Today I'm sharing my current #WFH situation, hoping my experience might help others - so nothing about horseriding this time, apologies.
"You are not working from home; you are at home, during a crisis, trying to work"
You have probably read this before, and I cannot stress enough how important it is. As we start a new month, it might be a good time to reassess your work/life balance.
Up until last weekend, my life and work hours were all blending into one blurry office time, with no clear separation between days and nights, weekdays and weekends. Thankfully, on Saturday afternoon, I tuned in to my favorite podcast, HBR Women at Work and listened to 2 episodes of Season 5:
- We're Beyond Stretched
- Making the Most of this Mess
It was an eye opener and it helped me make some adjustments:
1. Self-compassion
"Put on your own oxygen mask first", there is a lot of wisdom in there and despite hearing it often, we tend to forget about it. We all need to address the current situation individually and internalize what it means on a personal level to ensure we accept it first, before we can move on and help others. It's okay to need more time to adapt and adjust as much as it's okay to work during the weekend. Whatever works for you, as long as we're being mindful and honest with ourselves.
2. Boundaries
It's not because we're at home that we're available 24/7. Disconnecting from work is important to refresh our mind and gain perspective. For me, it meant reorganizing my week so I would block time for other activities, as well as promising myself not to spend more than 9 hours in front of the computer working (I have partly failed at this one, but I'm fine with it). My schedule now includes 1 hour of exercises right after I wake up, and 30 minutes of daily reflection/meditation. Additionally, I try to remind myself to take appropriate breaks for lunch and coffee.
3. Sleep
While our days might be busy or hectic or on the contrary slow or boring, we are all dealing with increasing levels of stress and it's affecting our sleeping pattern. Definitely, sleeping tops the list of our neglected activities - despite the fact that it is a key factor in performance and focus, and helps us go through our day better. As mentioned above, I took the conscious decision of recovering a more balanced lifestyle with the routine that worked for me in pre-Covid times. So I proceeded to set my alarm clock at 6.45am, allowing myself 10 more minutes than my previous regular schedule, while forcing myself to go to bed latest by midnight.
These were easy steps for me yet a real game changer. I hope they can help you deal with the new normal too. As the situation evolves quickly, adapting is not always easy and it can take some time. Allow yourself plenty of time and space to do it.
