While it is important to maintain routine while working from home, we should first and foremost ensure that we are caring for ourselves. Making time for yourself is an important step to enhance your work-from-home experience and promote productivity.
Here are some helpful tips for taking care of yourself while you’re working from home:
1. Give yourself a break! Working from home is a major change for those of us who are used to going into the office each day. Anxiety derived from the uncertainty of the economy, the global pandemic we’re experiencing coupled with your new work situation can cause overload. Step back, take a breath, and let yourself off the hook if you’re not feeling as productive as you’re used to.
2. Allow for occasional distractions. Even though we mentioned in Part 2 that you should set specific break times, allowing the occasional distraction isn’t the end of the world. A good way to balance your work time and distractions is to think about all of the distractions you experienced in an office setting. It’s pretty rare that anyone sits at their desk all day without moving around, grabbing a snack or chatting with a coworker. Although distractions may be different at home (children, pets), a reasonable amount of time away from your desk is completely acceptable.
3. Add self-care to your daily routine. Now is a great time to add self-care to your day. Whether that is in the form of a quick walk, or reading a book. Make time everyday to do something that is not work related, and makes you feel good.
However you spend your day, it’s important that you take care of yourself - even more so now that with the added stress we’re all feeling during this time.
