As discussed in our previous article, and coming as a total surprise to absolutely no one these days, the novel coronavirus is still making its rounds across the world. It’s especially prominent in the United States as citizens struggle over their ethical dilemma on if they should or shouldn’t wear a mask to spare the lives of the more vulnerable.
While that’s going on, it’s likely that you’re working from home instead of commuting to and from an office anymore. And if that is the case, you’re probably four months into creating a home workspace for yourself that doesn’t suck and still allows you to separate your work life from personal life. Here are some additional tips on how you can go about doing that.
- Set a schedule for any children in the home. For those who are working from home and also have children to help with virtual lessons from home, you’re truly undergoing a new reality and are now working two full-time jobs essentially. (Also, congrats on the end of what was likely a very long school year!) If you have young children, wait for naptime or other break times and attempt to bang out some work in bursts.
- Create a routine that’s consistent. Consistency will be your saving grace during coronavirus. You’ll start to rely on the routine that you’ve made for yourself in your home because we all thrive in a structured environment. Waking up the same time every morning, going to bed at the same time, eating at the same time, taking a lunch break at the same time—it will all help you map out your day in a more cohesive way that will soon start to feel like second nature.
- Speaking of a lunch break, make sure to give yourself breaks. It’s easy to get caught in a cycle of never-ending work while working from home. You’ll easily find yourself working through your normal lunch break and later into the evening, especially since you no longer have a commute sucking up extra spare time. However, allow yourself to step away from your computer. Set a lunch break time for yourself each time (and give yourself that full hour whenever possible). Have a hard end time to your day where you close your computer and walk away from the workspace so that you can start into the personal life part of living in quarantine at home.
