5 things you can do to make working from home more joyful

Whether you are loving working from home in your pajamas or you are missing the benefits of social interactions at the office (and the weekly trips to the pub after work), we have collected a few tips around the web that we believe will be very helpful for you (apart from the popular “Have a shower”!).

1. Look after your body

When you are concentrating on your laptop and your brain is engaged, it’s easy to forget about your body. As many people don’t usually have an ergonomic chair at home, it’s recommended to change positions frequently, from sitting at your kitchen table to standing in a higher counter or adopt a relaxing position on the sofa, trying different positions will help you find physical ease.

Now, I don’t believe any of you is missing their commuting, however, it helped adding those steps into our daily routine and now this steps and movements have disappeared. Well, there is a few things you can do without having to wake up extra early for a workout, why not download a step tracker in your phone and set some daily goals? I was shocked to see some days I was walking as little as 300 steps! This will get you out to the park for a while or going up and down the stairs if you live in a building of flats! Alternatively, jump, dance, twerk! No one is watching! Just remember not to do it while the Zoom meeting is on. Setting a timer for these small sessions is highly recommended.

2. Make your commuting your new pleasure

Some of you were lucky and had to commute a total of half an hour a day, some of us, not so lucky a total of 2 to 3 hours. Now the lucky roles have reversed (just joking! No one is really watching!) as we have won back all that time! The idea is you now block that time for free time, it doesn’t have to be at the same time as the commuting but do make sure you schedule it and use it for things that are pleasurable for you.

3. Create a sensory landscape

Workspaces have traditionally been designed based on the belief that to maximize productivity you need to minimize distraction, leading to bland spaces. But research shows that when spaces have art, plants, and more sensorial stimulation, the workers are 15 percent more productive. And 32% more productive if they have control over the placement of things in their workspace!

Look for ways to add pleasant sensations into your workspace. Hang up an image, add some colourful plants (plants have been shown to reduce stress and restore your ability to concentrate), choose some fun or colourful mugs for your coffee/tea break, put a scented candle on, put some faux fur sheepskin rug on your chair for cosiness. Whatever you do, make it yours and make sure it makes you smile.

4. Stick to a routine

Before the pandemic, I never found myself emptying a dishwasher, doing laundry or changing the bed sheets during working hours. Some of these things, sometimes I believe I do them just to avoid the actual work!

Have a ritual, something that marks a transition into sessions, if you don’t like setting up alarms, or you already ignore them too easily, why not create a playlist that “tells” you when you need to stop the work and go for a walk, stretch, make a sandwich, tidy up…

Some Apps offer background noises if you need to be more focus, the trick is not to ignore those triggers and stick to your routine to make the most out of your day.

5. Disconnect!

If you are like me, and don’t have a desk or office space, a good idea is to have a basket or a box where you can put your laptop and all paperwork away, set a time when you are going to commit to close that laptop and put everything away, this really creates that boundary that now you are back again in your usual home life.

A lot of times before doing this, I found myself leaving the open laptop at the table, eating dinner, watching some TV and then going back to sit or even refresh my emails. This trick has truly helped me disconnect.

We hope these little tricks we put together really help you to achieve some goals, make the most out of your day and give you that needed extra time to enjoy! And most importantly, if your day doesn’t go as planned, keep on going and be kind to yourself! ♥