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Adopting the right habits can make a big difference to your happiness and productivity levels.
Betsy Ramser Jaime describes the habits that have worked for her while working from home.
They include breaking her day up into parts, and creating end-of-day rituals to avoid overworking.
Working from home can be an amazing or awful experience.
Whether you love your work tasks or dread getting out of bed each morning, you might be surprised about what a difference the right habits can make.
When I’ve had tricky clients or work, adding habits and activities to my day that I could look forward to made all the difference.
Here are some of my favorite working-from-home habits that have worked for me.
1. Replace scrolling with reading
When I stopped using social media over five years ago, I still had the urge to pick up my phone.
I needed a replacement habit to combat this, and since I love reading, I found it to be an easy substitute.
To make this simple, I made sure that I always had options available to me — either an audiobook on Libby, an e-book on my Kindle app, or a physical book near my computer or desk.
2. Get an afternoon boost of energy from something other than coffee
If you’re used to relying on that second (or third) cup of coffee for an afternoon pick-me-up, try this instead.
I like the combination of 5 to 15 minutes of exercise, followed by a yummy (and decaffeinated) drink like herbal tea, or water with ginger or lemon. For exercise, I’ll do a short walk, a few yoga stretches, or a 10-minute qigong video on YouTube. Then I’ll reward myself with one of the drinks I mentioned above.
3. Break up your day into classes or segments as you did in school
When you were a student, you probably had a fixed schedule with each class, break, and lunch at a particular time.
If you’re someone that likes structure, you might consider creating a schedule like this for yourself as an adult.
When you have an entire 8-hour day in front of you, it can feel overwhelming.
So, try breaking it up. Maybe spend the first hour or two doing project work, take a break, and then spend an hour on emails. Perhaps keep your afternoons flexible and reserve them for meetings, admin work, and any last-minute tasks that pop up.
4. Create time for personal or professional development
Either during your work hours or in your free time, try to have something that you are learning or working towards.
You could do this by reading books, watching YouTube videos, or taking a course through LinkedIn Learning. For instance, I enjoy doing one lesson a day on Duolingo for language learning.
5. Give yourself a do-over whenever you need it
Have you ever gotten off on the wrong foot in the morning and then felt certain that the rest of the day was already ruined, all by 9 a.m.?
If not, please tell me your secrets.
While I do think that the first hour or so does set the …read more
Source:: Business Insider
