Today, in collaboration with the “do my paper” company WritingAPaper, we will tell you why you should not work in bed, how to occupy the children, how not to be distracted by minor things, and what valuable items can help you organize a perfect day out of the office.
1. Arrange the perfect workplace
When you are not used to working from home properly, it seems to be relaxing. There is a great temptation to stay in your favorite pajamas, answer emails while lying in upholstered beds, and spend the whole day in a horizontal position. Unfortunately, this rarely contributes to productivity: to get involved in work, it is crucial to create a familiar office environment – at least symbolically.
The more conveniently organized your workspace, the less distracted you will be. If children and other noisy relatives are at home, headphones can help. Choose the ones that are good at damping out external sounds. Also, have a good desk lamp and window blinds or roller blinds, so as not to strain your eyes.
Remote work will become more popular shortly, so it is worth investing in a good ergonomic chair, which will support the back and correct posture – this will help keep the spine, pelvis, and knees healthy.
Avoid clutter on your desk. If it’s cluttered with papers, pencil stumps, and yesterday’s lunch leftovers, it will be harder to concentrate on work because of the constant background irritation. Bright stickers, convenient highlighters, beautiful diaries, and other office supplies, on the contrary, will set the mood for work and help you not forget the most critical tasks.
Even in perfect order and cleanliness, it is unlikely to work effectively without good equipment – a fast, comfortable laptop, monoblock, or desktop computer. Hiccuping programs will piss off even the calmest optimist. The little things also matter: for example, an ergonomic computer mouse will save you from wrist pain and tunnel syndrome if you spend too much time working.
2. Prepare mentally
The proper habits help structure your day. If you had certain morning rituals before the self-isolation mode, keep them, replaying the rules a bit. Before you start work, make your bed, ventilate the room, and change your clothes: your brain will automatically rearrange itself for business. If you are a workaholic, it is vital to take care of the mechanisms to switch to “home mode.” Candles with a pleasant fragrance can help. By the way, smells work great as associative “anchors” – you can accustom yourself to burrow into work under the cheerful citrus notes or relax, feeling the gentle scent of lavender. Tactile sensations also contribute to mental clarity: try to “ground yourself” by clutching an anti-stress toy or stroking the side of your favorite cat.
3. Take care of lunch and a healthy snack
Working at home, you will be tempted to eat constantly – primarily if you work at the kitchen table next door to the fridge. Try not to give in: keep the same diet that’s right for you such as the Keto diet or the Mediterranean diet, and do not forget about breakfast – a solid meal in the morning will help you not to bite all day. Try not to load on semi-finished products and fast food, but do not require cooking feats – cook something simple and delicious to make you happy.
Order grocery delivery or stock up on everything you need at a nearby store, thinking through a sample menu for the week. If you’re looking for a convenient and healthy option, consider having keto meals delivered right to your doorstep. This can save you time and ensure you’re getting a nutritious meal without the hassle of cooking. Otherwise, you will end up at the checkout with mismatched foods, chips, and rolls. Stock up on all the basics like cereal and salt beforehand so that you don’t have to unnecessarily gear up your expedition to the store. To avoid experimenting with new dishes during the work day, prepare lunch for tomorrow in advance. Also, try replacing familiar snacks like office cookies with healthier ones: like slicing carrots and cucumbers into sticks and dipping them in hummus. Chances are, your physical activity level will decrease while you’re away, so it makes sense to pay more attention to the caloric content of your diet. Using a calorie deficit calculator can help a great deal in maintaining a proper energy intake. Otherwise, you’ll have to say goodbye to your favorite jeans after a few months of remote work.
4. Stay in touch with colleagues
According to the best essay writing service researchers, many people working remotely feel disconnected from the outside world and the processes taking place in their own company. It is not for nothing that many managers now introduce a system of daily collective calls and install applications and messengers to solve problems online (for example, Slack or a corporate chat in Telegram). You can’t do without video conferencing if your work requires detailed in-person conversations. To make sure everything runs smoothly, ensure you have a working Internet and webcam and get headphones with a microphone so as not to annoy your colleagues with unnecessary sounds.
Turn on Skype or Zoom and chat at your pleasure. Informal relations with colleagues – gossiping at the cooler and joint trips to the bar after work – can also be translated into online mode: just make a separate chat room for chit-chat and non-work-related issues. By the way, the friendliest teams are already in full swing to conduct online corporate parties.
5. Don’t forget about cleaning
Now that the whole family is in the apartment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you have to clean more often. This process can be made a little more pleasant by upgrading your mop, sponges, and rags and buying handy gloves and detergents with refreshing scents. It’s much more enjoyable to be and work in a clean apartment. Do not forget to ventilate the room; maintaining an optimal humidity level will help the humidifier. If you have allergies at home, consider buying a more advanced humidifier-purifier that will rid the air of dust and pollen from the street.
6. Make sure that the housemates do not disturb you
It is not easy to work from home and alone – not to mention densely populated apartments with children, grandmothers cooking, and pets demanding their share of attention. To ensure that productivity does not fall to zero, you have to build clear boundaries: negotiate with loved ones that do not distract you during office hours, and ideally close in a separate room, where no one will not run just for fun.
To keep the kids from getting bored, buy them ready-made kits for creativity – from embroidery to soap-making, and stock up on drawing paper, markers, pencils, and gel pens with glittering ink. Now is an excellent time to pull out the forgotten board games from the mezzanine or buy a new one for the whole family to play in the evening.
7. Ensure maximum comfort
The researchers of the best writing services say that working from home or home isolation is especially difficult for socially active people who are not used to staying at home. Any time can be used for good: try to arrange the house, so you do not want to leave. Start with small changes: update the textiles, change the bedding for a new set, please yourself with unusual accents in the interior, order a unique vase, a fragrance for the home, or a beautiful wall clock. You don’t have to buy new furniture or re-paper the wallpaper. Since you’re sitting at home, you can take care of minor repairs that you never got around to before – for example, changing a long-burnt-out bulb or gluing the loose baseboard.
Use your imagination and think about how to make ordinary household chores more exciting and heartwarming. You can turn an ordinary evening into a holiday by arranging a magnificent dinner, like in a restaurant: set the table according to all the rules of etiquette, use the most beautiful dishes for serving, light candles and experiment with new dishes. Or watch a broadcast of a play by hooking up your computer to the big screen TV – all this will become pleasant family memories later.
8. Move
The sedentary lifestyle literally kills. Studies say that people who spend almost all day sitting die earlier than their peers, and doctors describe a range of diseases as “office syndrome.” Many health problems can be avoided by staying active. Proper nutrition and regular exercise will help maintain your figure and weight so that you do not go into another stressful time realizing that clothes are already small. Stock up on gym equipment for home workouts and do your fitness workouts with your family. Showcase your activities on social media to avoid getting lazy and stay motivated. If you don’t want publicity, record your results in a diary and be inspired by your progress.
