Ways to Disconnect from a Connected World

Your home is now also your office, your kitchen table doubles as your desk and the lines separating work life and home life are starting to blur. Working from Home has meant that work and home life are now occurring in the same place and it can be hard to switch off. Even if we weren’t in the middle of lockdown protocols, working from home or working remotely can be tough on anyone who has made the transition. In this post, we outline some good practices to adopt to ensure that you can sustain this new way of working and not burn out from the extra stress and distractions.

Define Your Work Hours

Now that your office is at home, it’s easier to just start work and never stop. You can get up at any time to use the bathroom, get a snack, make lunch, and then just sit back down and keep working but this isn’t sustainable. What time do you arrive at the office, take a lunch break, and then leave in the evening? These are the times you should be sticking to when you are at home as well. Of course, some leeway here and there is fine like when you are on a roll and just want to get the current task finished but don’t let that mojo push you out by more than 30min to an hour or everything else for the day will start falling behind. When the day is done and it’s hit ‘home time’, wrap up for the day by doing something like setting your to-do list for tomorrow and then actively step away from the computer and move onto something else around the home. This will help your brain ‘switch off’ and take a step away from work.

Create A Space for Work That Also Inspires You

You’re going to be spending a lot of time in one place in your home so make it a space that works for you. If it’s your study or office that was only set-up for occasional use, take some time to tweak it so that it works for you. Take time to invest in a good chair, possibly an additional monitor and some stationary to assist with productivity. Functionality shouldn’t be all you look at however. Make sure that the space inspires you and is somewhere that can still spark joy. Add some pictures of your friends and family, add some motivational posters or plants to make it more ‘you’ and is a space that you are happy walking into. A bleak and blank workspace isn’t somewhere I would want to walk into when starting my day.

A final note on this however, be flexible! If it’s a lovely sunny day and you want to sit outside in the sun for a bit to do your work, then do it for as long as your device can last! Enjoy the space around you.

Schedule Time for You and Stick to Your Breaks

Time for you is just as important as the time you give to your job. Make sure to schedule in time for you and stick to it! Use your work or personal calendar to put the times in so you get a prompt to remind you it’s coming up. This time is precious and should be used for something else other than work whether it be exercise, projects, meditation, yoga – you name it! Take the time to recharge your mind and your body and destress to reduce your chances of burn out.

Not sure how big a break to take? Even if it’s just your lunch break that you start with, put your lunch break into your calendar and step away from the computer as soon as you can when it gets to that time. Maybe even purchase ahead different lunches for each day of the week so you have something to look forward to that you can sit down and enjoy and unwind from the morning.

Eliminate Distraction and Maximise Productivity

When you’re at home, it’s so easy to get distracted by the things around you like chores, online shopping, and other household projects you just need to finish. To combat against this, create a routine and a schedule and try to stick to it. This will help you prioritise your work during your work hours and leave the household items to be done during breaks or after work is done for the day. If your ‘office’ isn’t in a dedicated area of your hose, try and remove distractions that you would easily drift to. A dedicated space is ideal however as mentally your brain can step into one room and into the same mindset and leave the other behind. To help with maximising productivity, break larger projects down into smaller, more achievable items so that you feel like your day is getting somewhere. If you work better with some more structure, give the Pomodoro Technique a try.

Connect with Colleagues

We are wired to want to connect with people and that doesn’t have to stop now that you aren’t in the same place as your colleagues. Make sure throughout the day, you have taken some time to have a casual chat with the team outside of regular meetings to send a quick message, a funny gif or an interesting article. Miss the face to face catch ups? Organise some virtual drinks for the end of the week!

Invest Time in Something You Love

At the end of the day, the best way to disconnect is to invest time in something you love. Whether you pick up a new hobby or get back into an old one, time away from the schedules and stress of work can be the best way to disconnect. It doesn’t have to be big, sometimes the little things can make all the difference.