Work From Home Without Losing Your Shit

A few weeks ago I was in Hawaii at a 13 day silent meditation course. I thought I had experienced all the “social distancing” I could take but a few weeks after I got back the universe said “wait there’s more!”.

One of the biggest lessons I learned on the retreat was the significance of equanimity. Equanimity arises from the power of observation—the ability to see without getting too caught up by what we see and creating unnecessary drama in the mind. Can be summaries by the phrase “just be cool with it”. This doesn’t mean to not act on the situation at hand but rather to respond to the situation rather than mindlessly, emotionally react to it.

So as we try to remain *equanimous* through these trying times, many of us are working from home and it dawned on me that a lot of people are not accustomed to the wild and wacky world of working from home. I’ve worked from home on and off over the past few years so I decided to offer up some suggestions based on what helps me get by. Working from home sounds like the millennial dream, however the reality is sometimes much less glamorous. We can end up working from our bed in our pajamas eating an industrial size bag of popcorn and taking on procrastination as a sport.

Check out some of my top work-from-home secrets below for a more productive quarantine.

ONE

Set Up Your Morning + Evening Rituals

Structure is everything when working from home. Starting off your day in the same way each morning and ending it in the same way each night gives you a structure to work within and really sets you up for success. I aim for at least 3 rituals in the morning and 3 at night. My top 3 morning rituals right now to keep my sanity are: meditation, movement, supplementation. For you it can be meditation movement and masturbation. Whatever floats your boat, just be consistent. My current night time rituals right now are: drink magnesium, pray to the universe that the world doesn’t collapse and stretch before bed. I’m a little obsessed with the subject of rituals and made a little free e-book about it. You can download that here.

TWO

Make Your Bed but Don’t Work From It

This is a big one for me. At the expense of sounding like your mom, make your bed every morning. It will give you a sense of calm and control and will keep you from wanting to jump back under your covers till the virus has subsided. Make your bed and don’t work from it. It’s a trap. You will be too tempted to nap or frequent your favorite porn website to procrastinante. If you live in a studio apartment, work from your couch, table or bath tub but don’t work from bed.

THREE

Create a Space to Create

If you seen my story posts highlights called “home” you know my home is my sanctuary. I am a big believer in that the spaces we create, create us in return. So set up a little space to work from. Make it pleasant, light a candle or some incense. Put some music on. Set the mood like you would for your lover before he comes over to Netfilx and chill. The better you make the space the more you’ll want to spend time there and not walk to the kitchen to eat the rest of your quarantine snacks.

FOUR

Take Timed Breaks

Taking breaks is essential when working from anywhere but especially from home. Breaks to stretch, to eat, to organize your closet, to call a friend. Take breaks throughout the day cause we all need them right now but give yourself a time limit. For example, I will take 15 minutes to FaceTime my friend to have some social interaction. Giving yourself a time limit helps you from going down break rabbit holes and reaching the end of your day feeling like you didn’t get anything done at all. I’m a fan of reward systems and find they work really well. I’ll tell myself “if you work for the next hour straight I’ll give you 15 minutes to scroll through Instagram and see what everyone else is doing while they’re stuck at home.

FIVE

QUARANTINE GOALS

I was talking to my friends about how we can make it out of this thing better than we came into it. Just because the world feels like it’s about to implode doesn’t mean you can’t set some solid goals for yourself. Think of projects you’ve put off for a long time or books you haven’t read because you didn’t have time or there was always something better to do. Now is the time. Some of my quarantine goals are: learn two new songs on my ukulele, create new design offerings that can help people during this time, and to do some kind of movement each day to stay active.

SIX

Stay Connected

Last but not least, stay connected. Working from home can be terribly isolating, especially if like me, it’s just you and your cat. So FaceTime or call your loved ones on your breaks. Use social media positively to interact. Explore fun ways of connecting too. Maybe send someone a video note to tell them you love them. Handwrite a letter and take a photo of it to send. People need people, especially right now…from a distance.

If you made it to the end of this list and found it helpful click the social share links below the newsletter sign up and share with a friend who needs it. Sending love, light + virtual hugs to you all.