Humans are inherently social creatures. Therefore, working or studying from home and self-isolation can affect our mind and relations with others. We put together some helpful advice and life hacks that can help you deal with anxiety, fear, boredom, and loneliness, all while benefitting from the work from home (WFH) routine.
Life hacks to organize your working or studying process
To avoid turning your WFH routine to a procrastination on a sofa with a beloved pet, it’s important to stick to a strict daily routine. Try to wake up to an alarm at the same time and avoid staying in bed longer than usual. Keep to your morning rituals: do sports, take shower, have breakfast, read a book, or watch an episode of your favorite show. During the day, we advise you to take short breaks, take a stroll around your apartment, stretch out, or warm up. Adhere to your work schedule and don’t work till midnight. This deviation can become a norm, and you risk getting stuck in a time-loop and lose track of hours and even days. If it’s possible, take a little walk in outside or do some exercises on the balcony instead. Fresh air is great whether you breath it outdoors or from your open balcony
As you can see, efficient working from home can be disturbed by the lack of discipline and an excessively relaxing environment. Below is the list of the most useful tips to get back on track:
- Organize a perfect space to work and study. Try not to code in your bed or armchair that you usually rest in, this won’t support the right mindset. Your workspace should be light and comfortable, with solid furniture and a large monitor.
- Don’t work in pajamas and home clothing. A good choice of clothes can benefit working environment. For example, put on pants instead of shorts, and a more formal shirt and T-shirt instead of casual ones.
- Isolate. Ensure a quiet working environment. Turn on some music or put on headphones. Turn off notifications in all messengers and social networks. It’s important to inform your family that you’re busy and should not be disturbed. It’s difficult if you have kids, but it’s possible. If you’re constantly distracted by pets, don’t allow them in the room.
- Find your most productive time. Don’t force yourself into working hard in the morning if your body clock is accustomed to the evening. Go with your gut more often and don’t be afraid of experimenting. What if your early bird is a night owl?
- Schedule your daily tasks. Strict time management will help you distribute the workload. If lots of major tasks piled up, try to split them into smaller ones. Thus, they’re easier to complete.
- Relax as often as you see fir. Some remote employees take five-minute break after every twenty-five minutes of continuous work. Others take breaks every hour or two, or upon completing a task. Different strokes for different folks.
- Come up with your personal motivation. And don’t forget to reward yourself for every completed task or project.
- Stay connected with your colleagues or groupmates. Arrange daily calls to maintain your work tempo and meet the deadlines. Sometimes, a good conversation is all we need. After all, we’re all humans. You can create a separate chat for posting memes, having discussions, and sharing links. Those who don’t need it can simply turn off notifications.
Life hacks to keep your inner peace
Life hack #1 Don’t stress out – work out
Stress is a natural reaction of the body to changes. However, don’t feed this feeling artificially. To switch off from negative thoughts focus on your mental and physical health, and it won’t take long to feel great again.
- Sleep more, do sports, eat fruit and vegetables. Keep away from alcohol and tobacco since these two things can mess with your body really hard.
- Filter the information around you. We understand that you are really tempted to browse a newsfeed while being alone. In this case, use only trusted publishers and TV channels. If now it’s rather a disappointment than an entertainment, try having a news detox.
Life hack #2 Keep Calm and use Skype
Use all the applications available to avoid panicking and keep in touch with relatives and friends. A few hours of human communication per day will help you satisfy your social interaction needs and keep you from having “cabin fever”. Don’t miss an opportunity to smile to your friends during videocalls. But go easy on heart-to-heart talks and spare some time for yourself. Lie down on the sofa, turn on some light music, and think about your dreams, goals, and wishes.
Life hack #3 – Treat social isolation as an opportunity
We all have long lists of things we always wanted to do but continuously postponed them. Now, you have a chance to turn tomorrow into today! In your spare time, you can paint pictures, make culinary delights, write a blog or a book, read something, or master a new musical instrument or a language. Or maybe you want to elaborate on the idea of creating a business you’ve been dreaming about for a long time. Hard times will pass, but new habits will remain. Stay safe and try to enjoy your life even now, especially now.
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