SEMCOG employees have been working from home since mid-March due to the Coronavirus outbreak. While we had a bumpy start in our house – with my husband and I both working from home and assisting our second and sixth graders with distance learning – we’ve come a long way. As the traditional school year has come to a close, I would like to share some tactics that helped the days go smoothly. After all, no one knows for sure how things will go in the fall, so we want to be ready for anything.
I learned pretty quickly that I, just like my kids, require consistent structure and need to make an effort to maintain good habits. Keeping even a loose schedule really helps to give the whole family some normalcy.
Morning
Setting my alarm every day gets me up and going in the morning, and it keeps me disciplined not to stay up too late at night. Otherwise, everyday can feel like the weekend.
So I keep a simple morning routine. I make the bed, get dressed, empty the dishwasher, and prepare a breakfast smoothie. When I neglected or put off one of these seemingly trivial things for a day or two, I realized I could lose some of the “good habits” that I worked hard to form and that keep me feeling good.
Afternoon
After a quick lunch with my family I get outside for a walk alone or a social distance walk with a friend. The change of scenery helps to clear my head; my beloved family and I get some time apart (absence makes the heart grow fonder, right?); and the exercise gets my heart rate up. Chatting with a friend helps me to manage any anxiety and stress that comes from living our “new normal,” and it scratches the itch I have for my usual lunchroom chats with co-workers.
Evening
At the end of a day’s work, I have found it’s important to “stick the landing.” I do this by tidying my work space and shutting down my computer. Taking a few minutes to do this each day provides me a brief, but important transition buffer back to my home life. It’s not my normal 25-minute commute, but it’s an important signal to myself that the work day has officially ended and that it’s time to step away from the screen.
I have a friend who used to ride his bike to and from work. Now that he’s working from home, he starts and ends his day with a bike ride. This helps him maintain a healthy habit and gives him a transition into and out of his work day.
These are just a few basic things that have helped me to stay a little happier and more productive as I continue adjusting to a more home-based lifestyle. What works best for you? I’d love to hear about how you structure your day. Feel free to contact me.
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