15 Tips for Working From Home

Our ability to provide the mind and body with unique environments becomes more and more difficult – all while our work and home life begin to merge into one.

Working from home may sound simple enough, but maintaining our health, productivity and work-life balance is key to being able to focus on tasks as the days and weeks roll by.

We’re doing as much as we can to help the Live Limitless community be the best they can be, defying the current odds and being a better you at the end of this pandemic is a fantastic long-term goal to have. We have put together 15 tips on how to remain healthy and productive when you’re working from home, ensuring your mind, body and work continues to excel.

What if you’re not working from home?

These 15 tips are still fantastic for you to implement in your current, albeit restricted, daily routine.

1. HAVE A CONSISTENT MORNING ROUTINE

Look, you’re used to having a routine, we all are.

Five days a week, you wake up at the same time, going through your daily routine with no care in the world, unaware of the positive effect it has on your day. Having a morning routine sets you of for your day, and is vital, no matter what your current working arrangements are.

Set your alarm for the same time each day and stick to it, act as if you are going to work – you know; wake up, clean your teeth, get dressed, eat a quick brekkie and drink your morning brew. But, instead of leaving the house, enter your work zone (see number 4).

2. STRUCTURE YOUR DAY 

Learning how to structure your day isn’t the most difficult of tasks, infact, there’s your first task of today right now.

Many of us make ‘to-do’ lists at work, but life needs structure too, and now work, exercise and (un) socialising are all part of our new ‘working from home’ lifestyle – it’s time you start writing your to-do list better than ever.

Each morning marks the start of a new day, and writing down your daily tasks, challenges and goals is a great way to stay motivated and on-track. Whether it be replying to all your emails, exercising for 30 minutes or video calling a family member; creating a list provides our day with structure and milestones. Don’t forget to include your work hours in this structure!

TIP: Be specific with your lists, and prioritize your daily tasks. This way, even when time runs out, you know you prioritized the most important tasks – resulting in a feeling of accomplishment when you shut down your laptop at the end of the day (ps. your physical and mental health is a high priority).

3. SET REMINDERS

Stop scrolling that feed; it’s time to use your phone for something extremely useful, and simple…

The convenience of working from home can create many bad habits, from extra snacking to un-tracked screen time. Combating these bad habits is crucial to stay healthy and productive when working from home.

Setting reminders or alarms on your phone can help prevent you from becoming buried and lost in your work. Use them to start a new task, take a break from your screen, stand up or go for a walk, and even to remind you to cook something healthy for lunch.

Utilising reminders when working from home is a brilliant way of helping to give your day structure, holding yourself accountable for not only your work tasks but your life tasks too.

4. HAVE A DESIGNATED WORKSPACE 

It’s time to add a little organization to your day. Whether you’re one of the lucky ones with a home office or your breakfast bar is the only suitable area to seat your laptop – creating a designated work area solely for the purpose of completing work-related tasks is critical for increasing productivity and reducing distractions.

Choose an area in your home that you feel most comfortable working at. Set up your computer, notepads and other work essentials.

Keep your mobile phone out of arm’s length, turn off the TV and don’t eat in your work-zone!

Use breaks as an opportunity to leave your designated work-zone, complete life-related tasks and refresh your mind.

5. TRY A SWEATY HOME WORKOUT

There are HUNDREDS of reasons you should be exercising each day, especially if you’re working from home. And we’re not just talking physical health here, strength training and increasing our heart rate has been shown to improve mental health too.

Checkout the Nike Conditioning App – to keep you fit and healthy during this current pandemic. You don’t need a gym, and you don’t need any equipment – no excuses.

6. SET YOURSELF WEEKLY AND MONTHLY GOALS

We don’t know how long this global situation will go on for, but one thing is for sure – we need some realistic medium-term goals to stay motivated and keep our daily tasks in check.

They could be work, fitness or life-related. Such as using your daily outdoor exercise to increase a 5k run time, reading a new book or learning how to make a bangin’ homemade pizza in your kitchen.

Whatever your goals, having something in the distance you’re working towards will help develop your daily tasks too, providing that sense of challenge and accomplishment we so crave.

7. MAKE USE OF VIDEO-CALLING TECH

As we work from home, isolated from colleagues and redundant in social interaction – genuine face-to-face interaction will no doubt take the back-seat.

The importance of a good ol’ fashioned conversation will never be defeated, which is why when we’re working from home, taking advantage of technology revives the face-to-face conversations that may otherwise be neglected.

Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp and Skype, there are dozens of apps and services to make catching up with family a seamless venture.

8. GET SOME FRESH AIR

Summer is just around the corner, with the sun high in the sky and vast green fields and parks to explore. Enjoying a little fresh air does wonders for your mind, while a bit of steady state cardio will help loosen up any muscle’s rigid from your home office chair.

With the current pandemic, most nations are following stringent rules, limiting exercise to just once per day. It’s about time you make the most of it!

Dust off your old bicycle, grab your walking boots or slip on your sneakers – give your productivity a boost and leave your desk behind you.

9. INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY WITH PEAK PERFORMANCE TIMES

It’s no secret that we all have certain times in the day when we find it easier to be productive. With all the distractions accompanied with working from home, it’s even more important you take advantage of your best preforming hours.

Factor this into your daily structure and ensure you are distraction free during your key working times. It may even be worth rearranging meeting calls to other periods throughout the day, allowing you to concentrate on your own work.

For example; if you work best in the morning, schedule your meetings and screen breaks more towards the afternoon, when you know productivity levels stoop and you require more frequent breaks from work.

10. FIND YOUR ZEN

Sometimes we just need to switch off and focus on ourselves.

Numerous research has shown health benefits linked to the practice of mindfulness and meditation, with two significant studies showing reduced Stress and Anxiety when regularly performing meditation.

So, whether you’re after the health benefits, or simply want some quiet time away from your work/home life, meditation may be the answer.

Don’t forget, meditation comes in various forms, from mindfulness to movement meditation – we’re sure you’ll find one that works for you.

11. FIND HEALTHY MEALS TO EAT

One of the main positives from working at home is that your very own kitchen is ready to whip up some fresh, healthy food whenever you’re ready.

Ensure your panty and fridge are stocked with healthy food and try to reduce the amount of junk and unhealthy snacks you have – you’ll only end up craving them, often resulting in mindless snacking during work time.

12. USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY FIT AND POSITIVE

If you’re working from home, and, let’s face it, also following current government or presidential guidelines – it’s most likely that your screen time has gone through the roof.

It’s about time you use the hours spent on social media to your advantage. Search and save fun home workouts, pin cool recipe ideas or follow someone inspiring.

Make your insta-feed a platform of education and motivation to do something great each day. There’s so much amazing free content out there, you can constantly work towards being a better version of yourself, just by tweaking one of your daily habits.

13. MAKE FINANCIAL GAINS AND SAVE MONEY

We’re on lockdown.

Most, if not all methods of social gatherings and shopping has been put on hold. Leaving the house for bare necessities and a little exercise equates to 100% of our outdoor life right now.

Now is one of the best times you’ll have to reduce your outgoings and become more self-sufficient.

And this isn’t just about saving money in the short term, but more about developing new skills and improving living-efficiency, meaning you’ll come out the other side of this pandemic with money in the bank and a new-found level of financial appreciation and independence.

14. LISTEN TO MUSIC

Working from home has its positives, but with that also come negatives. Unless you live in an extremely rural part of the world with no one else nearby – there will no doubt be distractions. 

Turn a little music on in the background and those distractions will soon begin to drown out. Road noise, neighbours and even the miserable drone from the fridge will soon become non-existent in your working from home environment.

Find a chill playlist on Spotify, or dust off your vinyl player and enjoy a blast from the past. Whatever decade of music player you choose, it will help you focus on the task at hand and reduce distractions.

15. SIGN OUT FROM WORK TO ACHIEVE A HEALTHY WORK AND LIFE BALANCE

Out of our 15 tips, the last is no-doubt the most important when working from home.

On your breaks, during lunch and at the end of your working day, it is crucial to sign out and remove yourself from the working world.

Replying to messages or emails during breaks or after hours will continue to mentally drain you – making it impossible to ‘switch off’ from work.

Your life outside of work is so important for your physical, mental and family's wellbeing. Be sure to switch off and enjoy life away from your work zone.

TO RECAP, HERE ARE OUR 15 TIPS TO HELP YOU STAY HEALTHY AND PRODUCTIVE WHILST WORKING FROM HOME:

1. Have a consistent morning routine
2. Structure your day
3. Set reminders
4. Have a designated workspace
5. Try a sweaty home workout
6. Set yourself weekly and monthly goals
7. Make use of video-calling tech
8. Get some fresh air
9. Increase productivity with peak performance times
10. Find your zen
11. Find healthy meals to eat
12. Use social media to stay fit and positive
13. Make financial gains and save money
14. Listen to music
15. Sign out from work to achieve a healthy work and life balance

There you have it, 15 brilliant tips to for you to implement when working from home. 

Which will you be trying first? 

Let us know your favourite work from home tips in the comments below.