Hey!!
I have been wanting to write a post on this for a while but hesitated to because I didn’t know if it would be something you would be interested in learning about or not. For those of you that participated in my Instagram poll on this a few weeks back thank you! I appreciate your feedback as always.
A lot of times people are under the impression that working from home entails you eating bon bons and replying to e-mails occasionally whereas I would argue that I work even harder and more diligently then when I am sitting in my a stuffy office space.
I know I typically focus all of my content on home interiors but I think it is nice to shift the focus at times to other day to day things that happen in our lives that we all can relate to. So, I thought why not take something like this and show you how I have eased my way into the transition of working from an office full time to working from home full time. I have been seeing more and more people also shifting to a work from home schedule so I am hoping if this is something you are unsure of or are struggling to stay focused this will give you a window into how I have learned to manage this.
Let me start off by saying if you had told me four years ago when I initially started to work from home two days a week at a corporate marketing job that this would be my full-time reality today I would have laughed. I NEVER thought I would be the type of “employee” that actually looked forward to working from home daily, and not to mention would actually got work done without physically being in an office building. I find it so interesting what the whole WFH concept and perception means to so many people who don’t have that kind of flexibility at their job. A lot of times people are under the impression you are doing everything BUT working. I am here to tell you that is NOT the reality. Listen, I am sitting in my home office editing this post at 6AM and then shortly after I will be answering work e-mails all before 7AM. The beauty of all of this is I don’t have to worry about commute times, rushing out the door to get ready, and battling it out in the coffee line.
I will be the first to tell you it was certainly an adjustment for me at first. If you have been following along for a while I am sure you have noticed that I am the definition of a chatty Cathy. I thrive off the energy of people, places, and things. Being extremely extroverted in an office place as you can imagine has it’s downfalls. I am the type of person that will ask all my coworkers, and friends when I get to work how their weekend was, and I genuinely I am interested in learning MORE about their lives. If I was able to keep those conversations short and sweet I would have been fine however for me that is just not possible haha. These conversations are great for a Saturday wine vineyard with the girls but not so much regularly at the office where deadlines and priorities as you know are all on a timeline. I even found some days when I was in the office that I would leave feeling more overwhelmed because I had spent a majority of my day listening to other conversations and not getting some of the key deadlines I had on my todo list complete.
I am certainly not here to tell you that you cannot be social with your coworkers and successful in your current role at the same time. I am just letting you know that for me I struggled to find the happy median in the office which is why when I started working from home more and more and I had to really reset my mind to get on a routine and learn what my strengths and weaknesses in the workplace I had in terms of my productivity levels. I tend to say “yes” to SO many things and deliver however how I was getting them done was leaving me feeling overwhelmed while still trying to also be a good wife and bonus Mom to Sofia.
Some of these mind shifts and changes I made in my day to day world when I started working from home really helped me gain the most out of my day and by making these essential changes to how I was getting work done. I learned when I am most productive which are the hours between (7AM-12PM). I use this time to schedule meetings and reply to e-mails. Then, in the afternoon after those hours I catch up on other projects that I working on with my colleagues. Please keep in mind this did not happen over night and I am still learning each day how I can so don’t get frustrated if you are feeling overwhelmed by WFH full time you will get into the swing and find your rhythm.
Here are a few things I swear by now in my routine that I promise may help you too:
- Plan your day out the day before-YES you heard that right. I am telling you if you jot down the main priorities you need to for the following day it is a game changer. I even keep a sticky note on my laptop to remind me and so that I am visually looking at it. I have a Calm the Chao journal from Anthropology that is my life line now. I use it each day and it is such a great way to get your mind ready for the next day.
- Wear regular clothes each day even though I know it is going to be tempting to put on those workout pants! I get that it is so easy to stay in workout gear all day trust me I do because I to was in the same cycle when I first started working from home. To me getting ready, as if you are actually going into a formal office really is a game changer. I am not saying you need to dress to the nines and wear a business suit each day but something that makes YOU feel good in will totally set you up for success and your mind will be ready to take on anything!
- STICK with a regular routine. This is key. Make a routine that works best for you whether that is going to the gym first thing in the morning, or having your coffee ritual before the rest of your family, boyfriend, or roommate wakes up. If that is what makes you happy make it a routine that you can THRIVE off of. This is also a good way to feel successful before the of start each day! I write out our weekly schedule not only on my agenda, and post it notes BUT I also have a monthly calendar on a white board that works awesome. You don’t need to spend a lot of money of top notch organizational tools. These are just the basics that have helped me immensely!
- RUN DO NOT WALK to the cutest local cafe or coffee shop near your home. I am willing to bet you have a few close enough to go to that have free Wi-Fi. For me even though we have an office at home I go a little stir crazy being in my house all day long and it is funny when Andy, my husband gets home from work sometimes he will be able to tell if I have been home all day without leaving because I have crazy DIY projects that I want him to do haha which I am sure comes as no surprise. Another great reason I love cafes is you get to take in the atmosphere and the people around you. Not to mention the dozens of other WFH employees that you are surrounded by.
- Podcasts. These are my new obsession and the two that I love are the Rise podcast by Rachel and Dave Hollis. They are both inspiring motivational speakers and Rachel Hollis started her company with no high school education and teaches you quite literally to pull up your bootstraps and take on the damn day! My other absolute hysterically hilarious podcast obsession is the Absolutely Not podcast by the one and only Heather McMahan! This woman is so freakin’ funny that I do admit at times I cry during the day when I am listening. It is so great to have a podcast you like handy because if you are missing the background noise of an office this will help!
I hope this post helped you get a better understanding or why working from home works so much better for some people and why for me at this point in my life I feel so lucky to be able to do so. I love the flexibility of being able to be around for Sofia if she needs me but at the same time logging back online later after dinner is made to finish up e-mails. Listen I think I am doing something right if I have now successfully done this for over four years now haha.
Have a great day everyone and as always leave a comment below if you have any questions
xx
J
