Episode #4: Working From Home - Taking Care Of Your Mental Health So You Don't Burn Out

Work From Home burnout is becoming a real problem for many of us these days.  Many offices are telling people that they may never go back to a traditional office work environment again, and quite frankly most of us have never learned to work from our home environments properly, we’ve always lived a model of having separate places of work and rest.  So, speaking as a lifelong freelancer and entrepreneur who has always worked heavily from home, I decided one of the most useful topics I could cover on The How To Adult Show right now, would be to share three things I have learned to do while working from home that help me stay productive, motivated, happy, and not feeling burnt out when I work from home for days at a time. 

Working from home is the new normal,  but for most people it’s far from normal.  Most of us have never been taught how to work productively, happily, and healthily from our home environments.  And there is no ‘office culture’ available at home to teach you how to do it properly.  There’s no ‘social normal’ to working from home when it’s just you and the dog and there are no other people around to model after.

I have been working from home for the past 6 years now, and have gone through all the ups and downs of the process.  In year 2 I realized that I had completely let my fitness slip while working from home.  In year 3 I realized that I was working all the time and had no boundaries to put my computer away to spend a night with B, or go out with friends and family.

Over the years I’ve experimented with all kinds of different work from home tips and tricks, and have finally found a balance where I feel good sitting down to work, can get an incredible amount accomplished in a short period of time, and finish my work day on a note that leaves me energized and excited for an evening of relaxation, good food, and most importantly no emails. 

So, if you keep looking at your work from home habits and thinking ‘there’s gotta be a better way’, this episode is for you.  Let’s dive in to my top 3 work from home tips.

TIP #1:  Incorporate some physical movement into your morning before starting the work day.

My top work from home habit, the number one thing I recommend doing to start your work day off on the right foot, is to incorporate some sort of daily movement into your routine.  I’m not talking a full on workout several times a day, but moving your body will make a big difference in your overall mood, focus, and productivity.  Personally I make sure I move at the beginning AND end of my work day.  For me this looks like morning yoga when I wake up, taking the dog out before I sit down at my computer.  On the other end of the work day, I love to finish off with a proper workout of some sort.  

It is so key to do something physically active before you start your work day, because chances are otherwise you go from bed, to sitting down and eating breakfast, to curling up like a hunchback in front of your computer until you finish work at 5.

That’s a freeking long time sitting down!  Your brain and body need movement, and incorporating some sort of motion into your morning routine will help you shake off your stiffness, reduce your soreness and body aches that come from sitting unnaturally for 8+ hours a day, and will get your brain and mind ready and alert for a work day so much more than even your morning coffee.

I’m not suggesting that you join the 5am club and run wind sprints first thing in the morning.  If that works for you, awesome, but if the thought of morning exercise makes you just want to stay in bed forever, then I recommend experimenting to find something that works for you.

Personally, I hate exercising in workout form in the morning.  It makes me feel like garbage to work out before I eat, and if I have a heavy morning workout I’m ready for a nap by 10:30 and don’t have a productive work day.  You have to find something that works well for you.  My routine changes a bit throughout the seasons, but usually I love a half hour youtube yoga routine, or a walk listening to a podcast or taking my dog out.

It doesn’t matter what it is, the goal is to get your body moving in some way, every single day, before you sit down at your computer.  It will improve your mood, the way your body feels all day, your focus, and your energy.  It truly is the number one tool to have a good day working from home.

To end the work day, if you often feel sluggish or down, and have a hard time disconnecting from your work for the evening, bookend your work day with another movement session.  I always wrap my day up with a workout.  Sometimes that means heading into the gym, sometimes it means going for a run, doing a HIIT workout, or going for a hike or bike ride.  My goal is to move for about an hour, get my heartrate up, and step back from the work day.  This will leave you feeling like a new person, and ready to have a much better evening than you would have otherwise.

TIP #2:  Use a timer to set work and break intervals

When you’re working in an office environment, you likely naturally have breaks when it’s time for lunch, or someone comes to talk to you, or you need to go and visit someone else’s desk.  When you’re at home, it’s easy to decide you’re just going to sit, and sit, and sit, and work, until your brain shuts down and you end up surfing the internet and calling it ‘working’ or ‘research’.  Your mind needs breaks, and it’s way better for your productivity to schedule these breaks so you’re in control of them.

I’ve played around with work intervals and scheduling apps for years, and the system that I’ve found works best for me is to break my work up into 50 minute chunks with a 10 minute break in between.  Most of my basic tasks for the day can be completed in one or two of these 50 minute intervals as long as I’m focused and efficient.  

The goal here is to work for 50 minutes straight without getting distracted by your phone, other people in your work space, or busy tasks like emptying the dishwasher.  Those types of activities (or hopefully something more exciting) are reserved for your 10 minute breaks.  It’s a muscle you have to develop over time, but after a while you’ll find it easier and easier to work for 50 minutes without distractions, especially when you reward yourself with a break at the end.

This technique is often referred to as the Pomodoro Technique.  I use a simple app on my computer called ‘Be Focused’, and have set the intervals to 60 minutes working, and 10 minutes to break.  You want to download this app to your computer (it’s available through the shownotes), decide what you’re going to work on during your interval, put your phone and distractions away, and put your head down and get things done for an hour.    Then, once the timer goes off, you need to stop what you’re doing.  Don’t let yourself say ‘oh I’m just going to push through and finish this’.  stand up from your computer, and take a break.  Make a cup of tea, tidy something in your house, play tug with the dog, turn on some music and dance around, do push ups and squats, whatever just let your body move and your brain turn off before your start your next interval.

I usually aim for 7-8 of these intervals a day ideally, but I’ll be honest, that can be exhausting.  You’ll likely find when you first start practicing this that you only manage to complete a few uninterrupted intervals, because you haven’t been training your brain to maintain that kind of intense focus.  It takes practice, it takes energy, and it really is something you have to build on and increase your stamina over time.  When I complete a day with 7-8 of these intervals, I’ve accomplished so much, but I’m also exhausted and need to seriously unwind, usually with a workout, before I can step into enjoying the rest of the evening. 

TIP #3:  Take ‘exercise snack’ breaks

This tip goes hand in hand with the interval routine I just walked you through, and is truly one of the best practices I have incorporated into my day so that I don’t finish the day feeling bleh.  An ‘exercise snack’ is like a snack break, but instead of making your 10th trip to the fridge during your break, the goal is to use your break time to move your body and get your blood flowing again after sitting down for so long. 

I’m sure by now we’ve all heard someone say that ‘sitting is the new smoking’, and while I don’t know about that, I have to admit that when I spend an entire day sitting down in front of my devices I feel like garbage after.  The concept of ‘exercise snacks’ is to introduce small amounts of movement into your day to break up the couch potato marathon, get your blood moving, and your muscles firing again. 

I’ll usually only do only 2-3 exercise snack breaks a day, and alternate between doing random different activities that will get my blood flowing.  Sometimes I just call B and walk up and down the stairs over and over, other times I do push ups, squats, wall sits etc, while I’m waiting for the kettle to boil, sometimes I turn on 80’s dance music and have a mini dance party between work intervals.  

Anything that raises my heart rate just a bit is perfect.  I know this sounds immensely boring to start, but when you feel the difference it makes you’ll be hooked.  If you’re still not sold though I want you to try what I did to get this habit started, take a dance break.  I’m serious, throw together a playlist of upbeat songs that make you smile, and when your 10 minute break starts, just throw on that playlist and freeking dance it out for one or two songs.   You will feel awesome and so much more motivated when you sit back down at your computer. 

So, if you’ve made it this far, hopefully you’re feeling committed to changing your work from home habits, and making your life better.  Even if you can’t incorporate all these habits all at once, just give it a try and commit to not being an always working, never moving, wfh zombie who hates their job and whose butt leaves a permanent mark on the sofa.  Also remember, when you’re trying out new habits, it’s not an all or nothing thing!  It’s okay if you don’t manage to do it all the time, or you set a goal to work in intervals all week and only manage it for one day.  As with all things this is a learning process, and it’s about finding what works for you, so give it a try, go for a walk or do some yoga before you start your work day, break your day up into focused intervals to get more done in less time, and add exercise snacks into your work breaks. 

Linked Resources

Download the Be Focused time app to your computer here.

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