My top 13 tips for working at home.

My top 13 tips for working at home from my own experience.

For those of you who are working from home for the first time, I found these things to be helpful to me when I first started working from home.

1.Keep a work schedule:
Begin your day as you would have when you went to work. Get up at the same time and complete your normal routine as close as you can. - morning prayer/meditation/ get up/breakfast, shower etc and be ready to start work at your normal hours

Obviously you need to consider others in the household as well. Have a family meeting and work out together every one’s schedule for the week so that each family member’s needs can be respected. Remember to use this time not only to work out the schedule but to listen to each other and respect each other.

2.Change your mind: set

If you are working in your dining room/lounge room, then create a mind shift and call it your office during office hours. That way you can mentally come home after work.

I remember when I first started I used to walk out the front door and walk down the drive and then come back with a mind set of going to work. At the end of the day, i would leave and walk down the drive and come back and as I would come in, I would say to myself aloud- I am home. It really helped to keep the boundaries.

3. Give yourself your morning tea/lunch/afternoon break.

It is important to give yourself the necessary breaks you need. Establish a routine for these breaks but no more. Remember you are at work.

4.Keep hydrated:

If you use the computer a lot, then keep a jug of water in the kitchen to be drunk over the day and then set alarm so you get up and move away from the computer and have a drink. Take the opportunity to stretch too.

5. Set personal goals as well as business goals

If this Covid 19 situation keeps the world in lock down for 6 months, then use this as an opportunity. Imagine all those things you wanted to do done over 6 months.!! Set yourself a schedule of other things you want to achieve around the house for example. With good planning a lot can be achieved when broken down into manageable steps over a week/month. Do something towards those goals each day. One little step/action towards your goals is great for emotional well being and helps to keep us positive.
You may wish to brainstorm with your family what your family goals are and how you will achieve these goals together. Allocate different tasks to different people on the one or 2 goals for that week.

6. Look after yourself- give yourself 'Be nice to me moments in each day'.
That can have many forms of course- the importance is that it lifts one's spirits. emotionally and keeps our emotional well being healthy. Stay positive.

7 .Keep your spiritual life nourished by prayer,
finding streamed Masses, reading scripture, listening to religious music- dont let your faith slide in this new life situation- keep God first place and no social distancing from God.

8. As you establish a routine, you can be flexible with it. For example- if you do need a little sleep in- then whatever time you have used, then remember to make that up- when working for yourself, the work gets done or it does not.. sometimes it means working at different hours to allow for that sleep in, that breakfast out( something we cant do now) or some extra time window shopping etc.

If you are working for an employer at home b/c of the crisis, then doing your day's work is the right thing to do of course.

9. Learn a new skill- that skill you have wanted to do for ages or are keeping for retirement- Now is the time- choose something you would love to do. Use this time as an opportunity. As the saying goes- ‘Given lemons-make lemonade’.

10. Watch the news to stay informed but do it once or twice a day only-
This is important for our emotional well being. this way, the negative, fearful attitude that prevails wont permeate your being. Stay positive and hopeful always. Watching the news incessantly, checking your phone for updates, spending excessive time on social media does nothing for YOUR emotional well being.

11.. Be Grateful
There are always blessings and positive moments in our day. Write down or recall at the end of every day just before you fall asleep the blessings or what you are grateful for. This builds up a spirit of gratitude and helps to keep negativity, bleakness of mind at bay. It does not have to be earth shattering either- just something you are grateful for that happened during the day. Do it for a week/month and see how different you feel. I can personally recommend this one as it is something i do regularly.

If you do it yourself and you start to notice a difference, then why not try it with your family together before bedtime. The best time is just before falling asleep. Tuck your young children in, read them a story, help them to pray and then just before you switch off the light, ask them to name what they are most grateful today. ( use age appropriate language).

12. Set up an emotional well being room/escape room
Set up an emotional well being room/ escape room/area in your home where you can go and relax and chill out away from other members of the family. If there is not a lot of space in your home/unit/apartment, decide on a cushion/chair- dedicate an area where every one in your household knows what it is for and do not disturb.

Even if you live on your own, the emotional well being room is important in these days of lock down. It is easy to become negative or feel hemmed in mentally. If you are self isolating this is really important. Find a photo of a beach, a forest, or some other place of beauty and print it out so you can look at it and breathe it into your spirit.

13 And of course, listen to music - music will lift your spirits and help you live again.
i have got out some of my CD’s and especially Andre Rieu DVD’s to enjoy and to lift me up so I stay positive , calm and healthy.

I know most of these things are common sense, but it is a change working from home for many people and my experience showed me that there needs to be a certain amount of self discipline to make it work well.

I love working from home- many find it self isolating but with technology it does not have to be that way. Also with some or all or these tips, it can be really enjoyable.

The key is to stay well, physically, emotionally and spiritually for yourself and for your family.