My Daily Life of Working From Home - AKA 'Self Isolation through Covid-19'

Hey guys, 

So this is going to be a blog post that is a little different to my weddings. With the recent coronavirus outbreak and public craziness, I realized not much has changed for me (WAIT HOLD ON! LET ME EXPLAIN)! Since I work from home, a lot of my “work-time” is already my “home-time” or as we infamously call it these days; “self-isolation” days.  

Looking at my friends and everyone struggle on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp, I thought why don’t I share some of my tips and tricks that has kept me sane (or well at the least, made it easier for me to transition from my day-time, 9-5 job to my 24 hours - 7 days a week business hours). I’ve been doing this for 5+ years and would like to believe I’ve figured a rhythm that works for me.

Before I continue what I do and what I think could be useful to you too, let me just introduce to you my personal pros-cons of working from home. 

Pointing out that my husband helps me a lot too, but somehow things were magically done when I was living with my parents - the food, the cleaning, the laundry? Was it all just magic? (PS: THANK YOU MOM, I LOVEEE YOU!)

Working at your own space can be a struggle, especially if you’re new to it and find the isolation overwhelming. Let alone figuring out how to communicate with your colleagues on collaborative projects. It takes time, patience, and a lot of self policing to make sure you are right on track and completing things as you do. It’s so easy to slack off with Netflix on the rise, Instagram a FACE-ID away, and WhatsApp constantly buzzing for your attention. 

Here is how I deal with it on the (mostly) daily and I am hoping this could help you to!

1. Set Intentions for your day ahead 

Wake up with a clear intention of a few things you want to accomplish tomorrow before today ends. This can be work related and/or personal tasks too. So for example, I want to lead a rounded lifestyle so for me that means culling a new set of wedding photos, watering all my plants, and perhaps one day re-shuffling my kitchen cabinets. Try to have a think tonight before you go to bed.

Courtesy of ascnsionkitchen.com

2. Create a Schedule by Prioritizing TASKS and reducing DISTRACTIONS 

List the things you aim to do in order of priority and task size. Somethings take 5 mins whilst others can take an hour (let’s assume you’ve woken up on the right side of the bed today with all the energy in the world to claim your day). It’s unto you to choose where you should spend your morning energy. Running a business from home (i.e. whether you’re a life coach, copywriter, artist, photographer, etc.) is all about self constraint. And now that most of us are also stuck at home (temporary sad bye-bye to romantic view work spaces), this is crucial for us to practice. 

Somethings to keep in mind for this is: 

Prioritize in Order of Importance and Task Size

That is, if you need to write a report that needs to be sent by 11:00am, you’re most probably not going to be spending time prepping tonight’s dinner or showering your dog.

Minimize Distractions and Maximize Time Blocking 

• Create a minimalistic work space that is away from your source of easy distractions (i.e. TV, beds, lazy lounge areas, etc). The cleaner your work table, the clearer your mind.

• Practice Time Blocking - This is especially more important for managers or small business owners who juggle several projects/responsibilities at the same time. Elon Musk is famous for using this approach when running two major companies at the same time. I won’t get into this because I am far from being a pro, but maybe doist.com has a good read here: https://doist.com/blog/time-blocking/.  

• Collaborate while Time Blocking - Now this part could be very different to what the nature of your work is. If you’re in a very collaborative team, then perhaps you would need to check in more often with your team mates. Don’t carry these conversations over WhatAapp because the last thing you want while you’re hurrying to meet your target is an aunt broadcasting Covid-19 messages with '“How to wash your hands” videos! In projects that I occasionally work with, the best apps I’ve used are Slack and Microsoft Teams. Something I’ve not partially tried yet but never got to experiment yet with is Zoom.

• Minimize outside disturbance as much as possible - This is tough for most of us as we’re suddenly left at home with partners, kids, parents, pets or whoever lives with us. But we must find a place to isolate ourselves just to complete our tasks, even if for short time periods. Human beings are not meant for rapid context switching - it’s tiring. Perhaps in dealing with children, maybe have a family member / care taker / or the TV take care of your kids as you work? What I mean is, be creative and proactive. Only you can and will soon find a rhythm that works for you and them during this quarantine. 

• Take breaks - Being at the office means you get to walk around for chit chat, to grab lunch, or basically some form of formal socializing. You might not be able to do this if you’re alone (or you might ONLY be doing this if you’ve got a kid or others at home). It’s important for this reason, to make sure you give yourself enough of mini breaks to maintain your energy. Why not try a productivity app to help you focus and let you know when you can give yourself a 10 mins break? I’ve used Focus Keeper and Tide and it’s somehow pumped me up to do more work. 

• Know when to stop - This might not apply to all, or might apply to most. Working from home (if you’re in luck of being alone), it’s easy to get carried away with working 12+ hours on your most critical projects. Stay time bound and make sure you know when to call it a day.

3. Use your Energy Reservoir Wisely

Something I’ve noticed that I had to work on is my diet. I know this can seem so out of place for this particular topic, but hear me out! In my 5 years of working from home, I would fight myself from getting lazy and taking naps (yes, it’s okay from time to time, but not on the regular! Or at least personally). So my conclusion was, maintain smaller proportions of food (aka pockets of energy) throughout the day (AYY! This works great now because your kitchens are only 5 feet away!) to maintain your energy levels.

Letting your body tire out and then filling it with fuel takes a toll on your body and that eventually impacts your energy and productivity levels. If your body is maintaining its wealth, your brain will be happy too!

4. Lastly, smile, treat yourself and remember life is a work in progress. 

We’re all new to this sudden hit, but as pandemics before have been, this won’t last long either. So smile and take it slow and easy. The first few days might be daunting because you might have some extra time on hand (replacing commute time, or 1 hour lunch breaks), but it’s okay. We can finally work on our professional and personal habits. Use these few days to learn more about yourselves, your work styles, your families, and what keeps you motivated. Make your self-isolated days exciting by treating yourself to something small or something sporadic and out of the moment. This could be a second cup of coffee before noon, a quick 10 minutes of workout, or a warm deluxe mid day bath (shhh!) 

Just remember, you got this and tomorrow’s another day!

These are my Top 10 Productivity Tips for Work From Home! I hope this helps you too as we battle this horrible Corona Virus (COVID-19) situation together!

I never thought I’d write my way of work but when the Corona Virus hit and working from home started happening, I thought yes, why not! This is what helps me and so I hope it helps you too! I’d love to hear how you guys are dealing. What are the challenges that you are suddenly facing that you thought would never happen!

Join me on my instagram account here and let’s chat!