How to work from home? Use routines to your advantage!
Fighting distraction while working from home can be tough. Dishes in the sink, undone laundry and a TV in the room can take you away from productivity. In these wild times, add in your partner (who may also be working from home), roommates and fighting the natural urge to get outside–working from home is a challenge.
Creating a structure where you can is the antidote to all the chaos.
Easier said than done?
Go to bed at the same time. Get up at the same time.
If you're working from home, it can be tempting to just lie in bed for as long as you can. But a flexible sleeping schedule is kind of like that time you experimented with eating whatever you wanted–even for breakfast. If it didn't end well then, it won't be any different now. Worse, a poor sleep routine affects your productivity and impacts your whole day. Use the extra time to make a healthy breakfast, speak to your partner or fit in a nice workout!
Dress up and keep your beauty routine.
You don't need to put shoes on, but dressing up can shift your mindset from home to work. Ditch the leggings and sweats for some casual yet put-together pants. Keep a blazer behind your chair for meeting with your colleagues. Groom your brows, curl your lashes and swipe on some tinted lip balm or lipgloss.
Our cordless flat iron and cordless curling iron can get your ready and you don’t need to hog an outlet to do so! Keep a hairbrush nearby to freshen up before a conference call or finish with hairspray if you want to set it and forget it.
And for those days when you can't fit in a shower, try dry shampoo!
Discuss your work routines with your roommates.
Your roommates–family, partner, roommates–are now your de-facto colleagues. If you have the flexibility and haven't done so, optimize your workflow and work routines to set yourself up for success.
Communicate these work routines to make working from homework for everyone. If your partner tends to take meetings at a time you like doing a lot of deep, focused work it's best to communicate that early for harmony in the home. Negotiate how everyone can work well in these circumstances and see where you can have shared schedules, like a proper lunch! No scrolling on phones, allowed!
Take it one step further and discuss with your new colleagues about creating spaces in the home, where possible, for meetings or quiet work. Because no one wants to be that colleague with the wacky spouse in the background.
Have a post-work routine.
It's easy to keep on working when you can't leave the office. Finish up any work, prep anything you need for the next day, turn off notifications and put your phone on airplane mode. Having a wind-down routine you can count on will protect you from burnout and allow you to really enjoy your personal time.
Whatever your wind-down routine is, commit to it!
