Staying focused at home

All my fellow workers working from home manifest yourselves! How long have you been working from home? It’s been over 9 months for me. It was all nice and games in the first few weeks, am I right? We got to stay at home, wake up later, didn’t have to put on working clothes or we just put a nice a shirt to pretend as we are all dressed up. It was a good change. For a while at least. For me it lasted about a month that happiness of working from home. After that I was done with it and ready to go back to the office. Who else feels the same?

For many of us, it’s been too long working from home and it’s getting harder and harder to keep that motivation up. Especially in the countries that are in lockdown. There really is nothing we can do about the situation so we just have to learn to live with it and make the most out of it. I’ve found some little tricks to get me through the working day and keep myself motivated. Let’s see if anyone agrees with me or if anyone wants to give these a try. Please bear in mind that everyone is different and these won’t work for all of you.

1.Have a work schedule. Make yourself deadlines and put it somewhere you can see it. I even have a calendar saying what I have to do each day, you can say it’s a to-do work list. This way you don’t forget to do anything and you can visually see what you have to do.

2. Take breaks from work. Don’t do the entire work you have straight away. Your brain needs to take breaks and rest a little during the day. Get up and have a cup of coffee or tea. Go to the balcony or window and have some fresh air. If you can, go for a 15 minute walk to clear your head (make sure to take your mask with you in case you come across other people, safety first). Make sure you take an hour lunch break away from your computer.

3. Talk to people. If you live with someone, talk to them for 5 minutes about anything except work. Complain if you have to, it really does get some stress off of your shoulders.

4. Half way through your work day do a back, shoulders and neck stretch. It will lift any stiffness you might have from sitting most of the day in front of a computer. You’ll feel like a new person and ready to get back into that chair. It doesn’t have to be a long stretch, 10-15 minutes is enough.

5. Do something else besides work. For example: I’ve been doing a sports class at home. Make sure your brain can distract itself and you shouldn’t forget your body. We’ve all been spending too much time at home and a lot of us tend to become lazy and not move much. There are a lot of workout classes online. They are easy to find. I went for an online class with my usual instructor Sanna. For me it has to be someone who can keep me moving even from a computer screen cause I really don’t like working out and Sanna definitely keeps me going. And now I look forward to every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. Don’t let your body get lazy, it’s not healthy and you’ll actually lose energy. So get your butt off the couch and move it, do a workout, go for a run, take on dancing or do some yoga or pilates if you’re into slower workouts. 加油！ 

6. The last tip really depends on the person. For me it really helps and keeps me focused. Listening to music. I’ve made a work playlist with songs that keep me focused and awake. You can also listen to the radio or podcasts if your type of work allows you to do so. This doesn’t work for everyone. Many people can’t work with noise or music or people talking. So this really depends on you and how you focus best.

7. In summary, you need to find something to do that makes you happy during these sad days. One last thing, make sure that when the time comes for you to finish your working hours, you actually finish it. Make a clear separation between work life and home life. Don’t think about work once you’ve finished.

If anyone else agrees with these or has other tricks to give let us know! Stay strong and safe!