How to survive the next while working from home

How many weeks have you now worked from home? For me, it’s week 5 or is it 7? It all becomes a blur after a while. Speaking with friends and clients, we’re also hearing about their struggles. While some are used to regularly working from home, the situation can be overwhelming. We’ve collected 12 additional tips for you to feel less stress and anxious and enjoying greater feeling of control.

Eat some healthy snacks

Our eating habits may have gone out of the window. It’s a difficult situation for most of us and eating may make us feel better. Unfortunately, the good feeling doesn’t last too long. Emotional eating can make us feel worse too and it’s time to make smarter snack choices at least most of the time.

1. Pre-portion your snacks.

You’d be surprised how easy it is to just go to the kitchen, grab something from the fridge and much away without realising how many calories you’re consuming.

2. Keep a food journal.

This will help you see black and white what you’re all eating in a day. Scary? Maybe. If it’s too much for you or you’re noticing weight gain, you know why.

3. Drink more water.

Yes, most of us love coffee. Lots of coffee! It’s just not helping us to concentrate after a while and can dehydrate you. You find water too boring? Mix it up. Flavour it with cucumber, lemons, ginger or kiwi. Alternatively, add some cool ice cubes to it.

4. Try out new healthy snacks.

You know how to make chocolate & peanut butter energy bites (we were lucky a friend made them for us). Have you tried dates stuffed with nut butter? Or roasted broccoli hummus? Move Greek yoghurt with berries or home-made trail mix!

Can you crisis school while working from home?

If you are a parent, you probably never expected to crisis school your child this year. It’s okay to say it here. It’s a safe place. Were you sometimes glad that you had a few hours without your child? To focus on your career? To play some sports, do some voluntary work or to manage the household?

A number of our clients have told us how tough it is for them to be with their child or children 24/7. The bathroom becomes the only place of privacy. So how can you even handle crisis schooling on top of everything else?

1. Separate your roles.

A friend of mine confessed she’s switching roles. She tells her kids when she’s Mrs. McM, the teacher, and when she’s back to being mummy. While her kids are still adjusting to working with their mom as a teacher, this separation has all family members.

2. Clean up the school work.

At the end of the day, put all school work, papers, books and crayons away. It keeps the house tidy and signals your child it’s play time again.

3. Look for alternative learning opportunities.

Your child can still learn even when they’re not on a Zoom call. Cooking, reading, playing with LEGO, coding or gardening offer valuable life skills.

4. Set up online play dates and chats.

It can be tough for kids to understand why they can’t see their friends. Arrange a video call to still see their friends. If you both have the same board game, you can play it while on Zoom.

Switch off after work

Working from home seems to give employees the impression they need to be online all the time. They need to work longer to show they are contributing to the success of the company. That’s not necessarily the case and can actually be counterproductive. On your time off, learn to switch off from work.

1. Put the laptop away.

You’d be surprised how storing your laptop in a drawer or your closet removes the temptation to quickly check something online.

2. Snuggle with your pet.

You and your pet may be getting used to spending a lot more time together. Enjoy that reduction in stress and anxiety when playing with your pet.

3. Get creative.

Get some crayons and paint. Freestyle. Don’t even think about what you’re drawing. Prefer something more constructive? Pull out your kid’s LEGO and build something – with or without them.

4. Learn a new skill.

We don’t know how much longer the current restrictions will be in force. Use this time to dust off your French or become a qualified nutritionist.

What surprised you about working from home? While we may not be working as many hours as before (can’t believe how many hours we were on the road commuting), we’re filling those hours with calls to our family, friends, former clients and business/social contacts. It feels so good to know they’re safe and mostly okay.

Until next time,
Agni