Hey everyone! We are back with another blog post for you guys! So far, this year has been a bit of a whirlwind for us. We’re not sure if we’ve mentioned it here on the blog yet but as of January, we are now working full time together in the city!! It’s honestly been so incredible…feels like our routine is back to regular programming to be honest lol. In the past year since graduating and starting to work full time we have experienced so many new things that we want to share with you. It’s definitely been a transition for us and finding our grove navigating through all the changes. We have tons of tips and advice for you guys when it comes to the transition and working! We thought it was only fitting for our first work related post during this time is to share our tips for working from home! The both of us have been working from home for about a week straight now and have a feeling this will be our new norm for a bit. We LOVE alliterations and anything we can come up with using the word princess is a win…so keep reading to find out how you can be productive princesses!
Alarms and Wake Up Time
Setting alarms and waking up is so important. If you are commuters like us, then working from home is actually a nice break, getting to sleep in and then immediately being ‘home’ once the days are done. Even though the day starts at 9am we always like to prep our workstations, make breakfast, and have a nice chill morning. Waking up an hour or two before is perfect for us to slowly get up, check socials, and complete our ‘morning routine’. Sticking to a sleep schedule helps put you in the mindset of working and constancy (which is crucial for us). As a side note, trying to get to bed at a decent time is also very important – the goal is to remain as normal as possible during these times.
Create a Routine
Building off of the first tip, creating a routine is a MUST!! We are creatures of habit and long for a sense of routine (with saying that, we are able to adapt to situations VERY easily and loving this current set up). It’s not so much where we are it’s what we are doing in the specific situation – if that makes sense! So, creating your new normal and routine, this could be different for everyone and really depends on what works best for you and your work. For us we like to get up, skincare routine, change into a new pair of sweats (or stay in our pjs lol), make breakfast, buy or make our iced coffee, organize our day, and set ourselves up for success!
To-Do List
This is something that we do on a regular day and in all aspects of life lol. If we can make a list for something, then we already have! With our line of work, there are many different projects going on simultaneously and organization is key to staying on top of everything and making sure everything gets done. Something that helps us is creating daily to do lists, it helps keeping your tasks in check, outlining any ‘virtual’ meetings you may have (with the time), and keeping track of our hours which is something specific to our job. We like to include everything on these lists, even if it’s the smallest insignificant task it just helps us remember and prioritize what needs to be completed in what sequence.
Organized Workstation
In school, we used to be those annoying people that took up 4 seats wide… two people, two backpacks (duh!). But nothing changes with work, we take up a lot of space and like to situate all our belongings a specific way (we know we’re a bit much sometimes). Thankfully for us, working from home is nothing new and not an adjustment for us – our workstations are essentially carried with us in our work bags and we can virtually set up anywhere. We like to set up our space with our notebooks, laptops, pencil cases, headphones, to do lists, etc. Everything laid out and easy to reach – for the both of us the kitchen table or dining room table turns into our mobile office lol so there’s lots of space for us. The actual location is important as well, make sure you can focus and get work done, quiet for calls, allowing you to crush work all day!
Communication
With co-workers, clients, etc. communication is a very important part of our jobs (and really any job). When working from home, it’s kind of up to you to be productive and keep yourself on track. This can be easier for some than others, but a good way to do this is to constantly communicate with your team. It helps when people know what you’re working on and vice versa, and always allows for better productivity and use of time. Also, working/being more isolated at home, it’s important from a socialization aspect as well to chat with coworkers. There’s a program we use that is basically a messaging system (texts/calls) for our office, and it’s great to be able to chat with the team so easily. Everyone’s always ready and super quick at answering any questions or checking in on each other, which is great! If you’re working from home, we suggest you make it a priority to text/call, or schedule quick meetings throughout the week to touch base with your coworkers.
Bomb Playlist + Headphones
For the record, we are two people ( I’m sure like many of you) who absolutely CANNOT live without music!!! Seriously, our Spotify 2019 review (or whatever it’s called) was w-i-l-d. Both of us were shook with how much time we’ve spent jamming to tunes, but then not at the same time? So in saying this, we basically listen to music for all 8 hours of the workday and beyond. We know that for some, it may be difficult to concentrate and music can be seen as a distraction. But for us, it’s therapeutic and actually helps us tune everything out and be more productive. Also, if you have a noisy house (or just don’t want to talk to anyone lol especially when working), music/headphones are a great way to indicate this. We’ve created and found sooo many good playlists for literally any mood/vibe and listening to them is a highlight of every day. Good headphones that are comfy are a must (we love AirPods and Beats), especially if you’re wearing them all day.
Eating / Breaks
If you’re also that person that craves (and thrives off of) routine, then eating properly and making sure you take necessary breaks can sometimes be a challenge at home. When we go into the office, we literally pack almost every single thing we’re going to eat or drink that day because of how long our days are. We’re finding that with the switch of routine, comes adjustment at home. It feels like we don’t necessarily “need” to plan/pack food because everything is at our fingertips BUT, we’re feeling this take a toll on us. Both of us have caught ourselves not eating/drinking enough throughout the day (or properly), and we’re making a conscious effort to combat this. We figure that because we are home, it’s time to start taking advantage of the extra hours in the day (that we normally spend commuting) to make sure we’re planning meals and eating properly. We honestly feel so much better when we fuel your bodies well, so sticking to (or getting back on) track is super important! We’ve been using reusable water bottles to keep tabs on water intake and are planning daily/weekly food plans (to keep up with our regular work routine). As for breaks, these are literally crucial to your mental health and success. Everyone needs to take their mind off of work at times, so whether it be taking a mid-day break to stretch/step away from the computer, making time for new hobbies, or picking up old ones, please don’t forget to give yourself a rest and realize it’s necessary to your productivity!
Exercise and Movement
As always, this is something we are constantly working at (and trying to prioritize) because exercise is key to feeling good! Given everything going on right now, it’s very hard to feel motivated or to not get cabin fever. Even for all the homebodies out there (us included), it can sometimes be draining to stay inside all day, not get any fresh air, or move around. Our jobs are pretty sedentary in that we essentially sit at a computer all day, so making the time to workout is super important. Because gyms are closed, we’re using this time to get outside and go for walks. Daily walks are a good way to destress after work and allow us to step away from everything for that bit of “me” time. We’re also loving all of the ways people and businesses are getting creative! You can find tons of great at home workouts on YouTube, virtual yoga classes, and more.
Set Expectations
We’ve had a post prepped and ready to go for a few months with our new year’s resolutions that we are going to update and post now after we’ve now finished or close to finishing the first three months of the year. Almost like an update, but in that we talk a lot about self-regulation and setting expectations. This was a major personal lesson and learning curve in 2019. It’s really important to stick to it and set boundaries for yourself. Especially with the given circumstances; we have a lot of free time that we otherwise would and it’s so easy to just keep going and finding something else to do. Not leaving the house it is key to distinguish ‘work life’ from ‘home life’. Know when enough is enough for the day and shut everything off. This may just be a personal struggle for us lol but we wanted to include it in our tips for you guys!
Socialize After Work
This is an important one, because being home all day, it can be hard to leave your bubble. That being said, the current global situation is calling for social distancing, which can be tough but VERY much necessary at this time. Some of the things we’ve been doing with each other and other family / friends, is taking full advantage of technology. This means phone calls, FaceTime, video calls (like Google Hangouts or zoom), etc. It’s a great way to keep in touch with everyone during this time and you can get creative! Eat dinner with your friends on FT or do an at-home workout together to feel like you’re still maintaining some sense of normalcy. Another thing to do is to plan for these events, like you would if you were going out to dinner. That way, it gives you something to look forward to! For more regular times, the same tips apply. Always make sure you’re making time for those you care most about!
These can apply to both work and school! We hope these tips help you out as you’re working from home. If you liked this post and want more work related content please let us know. We hope you are all staying safe and clean!
No Comments