Working from home can seem like the dream way to achieve a work-life balance, but it’s not always easy. Fiona Bugler, who’s worked from home for 20 years shares her six-top work from home tips
1. Get up early
In the pilot issue of the zone, we reviewed Hal Elrod’s book, The Miracle Morning. Hal set out some early morning steps in the acronym SAVERS. Start your day with ‘S’; silence or meditation. Next, say out loud some affirmations (the ‘A’), i.e. stating positive beliefs and statements. ‘V’ is for visualisation; see how you would like your day to look or spend time looking at images of inspiration, such as a mood board. ‘E’ is for exercise; keep it simple, just jog on the spot or do some stretches. ‘R’ is for reading – a book or magazine – it doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it inspires you. And finally ‘S’ is for scribing or writing and refers to taking some time to write in your journal. Hal says we can do all this in six minutes.
2. Dress for work
Working from home in your pyjamas isn’t good for mental health or productivity. Whatever clothes you choose to put on for work, tune-in to see whether you feel you’re in a work mindset. You don’t have to don a three-piece suit, but some kind of home-working uniform can help get you in a positive and proactive mindset.
3. Move
You might think working from home would be a place you’d get easily distracted and be up and down from your desk but, for many of us, it’s much easier to stay seated in one place for hours on end. Make sure you get up and move, stretch, and do some yoga or simple breathing techniques.
4. Get outside
Try to step outside every day when you’re working from home. As little as 10 minutes of walking can transform your day and your mood, and you’ll probably find that, once you’re outside, you’ll go for longer than 10 minutes. Here’s how to stick with your exercise programme.
5. Make good habits non-negotiable
Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables and whole foods, drinking water, and exercising consistently is easier to stick at if you don’t give yourself any get-out clauses. Set yourself some simple rules to live by whilst your working from home and don’t fix the habits into your day. Check out Atomic Habits, which we reviewed in the launch issue of the zone.
6. Stay in the moment
Allowing yourself time every day to meditate, or simply taking time to breathe and be in the moment, appreciate being alive, the sunshine, the work you have to do, really does help to deal with the upheaval we’re all facing following this global pandemic.
