What I’ve learned from 14 years of working from home

For over a decade I’ve mostly worked from home. While I’ve spent some time in co-working spaces and coffee shops, my home base has predominantly been, well, my home base.

During that time, I’ve gathered a few tips that might be generally helpful for getting work done at home.

Create a dedicated working space for yourself. It doesn’t have to take up a lot of room, but if you can specify that a certain chair and desk/bench/table are primarily to be used for work, it can help carve a defined space. A big piece of the puzzle is creating a mental shift for yourself. The more you can make this space seem like its own distinct area, the better — hang a curtain, add some additional plants, break out an old-school motivational poster, whatever you can do to create a semblance of separation.

Start your morning with a walk outdoors. You don’t have to leave your neighborhood, but if you can walk your block or cul-de-sac a few times to get your body moving a little bit, it will be helpful. If you can walk without your phone, AirPods, etc., even better — let your mind wander and keep your head and shoulders raised (to help combat tension from the posture of hunching over computers and phones).

Take a shower and get dressed. There can be a real temptation to just roll over to your computer in your sweat pants and stay like that, but getting dressed as if you were going to the office (even a casual office) helps with creating the feeling of distance from your home. And, later in the day you can look forward to soon putting on some stretchy pants or pajamas.

Make a schedule and stick to it as much as you can. This one’s tough, but if it is possible, portion out your time throughout the day. One of the big challenges of spending all your time at home is figuring out when work “ends.” If you can make a plan for how to divide your time, and communicate this with anyone you’re working with, it can help you keep the end in sight, so you’ll know when you can again make a mental shift and step away from your work area. You might schedule a “final hour” wrap-up each day where you do a check-in call/Zoom/Slack message with anyone you’re working with to know things are wrapping up.

Take your full lunch break and make it a true break. Don’t look at your phone or computer — instead pick up that book you’re reading, do a crossword puzzle, stare out the window — just get your mind away for a little while. It’s really about just changing your mindset for periods of time.

Create an atmosphere. Personally it helps my productivity to play some classical music or chilled out beach tunes lightly in the background — if you can do it through a speaker that’s not connected to the device you’re working on, it can help with creating the feeling of expanding your space.

Give yourself something to look forward to. Tell yourself that on a certain day or at a certain time you’re going to make a cake, or do an at-home workout, or call a friend — something that can serve as a small future reward so that you can just keep going. Create some hopeful thing for yourself to help you keep pushing forward.

<DANCE BREAK> For real, take a dance break.

Be mindful. Personally I’ve never been great at meditation or mindfulness practices, but I have found it helpful to keep a journal — just noting the events and feelings of the day and then letting them go. It helps keep an order to the days and gives some feeling of cohesion. (It’s also interesting to look back on past years…) If you can write down a few things from the day and one thing that you feel grateful for, that little note of gratitude really can help bolster your spirits. (That’s not just me talking, that’s research.) Just think — you probably have electricity and indoor plumbing and the internet — those are pretty great!

Talk to somebody each day. Phone, Skype, Zoom, FaceTime, whatever digital mode you choose, actually talk with someone (not just texting). It feels vital to connect vocally and visually, and hey, there’s probably somebody you haven’t checked in with in a while who would love to hear from you. (Time to find out if those 500+ LinkedIn connections or 1,000+ Facebook friends really do want to stay in touch!)

Move your body. Even if you only have a small space at home and your gym is closed, there are a lot of great studios putting workouts online. Doing just 30 minutes can help wear your body down a little so you can get a better night’s sleep. (Try these workouts from: Fitness Blender, CorePower Yoga, Barre3…)

These are just a few notes to think about and are meant to be adapted to your living constraints (you might live with roommates, a spouse, children, a lot of pets… and have different needs). Try a few things to figure out what works best in your space, take things slow, and if you feel alone, well, for right now, you’re doing it right. We’re all in it alone, together.