whether you were already working from home before March 2020 or suddenly found yourself fashioning a home office during the pandemic, you most likely have discovered some advantages and disadvantages of your easy commute. Try some of these strategies that could help you become even more productive during your busy workday. 

·      Stick with a morning routine- (get outdoors, exercise, meditate, coffee/breakfast, get dressed) and go into your “office”.  

·      Write down an intention – what you want to accomplish on this day - in a notebook. “Today, I am going to focus my energy on writing a blog entry.”

·      Use block scheduling. Set a timer for each task and do not let yourself answer emails, texts, calls, or social media. Then, once your allotted time is up, set the timer again to give yourself time to do what you want. (This works well with kids too) 

·      Make time to connect with another person during the day- whether by phone, walks, group chats/texts, Give and get support from positive people in your lives. 

·      Give yourself 5 - 30 minutes of solitude- just to check in with yourself. (deep breathing, practice mindfulness, self or guided meditation (good apps for this), journaling, looking out a window, power nap, being outside, listening to sounds, noticing how you are physically and emotionally feeling). This is a good reset moment to do in the afternoon when you may get sleepy or unfocused. 

·      After dinner, make your schedule for the next day. Email it to yourself, put it in your calendar, write it down on paper to be seen on your desk, or use whatever method works for you. But, do not let it stay in your head.

·      Abide by your stop work time and allow time just to be- having dinner, hanging with the family, enjoying a glass of wine, watching tv, reading, talking with friends/family.  

BE SURE TO TRY THIS: At the end of the workday, reflect and write down at least one thing that you did that you feel good about. When we focus on these small accomplishments, we actually control our mindset, shifting from “Gosh, I hardly got anything done today” to “I’m so glad this got done today”.  When we feel pleased about our day, we are intrinsically motivated to keep doing more. And, now that most people are working alone, it is imperative that we focus on the good and give ourselves lots of positive feedback.