We are living in such strange times. For sure, these days will be one day in a history book. But with all this craziness happening in the world, we still have to stay positive.
This increased time we have to spend in our homes can be used for good. To reconnect with our partners or family, to finally start that book, or pick up new hobbies. ( I especially recommend a morning yoga and meditation 🙂 )
I know that able to work from home is a privilege, so I’m lucky that this doesn’t really affect my everyday routine. And that fore I’m sharing my home-activities and habits with you to help adjust for this temporary situation as smoothes you can. And who knows, maybe you find some of these habits can be implemented to your “normal” everyday life.
Let me start with I’m an early bird meaning that I get up every day around 6 am. It becomes so natural to me that I do this without my alarm. As we all different, you have to listen to your body and plan your day accordingly. But no matter when do you woke up.
You in charge of making every day count!
When I started to work from home, I made a list of what I think my day would look like. You know when You have time and energy for everything you like to do. So I know I need some time in the morning to make some juices / or breakfast have a cup of coffee and start the day with on a slow clam phase. Then I know I like to do exercise daily. Even it is in the form of running or walking in the park or a quick 30min on the mat.
Then I have to make sure I do have time during the day to make some hot food for lunch or dinner and last, but not least, I do have to get my work done. It sounds a lot, but I can promise it is not impossible and I have to go to bed every day feeling proud of what I accomplished.
Morning routine
Around 6:30, I put my yoga mat and my crystals and do my everyday morning meditation. This usually takes twenty minutes to half an hour. Then I do a thirty-minute stretching yoga. I like to have juice after my workout, so if I don’t have any in my fridge, this is the time when I prepare for the next two to three days.
I share all my smoothie recipes in my Instagram Stories make sure you pop by to say HI 🙂
As I know, my pick time is in the morning around 8 am I start to work on my computer for two to three hours. If I have to shoot for any project, I like the pictures in the early afternoon hours. (this is the best time in my apartment to use the natural light)
So let’s recap what I do during the morning:
- Waking up at 6 am and it’s time to get caffeinated
- It’s easy to fall into the habit of hitting the snooze button to catch some extra z’s, however, when you go back to sleep you usually end up feeling more tired than when you first woke up.
- 6:30 am morning meditation
- Early morning, when the day breaks and the world at large are asleep, you normally won’t have doorbells ringing or phones buzzing. A peaceful environment and a mind not clouded with the day’s affairs facilitate meditation that gives the deepest of rest.
- 7 am yoga time
- Once you make practicing yoga in the morning a habit, your body becomes accustomed to getting up at the same time each day. This means you will awake feeling more energized and alert. While practicing yoga, the attention to breathing, meditation, and Asana has a positive effect on the endocrine system, which is responsible for long-term body maintenance. The endocrine system uses glands and hormones, to help keep you balanced.
- 7:30 am Time for my first smoothie or Juice
But as most of us, we spend the mornings at home, either way, you are sleeping or making the most out of it. The real challenge is to make the most out of the rest of the day. Without becoming a couch potato.
Working from Home
This is the time. If you are thinking to try work remotely now, you can show to your employer that you can work your but off and be just as if not even more productive without working from your office. Working from home definitely has its ups and downs. This is 100% your responsibility to get your work down. No college or boss will be there to make sure you’re staying on top of your tasks.
At the same time, as long as you stay at the top of your tasks, you have the freedom to manage your daily schedule. I like to take a break every two to three hours. Not too long, just a quick 20 minutes. My number one tip is to every time you go on a break, set the alarm on your phone. This will helps you with time management. I like to use these 20 minutes to catch up on social media or to clean one room in my apartment. Having a clean and tidy up home helps me focus as my mind doesn’t wonder about the things I have to do like the laundry or vacuum the floor.
I usually start to make my lunch around 1 pm and this is the time when I take a bit longer break. To completely take my mind of what I was working on earlier. Once I finish my lunch by focusing my attention os something completely different from what I was doing before. It helps me to look at my project with a fresh eye and mind and continue to come up with creative ideas. I like to finish up my work for the day around 6 pm but if I get some deadlines I do work as long as I finish. ( But as I start early every day this doesn’t happen so often)
Tips How To Be Productive At Working From Home
- Start early as you can
- Take advantage of flexible hours and start early to finish early and have the evening free to do what makes you happy and relax.
- Start timing your breaks
- Taking a break while your working is important for your brain to process all the information and to keep your activity at a high level. By setting a 20 minutes alarm helps to keep you in a schedule not to overtake these breaks.
- Try to avoid any destruction
- Just think about it. It’s you! Only You, no collages chatting next to you no constant phone ringing. I don’t allow myself to turn on tv before 6 pm. I know if I do my attention will shift to what’s going on in there not what I’m doing. So to break the silence I like to listen to a podcast that talks about marketing or social media. (whatever field you working in I can assure you can find a podcast that not just entertaining but can give you extra valuable information too)
- Set for every day your top 3 task
- I like to set three things that I must complete that day. So I know I don’t finish till I haven’t completed these three tasks.
- Mixed up where do you work from
- I have an office corner in my apartment where I work most of the time. However time to time I grab my agenda and my laptop and I move to my bedroom ot to my couch just to mix things up. Why not enjoy working from home!? You can find the fun in it too 🙂
I find it really important to have this routine as I’m and now most of us working, eating, relaxing and exercising in the same space and this can be difficult if you don’t have a balanced structure in your every day.
(Semi) Home Evening Routine
As this time in the UK, we are still allowed and advised to go out once a day to the fresh air either for a walk or for a run. As I already have a home exercise routine I just go for a walk around 6 pm to get some fresh air and by this really close my day of work.
This is the time when I catch up on any tv series or documentary, read a book and at least 3 times a week I do some hit workout before starting my last part of my evening.
My Suggestions For A Relaxing Evening
- Do some in-home exercise
- Physical activity increases the time spent in deep sleep, the most physically restorative sleep phase. Deep sleep helps to boost immune function, support cardiac health, and control stress and anxiety. In addition to improving the quality of sleep, exercise also can help you increase the duration of your nightly rest. Being physically active requires you to expend energy, and helps you feel more tired and ready to rest at the end of the day.
- Try to limit blue light 2 hours before going to bed
- Blue light in the evening tricks your brain into thinking it’s daytime, which inhibits the production of melatonin and reduces both the quantity and quality of your sleep. Computer monitors, the phone screen also produce large amounts of blue light and may disrupt your internal clock if you’re exposed during the evening.
I hope you will find some information tips to adjust to your everyday life. And most importantly don’t forget to keep looking at the bright side of the current situation. Our Planet is healing and we got to spend some quality time with our loved ones. It can be online but now we do have the time to reconnect.
I would love to hear what do you do now that you haven’t got the time before?
Stay safe!
