How we’ve adapted to working from home…
by Dawn Pearson
So we’ve almost completed our second full week working from home (feel free to give yourself a pat on the back!)…on the whole its so far so good!! We’ve learnt a few things along the way, including what was and wasn’t working and what we’re missing!! Coming from a fairly big office for two people (complete with table tennis table) to our house was a bit of a change!
The setup!
We arrived home from the office with a car full of equipment (including extremely important toys such as the mini SNES!!) so we could do as the government advised and work from home. We started off planning our workspace. I took the kitchen table and Sean set up a desk in the spare bedroom, ideal as it’s a space we don’t often use and it was a nice little area for him. As for my workspace, I made the decision to have a routine each day to set up what I needed and pack it all away on an evening. I want my kitchen to still look like and function like my kitchen out of “working hours”!
Flexible working!
One thing that as a business we don’t do is have “set in stone” working hours, we don’t need to be sat at our desks at 9am sharp, and so that continued at home! Being flexible is one thing that I feel is really important so we don’t feel restricted. I woke up a few days feeling a bit unsettled, not really knowing what lay ahead for our business. I just took a bit of extra time to come round…and then when I felt like it I got on with my day. I think it’s okay not to feel okay, having a wobble every now and then is perfectly fine and probably good for us!!
Plan your day
Write a list of what you are hoping to achieve! I don’t think we need to worry if we’re not at peak productivity throughout the whole day. Listen to your body and take a step back. I find it helpful to undertake projects that you know you need to be at 100% for when you feel you are able to handle them. Doing more tedious admin tasks can be done whilst you have less energy. Once we were settled into our new working life we quite quickly managed to finish off editing a few projects (its amazing what you can get done when you don’t have lots of other stuff to deal with!) and we got some great feedback from clients which was fantastic!
What we’re really missing!
…taking a little creative break over a game of table tennis!! As well as being great fun we also used the time to discuss what was going on within our business. This still happens, but now over a game of mario kart on the SNES!! A little pocket of fun in the day!
Don’t forget to take a break!
Make yourself a drink and then do something non work related. For me that’s catching up on a few messages from friends and family. I’m often in touch with my siblings and see my parents at least once a week usually…now it’s just done over FaceTime! Having little moments of positivity throughout your day is great and it’s crucial for your mental health. For me this really comes from speaking to my family.
Exercise…exercise is sooooo important!
I’ve been a fan of Joe Wicks workouts for quite some time now and i’m continuing my little routine. I always feel great after a workout, even if I was feeling a little bit like I wasn’t into it at the start, it lifts my mood and I can feel the positivity from doing (even as little as) a 20 minute workout! When I don’t feel like flinging myself around my cellar I do a yoga class. I’ve been practicing yoga for a while now (I usually do classes with my mother in law) and being able to do live online classes has been fantastic. It’s so important to listen to your body! ! It took me a very long time to learn how to do this and I could probably do a little better sometimes but it’s important to recognise and respond to how you feel!
The future
Who knows what the future holds! It might not quite be business as usual, but we’re doing our best to adapt!! We’re still in the early stages of all this and its going to be a rocky road ahead for many of us…but we will get through this as best as we can and we can.Hopefully we can take what we have learnt as a business and personally into our future “normal lives”!
computer photo by bongkarn thanyakij from Pexels
neon sign photo by Ivan Bertolazzi from Pexels
