Life has changed and will probably never go back to what it was before Covid-19 hit us all, when some of us suddenly found ourselves working from home for the first time.
For Cherry and me, not a lot changed, since we've been working from home for many years and more than 90% of our work is online. We feel very lucky that we weren't thrown in at the deep end, like so many others, so we've decided that we would pass on some of the things we've learnt over the years and some of the new cool things we are learning along with everyone else.
So, you’re now stuck working from home? There are now two ways this can go, depending on how you embrace the challenge - or not.
One option...
You work like so many other people who are confined to a home office. That means you’ll spend a huge chunk of your day procrastinating before you actually get anything done, which will result in work spilling over into your evening - or not getting done at all.
You’ll go to bed with work still on your mind, feeling stressed and panicking because you are behind. You’ll wake up the next day frustrated and start work in your pajamas.
You have probably never realized just how much structure there has been in your life. You have a routine both before you leave the house and when you arrive at the office, and when you get back home again. So with no structure to your day and without the routine of the office, it’s all too easy to fall into “bad habits”. You make yourself that morning cup of coffee, you check your emails, you read Facebook… you guys neglect to shave and you ladies let your hair dry naturally and don't bother with makeup!
It feels like liberation at first, and it’s a great feeling not having to rush out of the door and sit in traffic.
But the result: NO structure. You spend all day “half working” and you spend all your time cooped up in one room. Your work life eventually bleeds into your downtime, and you end up falling behind in all kinds of aspects of your productivity AND your personal life. You didn't realize just how much you needed the structure to get things done – work/life balance just got really bad.
Second option...
The other option is that you grasp this opportunity with both hands; that you apply a little strategy and discipline. Most importantly: you gain the correct mindset that will help you to tackle this unique challenge in the best way possible.
And what does that look like?
You can now finish your day’s work in less time. The truth is that most of us wasted hours in the office on meetings and chatting around the water cooler whereas now you are your own boss and your have your own system in place.
You have no commute either, so you probably just gained 2-4 hours of extra time every single day.
You’ll work in a tidy and organized office that is designed specifically for you, to help you feel productive, and you’ll properly relax and unwind in the evenings with the people and things you love.
The best part is that you can start applying a little “lifestyle design.” That means working in the way you want to work: working the hours that you like, and even from different locations. Why not do extra work throughout the week so that you can have Fridays off?
One other plus is that (after lockdown!) you can go shopping, to the bank or hairdresser when it’s much quieter, saving even more time to spend the way you want. And when you can, why not get out of your home office and go and work in a cafe somewhere? A change of scenery can really help the brain and memory to function better.
In the meantime, why not work from your garden, if going outside of your property is not an option.
All this is possible when you work from home, whether you are freelancing or employed by a large organization. All you need is to approach this in the right way, and with the right state of mind.
And that’s precisely what we’re going to be exploring in this series of blog articles over the next few days.
Top tip for today
Hopefully, after completing the series, you’ll find that working from home can be the best thing that ever happened to you. You’ll be more productive, you may be able to earn more, and you’ll have more spare time to work on your self-development, your hobbies, another online business and do the things that really matter to you.
It’s all about getting into the right mindset, learning to be productive when there is nobody to pile the pressure on, and doing what you can to stay on task.
So to start you off before we get into the detail and some “homework”, here are a couple of things you can start working on so you can finish your work quickly.
Think about the best environment for you to work in. What environment will help you be the most focused and productive. For example, I have three large monitors in a fairly dark room - in fact it is my gaming rig as well. My wife, by contrast, works from the dining table where there is lots of natural light and a view.
Don’t make the mistake of just having a to-do list, these always grow and are never ending and can be quite a downer to some people. Have a Today List as well! The night before or first thing in the morning, look at what you have on your list, decide what is the most important that you must get done today. This your Today List. It's usually best when you create that as a separate list, then you'll feel a sense of achievement when you tick off or cross out the last item on the list!
When you have finished your Today List, you're done for the day - or if you still have time in your work day, you can catch up on some smaller or fun tasks without feeling you have slacked today.
More to come, so sign up, then you'll know when we upload the next installment.
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