Whilst 2020 has been and gone, remnants of it remain in the coming 12 months and one of those factors is the increased importance of effective home-working.
Here are some of the habits our team swear by to keep them happy whilst home-working…
1. Maintain a healthy balance of screen time vs non-screen time
Home-working usually naturally carries an increased reliance on a screen – whether it’s a laptop, tablet or phone – but with lockdown affecting our access to entertainment during our downtime, it also means screens tend to be our primary distraction during our downtime.
There are numerous studies on the effects that blue light (i.e. light generated from a screen) has on your sleep, mood and more, but the general action to take from it is to adopt one or two hobbies that don’t involve a screen. These can include walking, jogging, reading, puzzles or more, but adopting a few of these will improve your sleep and mood, thus making your work-life a much happier place.
2. Stay organised
It sounds basic, but living, working and relaxing in the same space can create a messy environment which can really get you down. Stay on top of the clutter by adopting tidy habits, no matter how small, wherever you can.
Some ideas for this include (if you have the space) keeping the work-life contained to a room or section of the house as best as you can and removing things you definitely don’t need from your workspace (it may even be your phone!).
If you’re a home-worker confined to a laptop screen for the majority of the day, explore the quick organisation hacks that programmes come with to keep your brain zen whilst your world is in a screen. A great example of this is Google’s feature to group and colour code tabs to make everything easier to browse – check it out here.
3. Create on / off triggers for your brain
For most people, our morning and evening commutes are the trigger for our brain that we’re approaching ‘work time’ or winding down to ‘relaxation time’. Those triggers enable our brain to prepare for optimal functioning during the day or relaxing during the evening.
Working from home removes those triggers so it’s no wonder that the common complaints of a working-from-home lifestyle are that people can struggle for motivation in the morning or to switch off in the evening.
Create yourself new triggers that you religiously stick to every day. It could be a short walk around the block; It could be preparing food for very specific timeslots; It could even be something as small as saying a certain sentence out loud. All of these create cues that your brain will eventually recognise as the time it needs to get ready or wind down, which will lead to more productive days and more restful down-time or sleeping, creating a happier you.
Have you got any recommendations or habits that you swear by to keep your work and home life happy? Tweet us at @recruitsolnw and we’ll share the best
