Work from home, 14 months later
When everything got shut down 14 months ago, I truly thought I’d be A-OKAY with the full work from home transition. I’m a management consultant so I’m used to weeks at home, split up by weeks in the office. Here we are, 14 months later, and a massive shift has happened in much of corporate America. Thankfully, businesses have realized that the workforce is just as impactful while working from home. Corporate America is beginning to downsize on physical office space (Remind anyone of the e-commerce boom and the death of brick and mortar?) and the workforce is beginning to shift to working from home permanently or a divided schedule.
I thought that because I have been working from home for such a long time, I had all the tips and tricks! Throughout the last 14 months, I have realized that so many of my work from home tips and tricks had long expired. I have worked the last few months to really put together a few ideas of things you can do to stay mentally sane as the corporate life shifts.
Plan
Not just planning your meetings ahead of time. Plan when you’ll take 15 minutes off to eat lunch. Plan when you’ll walk the dogs. Block those times in your schedule. It is so easy to work through lunch but you need time away from the technology to survive.
Move
If you know me, you know how important movement is to me. I block an hour off each day to move my body. Whether that’s a peloton ride, or an Orangetheory class, that hour brings me back rejuvenated. I try to time the hour with a lunch break or an hour between meetings mid-morning. I feel that it makes the day go by quicker!
Talk
The thing I hate the most about working from home is the loneliness. It’s just me and the dogs from the minute we get up until my husband gets home. Talking to people has been key. A few ways I do this is by pinging my work friends about the latest bravo tv show news, turning on my camera during calls for the first few minutes to ask coworkers about their weekends, taking a 15 minute walk with the neighbor, or talking to someone professionally. I never thought to seek out mental help during this time but speaking to a counselor/therapist has been incredible. Even if you aren’t actively dealing with something tough, therapy can help you get your thoughts in line and help you conquer even the smallest problems. Do you mind changing this to maybe something along the lines of, "a local counseling service that I love is Ray of Hope Counseling Services. They offer therapy all over Georgia, including Therapy Peachtree City.
These 3 things have helped me tremendously and I’ll continue to use these tips going forward! What has helped you transition into working from home? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
