So you’ve been sent home from the office to work from home due to Coronavirus. The tendency for some might be this is a small vacation. But if you have a boss or are an entrepreneur, the responsibility still lies with you to manage yourself so you can be most effective and still run your business or complete your responsibilities.
So we thought we would take a timeout from our usual entrepreneurial routine to write up how we manage our work from home or “WFH” routine - since, well, we have been doing this for a while now and are kind of experts at it.
So first things first. Take some time to think about how you want to address this and answer a few basic questions to get your self setup for success.
Questions/Points to Consider
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What sort of a schedule do you want to keep?
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Where will I work? As in what room of the house?
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Should I employ set work hours or should my schedule be flexible?
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Do I have a quiet, distraction-free area at home in which to focus on my work?
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Consider setting boundaries with friends and family around privacy and do not disturb
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How can you utilize your breaks? Listen to music or go for a walk or do something creative during the break so that you return to work refreshed.
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What will keep you motivated? Self-motivation is needed to be at the top of your game. Set personal boundaries and goals. With nobody watching, you might get tempted to take it easy at times.
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How organized are you? Remember you have to handle various roles.
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Can you manage your social media interactions?
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Who would be your tech support? If you are not tech-savvy it is important that you do have someone to fall back upon to seek help.
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How will you keep yourself fit? Exercise as much as possible. Online jobs by nature are sedentary and this is not good for health.
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Can you manage your diet? Avoid reaching out for junk foods; munch on fruit instead.
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Why is exercise so important? Sitting the whole day with your laptop spells doom for health. Move and get fresh air and exercise every day to keep fit.
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Can you handle distractions at home? You have to set rules so that you are not disturbed during work. The phone and doorbell will still ring though. You should be able to concentrate back on work right after.
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Have you considered fuck breaks with your fuck bunny?
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Should you designate call time? Most definitely! Otherwise, you will find family and friends calling you up at all odd hours. For them, you are ‘home’.
How Do We Manage Working From Home?
1. Setup a morning routine - Every. Single. Day!
I can't stress enough to you the importance of establishing a great morning routine, because it will set you up for a successful day -- and ultimately a successful life. A morning routine sets the tone for the whole day, and if you do each day right, you'll do life right. My morning routine takes just over an hour. I experimented with a few different things and figured out what worked best for me. You should do the same. Don’t expect to get it right the first time - experiment, adjust, try each routine out for a few days, maybe even a week until you settle into a groove, and try to maintain the first hour of your day with very little variation each time.
Knowing exactly how the first 60 minutes of my day is going to unfold puts me in charge of the rest of the day because it sets me up for success, organizes me and ultimately makes me more productive.
You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. -- John C. Maxwell
Be sure to check out my daily morning routine at the bottom of this post!
2. Create a designated work space
Creating a designated work space provides a couple of advantages. For starters it designates where you work and not relax, or play. Second, it actually promotes creativity and discipline when working. This results in more productivity and less distractions. My work space symbolizes productivity. Everything is dedicated and organized to one purpose, without distraction. When I enter the space I have only one purpose in mind, and no distraction. That single-minded focus is what produces results. If it wasn’t dedicated it wouldn’t work, and neither would I.
3. Plan out your day in advance
I use a daily journal/planner that I found from reading Habits of Highly Successful People by Brendon Burchard. He also sells a High Performance Planner that I have found to be the most concise daily journal/planner I’ve used. My daily plan consists of not just tasks but are very specific around daily goals and objectives, personal mantras, my three absolute tasks that have to happen today, and more. I am also very detailed about exactly what I have to do that day and break it down to the minute. (insert actual journal pic).
4. Establish ground rules for everyone else at home as it pertains to your work/environment
What qualifies as interruptible during work-time should be clearly spelled out to everyone in the family- especially small children who think everything is an emergency. Discuss this with your partner and older kids - who might think the rules do not apply to them.Hold the line on responding to interruptions, and eventually, they will stop asking or at least asking so much.
5. Take Breaks
Breaks can help IMMENSELY if you work from home! Taking regular breaks will help you make better decisions (by thinking more clearly). Breaks spark creative ideas and new solutions. Taking breaks helps you stay focused over long periods of time. Breaks can help you retain information in memory (important for studying or rehearsing a speech etc.). Additionally, research has linked sitting for long periods of time with a number of health concerns. They include obesity and a cluster of conditions — increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels — that make up metabolic syndrome - so get up take a walk, do some pushups, some jumping jacks, meditate, read, just take scheduled 15-minute breaks.
6. Enjoy Nature
Not leaving your home all day can be mentally tough. Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, and lower blood pressure — Spending time in forests, hiking in mountains, and just being outside can lead to significant health benefits. We all don't have access to mountains and beaches, so what else can we do. Take off your shoes, walk in the grass in your backyard. Put your shoes back on, take a walk around the block. Sit and bask in the sun for 10 minutes. Rake some leaves, mow the grass, anything to put you in touch with mother nature. Being outdoors has a demonstrated de-stressing effect. The outdoors can lower levels of cortisol — a hormone often used as a marker for stress as well as decrease heart rate, both beneficial for good health.
7. Eat Well
In theory, it’s easier to be healthy when you’re working from home: No office snacks or donuts, you can cook healthy meals, and work out whenever you want. Win-win-win, right? The reality, however, probably looks something like this: Slumped on your couch wearing workout clothes you never worked out in (or let’s be honest, your pajamas), tapping away on your laptop, and eating peanut butter out of the jar because you didn’t have the time or energy to make lunch. Nutrition is critical to staying focused, energized, and productive throughout the day. It’s hard to concentrate and be productive when you’re hungry or your blood sugar is low. Much like eating healthy at the office, the key to eating nutritious foods at home is to stock your kitchen with healthy foods and meal prep.
Here's a glimpse at my morning routine which helps get my WFH day started:
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