How to Work From Home Without Falling Into a Pit of Despair
Much to my surprise and the dismay of my roommates, I somehow managed to work from home for a whole year. There are many benefits to living a relaxed life and writing on the couch. I never have to commute to work, which is a blessing considering how often all subways in New York City experience system-wide outages during rush hour. I rarely wear real pants. I can make an appointment with the doctor in the middle of the day, or at least I could if I had health insurance that would cover the doctor’s appointment.
On the other hand, working from home often causes claustrophobia and isolation. This is especially true in winter, when it gets dark just when you’ve got the courage to venture out. Once I didn’t leave my apartment in daylight for five days. I vowed that after last winter I would spend the next month in a warmer and sunnier climate if I was still a freelancer, but here I am, approaching December, waiting for another three months of self-eruption with no one to talk to but your computer. If this sounds depressing, it is because it IS.
However, there are many ways to get rid of despair if you work from home. Here are a few of them.
Stay on schedule
This is a much less important step if you have a regular gig with a set schedule, but if your work day is a little more amorphous, it is still important to create some structure. “One of the biggest disadvantages of working from home is the lack of routine,” says Goali Saedi Bocci, psychologist and author of The Social Media Workbook for Teens: Skills to Help You Balance Screen Time, Deal With Stress, and Take Responsibility own life”. … “If your schedule is not so structured, you can sleep all day.”
Syedi Bocci suggests going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, as changing your sleep hours can disrupt your natural circadian rhythm and make you feel lethargic and mildly depressed. It’s also a good idea to schedule regular start and end times for work so that your brain can separate work from leisure, no matter how stagnant the space is. “It’s important to set aside work hours when you say, ‘Okay, I’ll be working on this from 9 am to 11:30 am,” says Dr. Alan Cavaiola , a professor at Monmouth University. “It’s important to set aside time free from distractions.”
Other tips from work-at-home friends: Give yourself half an hour or so of free time before starting work (make coffee, have breakfast, read the newspaper, take a quick walk, etc.) to focus on work. and open windows / curtains in your designated work area to brighten up the environment a bit before you dive into the business.
If you need more advice on how to structure your working day at home, we can help you .
Get out of bed
I spent more than a few working days in bed. This is mistake. Your brain needs to be able to separate work from non-work and wakefulness from sleep. “Keep your workplace separate from your living space,” says Caviaola. “Have a small office set aside for work.” You don’t need to dedicate an entire room to work, although if you can, you may find it helpful. The bottom line is that when you start your day at work, you should be doing it at your desk, or at your kitchen table, or on your couch or living room sill, if you prefer to work standing in the sun (highly recommended!). The bed is designed for the bodyguard to sleep and binge. Get out of bed.
Get dressed
I’m writing this post in the same outfit I just slept in, but that’s why I’m a slob with a sink full of dirty dishes and relentless insomnia. Experts always recommend that if you work from home, dress as if you are not. This does not mean that you have to sit on the couch in a suit, but you should at least put on trousers and a shirt, and perhaps comb your hair. Saedi Bocci suggests that you wear clothes that will be comfortable for you to wear outside. “You may be wearing joggers, but you should wear something that at least makes you feel more collected,” she says. “Put on some basic streetwear.” Otherwise, you are a) less likely to leave the house at any given moment and b) more likely to spend a whole week in the same pair of dirty leggings, even though I have never done that!
Find a working group
Just like you make work friends at your new job, I’ve made tons of new freelance buddies in a year of working from home, and we have regular hangouts to get rid of the isolation and monotony that can come from the couch. I usually find writing in a cafe as distracting, but working with one or two other people means I can go to the bathroom or buy a bun without taking my computer with me, plus I tend to do more work when there is someone. then another. print and silently shame me, forcing me to follow his example. “There is something useful about this accountability,” says Saedi Bocci.
If a coffee shop isn’t working for you, or you can’t afford to join a coworking space, see if you can post in someone else’s house for a few hours or invite people to yours. If you can’t find anyone to collaborate with, try starting a group chat with your friends in Slack or text message – so as not to distract you, but to have a few people to contact from time to time or to to cheer you up when you’re struggling to get through a tough time.
Put the TV on
Or a radio, or a Beethoven playlist, or an 11-hour YouTube video of the sounds of the ocean . I find it helpful to turn on background noise not only because you feel a little less isolated when sounds are heard around you, but also because it drowns out the sounds of your upstairs neighbors, a leaking tap, or an endless car alarm. Unwanted ambient noise is annoying in offices, but there is something even more annoying about hearing it all day when you work from home, in part because it feels like there is no way out of it. I’ve almost started a war with the taco record store below me, and I can’t promise that the current detente will continue.
With that in mind, I like working with an old movie in the background or a Cheers or Friends episode – something I’ve seen a million times and I don’t need to concentrate on anything, but I can look up and watch a couple of minutes when I need a break from writing. I’ve watched Best Friend’s Wedding at least five times since I started freelancing.
Other people prefer music with or without lyrics. “When I work from home, I put classical music in the background,” says Cavaiola. Play around with what works for you and change it from time to time to give your brain a new challenge.
Keep a planner
If you’re disorganized, working from home is the death sentence of productivity. With no boss peeking at your computer screen, and no set start / end of the day, it’s all too easy to spend an entire morning on Twitter and then get stuck trying to meet a last minute deadline. This is also true for household chores. While working from home makes it technically easier to do, say, cleaning the house or doing the laundry, knowing that you can always put it off makes it more likely that you will do it until one of your roommates or friendly house mice sends you a polite letter. but solid text.
“Working from home always benefits well-organized people. These are people who can set goals and objectives and stick to those schedules, ”says Kawaiola. “You take on someone who is a little disorganized, it will probably be really difficult for them because they just aren’t used to setting goals and working towards achieving them and don’t know how to organize their time well.”
If you end up in the former camp, well done! However, if you prefer the second option, consider purchasing a scheduler or bullet logging . Keep a checklist of your to-do list and give yourself a little reward (a piece of chocolate, a gold star sticker) as you cross out the entire list every day. “I use my diary every day,” says Saedi Bocci. “I write down my goals for the next day. A planner can really help you keep you informed. “
The exercise
When I started working from home, I expected to have more time to exercise as I would not be confined to a table or tied to my normal 9 to 6 schedule. Technically, this turned out to be true, but I also found myself moving. less, since I no longer go to the train stop and do not walk around the block during lunch breaks. Set aside time to work out and stick to that allotted time – for example, if you plan to go to the gym first thing in the morning, don’t decide when the alarm goes off, you can just do it later. … Trust me, you won’t.
Get the hell out of your house !!!!!!!!
This, in my humble and proven opinion, is the single most effective way not to drive yourself crazy. When you work from home, it’s too easy to never leave – day turns to night, night turns to six-hour booze on Great British Pastries , and it’s suddenly bedtime, and it’s been a whole day since you got up from the couch or spoke. to anyone other than your radiator. It’s okay sometimes, but when you do it all day long it becomes a nightmare.
Weather permitting, I like to take long walks in the middle of the day when I start to feel my productivity is dropping. If I don’t have time for a long walk, I can take a quick walk to the bakery for lunch or a snack instead of cooking at home or ordering something from Seamless.
In bad weather I have a habit of discouraging myself from going outside, but you shouldn’t! Get together, walk around the block, walk in circles, go to a cafe, go to a pharmacy, walk to the train, and walk back without getting up. Some people find it helpful to go outside in the morning before getting to work; I prefer noon, but whatever you choose, do it before dark. GET OUTTTTTTT. “Break Schedule. When you have breaks, leave the house, ”says Kawaiola. “Take a walk, maybe go out for a coffee somewhere where you are going to mingle with others. Thus, you will not be completely isolated. “
And when you return to your sofa / table / floor, you will feel the walls taper a little less.
Don’t fade away
If you work remotely, it’s easy to forget about it. This is true for one of the few employees who do not go to the office, and for one of the many. If you miss meetings, be sure to send ideas by email or other correspondence, or, if possible, attend virtually. If, say, you work in a city other than the main branch of your office, offer a company-sponsored meeting with other employees in your area, or plan a trip to headquarters when you can. Check out group discussions in Slack. Tell jokes. Make yourself known (but don’t annoy). This will make you more visible (and potentially important) to your boss and make you feel less isolated.
Establish social activities
When I had an office job, I looked forward to spending the nights alone at home with a good movie and possibly a glass of wine. But these nights are much less enjoyable when you work from home, which is especially hard in winter when other people are less likely to jump at the opportunity to go out on a weekday night. “Providing access to social media is a really important part of [working from home],” says Saedi Bocci. “You can go to a yoga studio or gym, or join a church or synagogue. Going out and seeing people helps keep your sanity. “
I recommend running a few regular weekly events so you have some social interaction to look forward to. For example, every Sunday I go to the same Pilates class and know other regulars. I go to the weekly happy hour. You can also attend a weekly quiz night, join the skiball league, or sign up for Spanish lessons just to fill out your calendar. You may have to beg your friends to have dinner with you the rest of the time, but if they refuse, at least you have your ongoing obligations.
Remember the grass is always greener
When I was working in the office, all I wanted was to sit at home on the couch. Six months after I was at home on the couch, I cried on it for six hours because I could not bear being alone. I don’t miss the commute to work, or having to do errands during lunchtime, or I can never go to the dentist, or when my boss asks me every fifteen seconds why I giggle when I was supposed to blog about murder (probably I watched a video of a cute animal because sometimes you need a break from killing) or feeling like my soul crawled out of my body at 2:00 pm when the coffee ran out, but I still had to sit at my desk for another four hours.
Now I can take long walks whenever I want. I am much more productive because I work when I feel most excited, outside of the 9-6 restrictions. I save money on lunch, MetroCards, and after-work beers that I don’t need. I miss the camaraderie in the office, but I don’t miss the politics. Sometimes the best way to deal with work from home is to celebrate benefits. After all, once you get back to your normal work / life schedule, you will miss naps.