Adjusting to Working From Home
During this unprecedented quarantine, many of us are starting to work from home for the first time in our careers. This is a shift that is forcing many of us to flex some new muscles. Our lovely Studio Assistant, Tiffany, has been working from home for several months and has become an expert. She kindly wrote a special blog filled with her best tips & tricks for telework success.
Hi friends! Tiff here. First of all, I MISS EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU.
Okay, sappy stuff over. Let’s get down to the nitty gritty.
In the Fall of 2019, I left my corporate job to pursue my dream job of photography while also working part time with NuPower Yoga + Barre (with some other social media marketing gigs on the side).
I went from working in a formal office environment to working more than half of my work week from home. Even though I had more time to mentally prepare for this change than everyone else that is now working from home due to COVID-19, it was an oddly hard transition.
These thoughts might’ve crossed your mind when you got the news that you would be working from home (trust me, I know because they crossed my mind too).
“Working from home means I can work from my bed and wear pajamas everyday while eating snacks on snacks on snacks all day!” or “I can stream my favorite Netflix show in the background while I work!”
Sounds lovely, but no (sad face).
Working from home, or better yet, being productive while working from home takes a TON of self-motivation and self-control.
I’m here to share four tricks that I’ve had to slowly but surely learn over the past few months of adjusting to working from home:
Separate where you work vs. where you rest and play.
If you try to work from your bed, your body will naturally think it’s time to rest. If you try to rest where you’ve been working all day, chances are, you won’t be able to stop thinking of who else you needed to email today, what work tasks are unfinished, ect. If you need to take a break from work to check your phone, don’t do it at your work space. Instead, walk around or go outside. Do yourself a favor and designate a spot in your house that is strictly your “office” -- i.e. a certain chair in your dining room, living room, your desk, ect.
Wake up at your normal time.
Even though your commute might’ve shortened by 10 miles to 10 feet and you don’t “have” to wake up until five minutes before you need to clock in, wake up at your normal time. Make a healthy breakfast, set aside time to meditate, read, and/or workout. This extra time could be a secret weapon to give yourself some extra self love and stay healthy during this stressful, crazy time.
Meal prep.
Snacks. I get it. Your pantry is literally your lunchbox during this time. You’ve probably thought “I don’t need to meal prep, I can just snack all day! This is great!” Friends. This is what I did during my first month of working from home and I could tell I was depriving myself of nutrients because I wasn’t taking the time to prepare full meals for myself. Do yourself a favor and keep up (or start if you currently don’t!) your meal prepping routine. It helps!
Get ready.
You’re probably reading this from the comfort of your pajamas, unbrushed hair -- okay, I’m preaching to the choir right now because it’s 10:00am and as I’m writing this, I’m still casually sipping on my coffee in my pajamas. We all have room for improvement, y’all. My point is, take time in the morning to change out of your pajamas. This also goes back to the point of separating work and rest. It really changes your mindset, friends.
Hopefully these four things can help you out during this time of, what seems like, continuous adjustment and change. 💛
Struggling to work from home or needing a quarantine accountability buddy during this time? I’d seriously love to chat! Email me at tiffany@nupoweryogabarre.com :)
All my love + support,
Tiff