5 Tips To Help w/ Virtual Work Stress
It is interesting for me working from home. I have realized a few things about myself working from home. In the month and half being locked in the house working, I have come to the conclusion that I like my work office space to he different then my office space. My banking career office was in downtown Phoenix prior to the work from home. When I would get home; I would work in my home office/studio for a couple of hours and then take a break. I would go back to the office around 10 PM and then work till around midnight. What I have found working from home is that I end of spending more then 15 hours a day in my office. This is the only downfall that I have with the stay at home order in regard to being at home. Now that I am over a month into this; I have found a few useful things that have helped me.
Keep A Regular Sleep Pattern
This has been my biggest downfall my whole life. I tend to work or obsess on something until I figure it out. This makes it difficult to keep to a sleep pattern, because I tend to keep working on stuff all the time. However; I was in a pretty good pattern of turning out the light around midnight and starting up again at 7:30 AM. Somehow working from home slowly led me to keep working past regular work hours for my banking career, and then lead me to working till about 2 or 3 AM; and getting back into the room at 9 AM the next day. This doing this for three weeks really started to put a strain on my ability to be productive. I have sense started scaling back the time I go to sleep; and as of this writing am at around 1 AM. Which is still pretty rough, but I am working on scaling it back.
The best thing to do is schedule in when you go to sleep on your Outlook Calendar (or whatever you use). If you use a paper planner like I do, then schedule in the time to sleep on your paper planner as well. I am a firm believer that you should schedule in anything; you don’t need to be ridiculous rigid with it, but I helps keep you on track. The other thing that really helps to get shut eye is to reduce caffeine. This also another hard one for me, but I have cut it back pretty drastically, and lastly have some Sleepy Time Tea or other herbal remedy a little bit before your scheduled sleep time. This will help you go right to sleep. It is amazing how more productive you can be when you get quality sleep.
Exercise
I love to exercise, but a lot of the time I let life get in the way. And my body and life can become lethargic when I am not at least moving. I enjoy working out around other people, but not necessarily with them. I like feeding off of others energy. Being at home, essentially by myself most of the day, I let weeks go with out any real exercise. I imagine a lot of you may be experiencing the same thing. Well, some things that I started to do during 15 minute breaks throughout the day is stretch. There is a whole lot of exercising and wellness that can be done with a yoga matt. But if you aren’t wearing clothes that are flexible; I suggest getting a Kettle Bell. My favorite kettle bells are from ONNIT. Take a light walk around the backyard or maybe outside and then do some kettle bell swings. This will get your body moving. It doesn’t need to be a lot but something, so you don’t get stagnant in the house.
Then plan some time before you start working or after working to do some Yoga or Pilates. Again, you really only need a matt. There is a great yoga company called Black Swan. They have a great app. You can check them out at https://blackswanyoga.com/ The app is fairly inexpensive. If you want something that will really get you burning join 3T Fitness online training. 3T Fitness is one of the companies I founded with my partner John Vasquez. You can see what it looks like at www.3tfitness.com. From there schedule an online appointment at Here. Either way just make sure to plan in your workout and do your best to stick to it.
Fresh and Clean
There is a term called “Sunday’s Best.” If you have never been a church goer. Essentially, when you dress up for church it takes you out of your normal day to day, and the thought is you will pay more attention in church. As a mystic, when we perform rituals there is usually quite a bit of regalia. An example of this would be a robe. You put the robe on to take your self out of the normal, and it helps heighten your senses because you are out of your every day to day comfort. It helps make the event more meaningful. The point is that, I like dressing for work even though I am not going to work. When I put on dress pants, my white dress shirt, and my tie it helps your sub conscious realize that your are partaking in other activities. It helps stay focused. This is at least what I have found, and I encourage you to try it. Get up like your are going to work; and do your daily routine, and then start your work.
End Your Day
Run your day just like you are at work. Do not let it carry over. If you do let it run over it can cause a lot of strain, and it can also lead to burn out. I just keep working, mainly because I enjoy creating and building businesses. However; I know the strain it puts on me mentally. Set a time for your workday to end. It can be a 16 hour day, it doesn’t matter, what is important is that you stop at some point to give your mind time to rejuvenate.
The other part to this is that you shouldn’t let your work bleed into your weekends. It is very easy to think of something that needed to get done, and jump on your laptop and work on it. Just don’t. Unless someone’s life or your job is in danger it can wait. Most things that we think are emergencies really aren’t; we just make them that way. When your day is done you need to go and relax and do other things you enjoy. If the thing you really enjoy is work, then at least change the scenery up or maybe work on something on your cell phone while you watch television with your family. However; if you have a wife, kids, pets or something; go hang out with them. The work will always be there. What I have found is that when I do make time for my hobbies; such as reading, gaming, music, then I am much more productive with my work time. I think you will be too.
Meditate
I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to call this step. I suppose you could also think of this as prayer. In Buddhism, we meditate with breathwork, focus on Mandala’s, and recite Mantras. If you are not into Meditation, one of the best things that you can do it just sit in a comfortable position and count your breaths. For example, when you breath in, in your mind you will count 1, and then out you will count 2, and so on and son on. Once you get to 10 you start over at 1. If thoughts arise, just recognize the thought and let it past. The more you do it, the easier it becomes not to think. When this happens, you start to be in the moment, and that is the key.
Most of live such hectic lives. We see panic on the news and read it in the newspapers. We are always attached to technology and always attached to our phones! It is good to turn all that off even if it is for a few moments a day. It helps shut all the noise down for a small period of time, and in the end it will help you be more productive. I promise.
I hope you find these useful. I also hope that we continue to be successful working from home. Most people tend to be more productive, and if you add these activities you can become even more successful. Enjoy!