A healthy working life can keep you grounded in these tumultuous times
Once the initial IT headaches have passed and you’re used to communicating over apps, you’ll find that working from home can bring many pleasures. As with so many things, however, it also has its pitfalls, especially where self-care is concerned. And while the world is plunged into a period of uncertainty, a happy working life can help you maintain balance through these tumultuous times.
Here are our top tips for keeping content at work during the coronavirus pandemic.
1. Keep Sharp
Freed of the burden of dressing up, working from home seems to offer a chance to dial down on self-presentment —especially if you work in the sort of profession where not turning up in full formal attire is tantamount to handing in your notice. And, unless you find putting on a uniform helps you enter the right state of mind, it’s true that working from home is an opportunity to sartorially unwind. But it’s equally important to keep clean, dress as you would in the outside world, and feel consciously at work rather than enjoying downtime at home. Descending into slothful disarray will only make working feel like an unpleasant burden.
2. Take Breaks
While working at home, it’s almost always advisable to maintain a schedule akin to that you would in an office job. But don’t be afraid of taking breaks. In an office, time is often spent engaging in idle conversation, which can be helpful in punctuating a long day. At home, follow-up finishing tasks with a break, whether that’s texting friends or loved ones, going out for your once-a-day exercise, catching up on some reading, or simply turning away from the computer and resting your eyes. And make sure that you take lunch off as you normally would, punctuating the workday into two halves.
3. Be Realistic
Although less frequent communications can slow down work, it can also present a chance to blitz through a task at pace. Without colleagues to interact with and provide validation for your work, it can be tempting to attempt to overcompensate by rushing way ahead of yourself. Don’t: a day at home is still only a day. Keep realistic expectations of what you can and cannot do in a working day and stick to them.
