Hey friends!

At first I was going to say that I hope you’re hanging in there, but I instead want to say I hope you’re thriving. I hope this period of quiet and slow has given you enough time and space to finally rest and take care of yourself or accomplish some goals you’ve had on standby.

This week I started working from home. My place of work is still open, but some of us were given the ability to work from home. As much as I am pleased to be able to be home and get my work done in the safety and comfort of my own home, being at home presents its challenges. Mainly, the challenges I bring upon myself. I need a routine in order to be productive. If I do not have a routine, I will not produce. I will sit in my bed and play The Sims or Legend of Zelda all day if I am not careful. I will also forget to eat appropriately. Therefore, I need to set a routine. So far (it hasn’t been very long) my routine has been pretty effective. This is probably also due to the fact that I’ve actually been practicing this routine for a while now as I use it on my off days to ensure that I actually get up and get some creating in. I’m going to share that routine here, it’s what works for me, so if you are struggling with this new free range way of life and need some structure, this may work for you as well.

My WFH routine

1. Set my alarm – My alarm goes off once at 7:30 and another time at 8:00. The 7:30 one rouses me from my sleep and allows me a half hour to either go back to sleep, scroll through social media, catch up on emails or simply stare up at the ceiling and contemplate my existence.
2. Make my bed – I read somewhere that this was a good habit to keep, therefore I do it almost every time I leave my bed. A tidy room also helps me to feel ready to be productive.
3. Shower – Although this one irritates me because I am so warm and toasty in the morning and hate the thought of jumping in the shower, the process of showering tells my brain that we’re awake and that time for rest and relaxation is over.
4. Eat Well- I make breakfast so that my body fully wakes up! Also, food helps me focus.
5. Tea – Because, tea. That is all.
6. Set Goals – Make a list of things you specifically want accomplished during this session of work. Maybe you want to read and reply to all emails or maybe you want to complete x amount of projects. What ever it is, set a goal. I break my goals up by food (of course). I have goals to hit before my first snack, before lunch and before my second snack (I can feel your judgement). This works better for me than looking at a mountain of things I need to do before 5:00. That stresses me out.
7. Settle Into my Make Shift Office Space – My couch, my desk, the dinner table or the basement space. Any of these spaces work as a makeshift office for me. I will not work in my bed because naturally my body starts to relax and soon I want to take a nap or watch Netflix and eat snacks. So no bed for me. This is when I begin actually working and by this time it’s usually about 9:00.
8. Break Time – Breaks are important. I need breaks to stretch, breaks to socialize, breaks to be creative elsewhere and breaks to go grab snacks. Without a break I will increase in stress and then the productive day is quickly ruined.
9. Set Your End Time – Along with setting goals, know when you’re going to be done working. Just because you can work all day doesn’t mean you should (that’s my issue at times…I can create for work all day if I let myself…so I have to shut it down).
10. Rewards – If I have a productive day, I get a reward. If you’ve been here a while you know I’m big on rewarding yourself for accomplishing things. That reward might be binge watching the office (again), or playing a few hours of my favorite game. Something that motivates me to work hard during my structured work time and makes me look forward to doing it again tomorrow.

That’s my typical work from home routine! Somedays depending on how I’m feeling I may switch some things up but that’s the gist.

How have you guys been handling the change in schedule? What have you been doing with your time? I’d love to know!

’till next time friends!

Nicole

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