This week many of us are moving into full-time remote work and it is going to take a lot of time and effort to adjust and maintain the level of productivity we exhibit while in office. But it can be done.
Below are the best tips to help you on this journey beyond the standard “find a separate space.”
Create a New Morning Routine
Now that you won’t be commuting or heading to the gym at your usual time, it’s important to chart out a new routine to create normalcy.
For me, I make sure to still set the coffee maker the night prior so I can smell and hear it percolating when my alarm goes off while I complete my gratitude practice.
I still shower right away, do my beauty routine, and now I sync with Dan in person rather than digitally (when are our virtual calls so we can plan ahead to ensure things don’t get too noisy!)
I put on a quasi-professional top while wearing the most comfortable leggings or yoga pants possible (there have to be some benefits of being at home am I right!?)
Schedule Productivity & Breaks
Assess your to-do list and pop tasks directly into your calendar. Each 30 minutes to an hour, you have a designated time to power through your projects, and specific times to get up, stretch, and reinvigorate yourself.
Providing yourself time to disconnect will help you be more productive, be sure to still make that cup of tea, enjoy a healthy lunch, all while leaving your work area.
Just like we create a to-do list for the day, try your hand at creating a to-don’t list that includes all of the things you do that deter you from optimal productivity. This will help you identify problematic behaviors and stay focused.
Maintain Your Regular Hours
It can be so easy to fall into a new schedule of staying up late, and rising even later.
This disrupts your existing sleep patterns, making it potentially harder to go back to your normal routine when it’s time to head back into the office.
Secondly, the new schedule may add more stress to your day if you’re not online at the same time, or checking in on Slack and emails, which may deter the progress of your team.
Create a Plan with Roommates
You don’t want to be limited to just your room if you do have roommates or live with a significant other. So work together to create a plan that works best for all of you.
Where will each of you work? Who will be in charge of taking pets out to go to the bathroom? What fun activities can you do together at the end of your workday?
Find New Time To Connect
Everyones meeting cadence is different but if things seem to slow down a bit, schedule a virtual coffee meeting with a coworker or two where you can check-in with each other.
Use free tools like UberConference or Google Hangouts to get some digital face-to-face time and maintain those connections. If you have a cute pet, make sure they make an appearance on camera!
If you work from home, be sure to leave your tips in the comments below and if there is any other content you would like to see during this time (resources on courses to take, activities to take-up, etc.) please let me know!
