It’s soon going to be a year since a lot of us started home working. But has the shine of the short commute from bed to the office and the ease of staying in pyjamas bottoms worn off?
As the enforced working from home continues it is splitting workers into 2 groups. Firstly, those that thrive at working alone and whose productivity has increased, enabling them to take some time out for me without feeling guilty. But secondly, those who depend on a busy environment to be creative and collaborative can find themselves procrastinating and feeling stressed.
Whatever your preferred style of environment you can achieve homeworking happiness using some of these ideas:
How to achieve homeworking happiness
- Set realistic boundaries and stick to them. This is the most obvious step to take but quite often the most difficult to stick to consistently. It’s not just about your working hours it’s also about taking guilt-free ‘me time’ for fresh air, physical exercise or relaxation. I’ve been impressed that so many leaders are pushing their staff to take this time out and leading by example.
- Develop your own daily structure before others do it for you. Having some sort of structure to the day when you block out lunch and breaks etc. Means others can’t jump in to add meetings and your day get taken over. An endless day of work with no structure can create a loss of focus and motivation
- Include something you value and enjoy each day. We all have parts of work that we’d rather put off and others that give us energy. If you can include an energy booster alongside an energy drainer each day, it feels like a reward.
- Be flexible. We’ve all seen the funny videos of kids, dogs and delivery men interrupting virtual meetings But, it is all part of our current situation, so be flexible with yourself and to others. Having a very barky dog I know how difficult this can be!
- Don’t take things personally. Working next to colleagues you can pick up on their emotions and work stresses. Communicating by email and virtually means that’s far more difficult to do. If you’re finding work mates frustrating or their communication direct, try not to take it personally as they could be struggling with other challenges.
I’d love to hear how you have achieved homeworking happiness, so do let me know by commenting or you can contact me here
Jo x
P.S. You can still watch my free webinar ‘The 4 Steps To Achieving Impact And Recognition With out Being Pushy Or Bossy ‘ here
