3 habits to keep and 3 habits to get rid of when working from home.

We have all been there. 7am alarm clock goes (you know you do not need to travel), you press the snooze button. You put on your comfy clothes because ‘you are working from home’ or in my case smart top and comfy trousers. You casually get to your home office and you do a bit of scrolling, see what is going on. You finally get to your work and then you think ‘Oh I will just make myself a coffee’ or ‘I will just put the washing on’ and before you know it, you don’t know where the day has gone. You feel you have been busy and you do not know why.

In this article, I am going to share my 3 habits to keep during working from home and 3 to get rid of.

No1 Habit to stop–Scrolling- The average person spends approximately 3hrs and 15 minutes on their phone a day on social media and picking up their phone around 58 times a day! That is nearly 50 days a year we are losing to our phones! Think about what you could do with 50 days.

Do we really need to see that someone has done another ‘Tiger King’ video on tik tok or someone using the talking pet app to make their dog talk (we have actually done this).The question is, do you need to do this now? Probably not. Although it brings us short term joy, it brings no long-term gratification or makes you money.

No1 Habit to start – allocate time- I have found it so useful to allocate time for scrolling answering emails etc and I let people know this. If I have a lesson or a meeting with a client (this is my priority) answering sneaky emails is a no no. We live in a world where it so easy to get hold of someone and people seek an instant answer. I say be honest, tell them you have set aside this time to answer emails or queries and will message them as soon as you can in your allocated time. It makes for a more productive day! Another quick tip is, turn off your notifications. Do not be tempted by that flashing light on your phone!

No2 Habit to stop – procrastinating- Okay, so this has been a vice of mine for a long time. My home has never been cleaner, more organised when I actually have lots of work to do and possibly have something that I am trying to avoid. We are home nearly 24/7 and with a partner and a 5-year-old, the depletion of organisation between all three of us is guaranteed but there is no need to jump on top of everything that is out of place.

No2 Habit to start – plan- Now, I do not mean plan every second of every day within an inch of its life, as for some of us that just is not conducive. What I do every evening is sit and think about the next day. I look at my meetings and the tasks that I need to do and prioritise at least 3 main tasks that have to be done that day. I find spaces of time to complete these tasks and keep it in view for the day. I also do enjoy ticking off things during the day to know I have completed them.

No3 Habit to stop – comparing yourself to others- I have been guilty of this as I am sure we all have at some point in lives but where does that get us? In a horrible place of self-loathing and chocolate and wine seeking which is not great for your self-esteem or your waistline.

You log on, to see how someone else has released an article with more likes than yours. You see one of the other parents has done way more than you have in home-schooling and from there it is onto the dangerous road of self-destruction. Stop it! It isn’t pretty and it isn’t getting you anywhere.

No3 Habit to start – reflection – instead of the dangerous path of self-destruction, take time to reflect. I personally use meditation for 15 minutes a day and quick jot in the journal to note what I have learnt from my day, the highs AND the lows. The important part here is recognising the good bits. As a society we are all so quick to self-criticise, but the harder part for most of us is to recognise the good, acknowledge the bad and set actions to move forward.

I am sure there are many more things that people could contribute, from new habits they have started or routines they have set or things they have stop themselves doing as they developed through this new way of life and these are a few of mine.

Please feel free to share them in the comments.