As cliche as it sounds, I woke up yesterday thinking it was all a bad dream. There is so much uncertainty it’s hard to concentrate and all around us things are being cancelled or postponed.
The little kids are in heaven, the bigger ones not sure whether to stress out or celebrate. As for us adults, we’re in a state of doing what we are told, well most of us.
If you’ve found yourself working from home for the first time, be sure to make sure your workspace is well set up. I’ve just been recording an e-learning voiceover today offering such advice as the last thing you want is to add back or neck pain into the mix.
Productivity
I’m a fan of toggl.com to track my time so I’m accountable – you might be guilty of having tonnes of tabs open and drifting into a rabbit hole of news updates or even worse – what’s app messages from the numerous groups you are in with family and friends.
There’s also the Pomodoro method of focusing for 25 min and then having a 5 min break which is another way I try to work. Get up and move around. Don’t beat yourself up if you end up making another cuppa and putting a wash on.. you’re getting used to your new-found freedom.
Get Dressed & Leave your bedroom
The novelty of working in your PJ’s will wear off and I’m a big believer in getting dressed to help you get into the right frame of mind. Working in bed will also lose its appeal and you need your bed to be a place of calm rather than a stress hub. Also as I mentioned at the start – not being set up right with your laptop etc can cause all sorts of musculoskeletal issues.
Exercise
Personally I work best if I exercise first thing, with the gyms being closed there’s plenty of app or youtube stuff available. Personally I use Yoga with Adrienne for my at-home yoga fix and for something more strenuous, the Nike Training App which looks like this – is great.
Keep it up as we know how much it helps with our mental health and right now we need to look after this more than ever.
Lunch
Now when it comes to lunch.. if you’re a creature of habit and always go to the same place for lunch or take the same few things into work… now you can let rip. Have lunch like a rockstar if you want. Why not. Give yourself a proper lunch break if you don’t at work. These are all good practices that hopefully you’ll take back into the office with you including staying hydrated even if you don’ t have a watercooler to natter around ( does anyone actually still do that? )
Everyone is trying to find workarounds and I know having a broadcast-quality voiceover booth in my house is a blessing as I hope it means I can continue to work. Yes, ‘screentime’ will become my childcare along with my other half but with school closures now in place, we will work around it. My kid knows full well to keep schtum if Mummy is in her booth.
Whatever your work situation looks like at the moment, however unsettling it feels – we will get through this scary time and we will once again be able to work in more familiar ways. However, it may take longer than we expect so make this period work for you not hinder your creativity and your productivity. Also, I do feel with more people enabling home working, the flexible working landscape will hopefully change.
Those of us previously being told working from home is not an option now know it is.
Elearning & Explainers
If it’s not something you’ve been using before, now is a brilliant time to start. Using a friendly reassuring voice to show you really do care about your staff’s wellbeing and want to make sure they have what they need will make such a difference. They can be put together quickly so have a think about what your staff or colleagues need and see if you can answer it. You can hear more of what I mean here