Make working from home work for you

Create a structure for yourself

Pick a good chunk of time that you can remain focused, say 2 chunks of 3 hours each, and break up your day into a few chunks. Rather than working 9-5 with a 30 minute lunch, work for a chunk of time and allow yourself a longer break than usual. Allow yourself a good amount of time to break between your chunks of working to eat lunch, check the news, social media, or take out the dog. It’s not going to be possible to remain sitting for 8 hours straight every single day, so accept that build some time for distractions into your day. You might find yourself wanting to use social media to keep connected to friends and family so making sure you make time for it will help you better focus when you aren’t on it.

Change up the scenery (even in small ways)

It’s easy to get sick of being indoors. Each chunk of work can be done in a different part of your home to help give yourself a change of scenery. As many of us might be self-isolating, even facing a window while you work and seeing natural light can be a great mood booster. If you have limited space, even changing the direction of your chair can help you settle into the next chunk of work ahead of you. For couples working from home together, perhaps switch seats with one another during midday.

Keep up your sleep hygiene

In the first few days of working from home, we might discover a desire to sleep in as the obvious time commitments of a commute are no longer in place. It’s easy to let yourself sleep in, or go to bed late. Keeping the same routine, waking up at the same time will help keep you in a productive headspace. Of course, keep up your usual hygiene as well!

Create bookends for your workday

It helps your brain and your body to know when the work day is complete, and typically it’s the commute that signifies to us that the day is starting or ending. It’s an often neglected moment people take to wind down the day, and bring quiet to our thoughts. If you listen to a podcast on the commute home, perhaps keep that habit going. If you often begin the workday with a cup of strong black coffee at your desk, bring that habit into your home as well.