Life as we know it has changed dramatically across the world. Faced with a global pandemic, many countries have gone into lockdown, with citizens being told to #staysafe and #stayhome. We at Snugs are of course acting in line with government advise; we are fortunate that HQ is our home, a farm on Exmoor, so for us working from home is a ‘norm’ and we are able to continue to operate during these challenging times. However, a real difficulty is our team’s absence, with everyone working remotely for the foreseeable future. We are sure that many are feeling the same – it’s a struggle to motivate when you are working alone! Telling jokes to an empty office just doesn’t have the same impact.
So, with this in mind, the topic of this blog post is working from home, with some of our top tips to keep you motivated and focused.
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Establish a routine
Your commute to work is going to be somewhat shorter now you’re based at home. This could be perceived as an opportunity to have an uber long lie in and start work when one feels like it. However, a better approach is to establish a routine. This can vary from person to person, so you may like to make a cup of coffee first, or instead watch the news on TV. At Snugs, we always feed the animals first thing. Whichever suits you best, just try to have a routine which gets your bum into your home office chair and firing up your laptop at the start of the day.
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Have an appropriate work setup/equipment
This one can be challenging. With the changes to our working lives happening so quickly, many of you will not have had the opportunity to invest in the correct home office equipment. However, it is important if possible to have a ‘place of work’ within your own home; when you are there, you are working, and when you are taking a break you are in a different room/elsewhere.
If you are suddenly finding yourself working in a busy family household, then you’re likely to want to reduce distracting outside noise. You may be having a conference call and do not want to have the sounds of your children in the background – the solution is using a pair of earphones and, with the addition of a pair of custom fit SnugsPro on them, you can isolate outside noise and stay focused on the job in hand. Ordering a pair of SnugsPro as an existing customer means you do not need to leave your home; we have your impressions on file, just order here. You can view our full compatibility list here.
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Set ground rules with others sharing your space
For busier households, it’s important to set ground rules for sharing the work space. If you are working from the kitchen table, you need to ensure that this space is known as a workspace between certain hours, not for a constant flow of traffic to the fridge (tricky, we know).
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Take regular breaks
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither” – Alan Cohen
Rest need only be a 15-minute break; it’s important to take regular breaks so it doesn’t feel like you are working for hours on end. Even if you are a writer working on an assignment writing service UK, you should make a cup of tea/coffee, go into a different room and do something else for 15 minutes. Have a jigsaw puzzle lying around? Do that for a while. Maybe catch up on social media (can be a slippery slope if you start watching Tik Tok videos), or do the dishes, water the plants…however you decide to fill your work breaks, make sure you take them, and you take them in their entirety.
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Keep exercising
Being confined to your house is tough. Utilising the once a day outing for exercise currently enforced in the UK is very important; physical exercise helps look after your mental wellbeing, which includes “the ability to deal with the ups and downs of life(1).”
If you are a runner, and you like listening to music whilst you run, then a pair of SnugsGo to help you cover those miles is a must. Ensure your earphones do not fall out, as Snugs custom fit tips stay in no matter how active you are. And the real perk is you can get fitted for SnugsGo at home by taking your ear pictures; you can easily add them to your exercise kit during these challenging times.
Other forms of exercise to help with mental wellbeing include meditation, pilates and yoga. Research suggests that “yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress more flexibly.” (2) During these stressful times, the ability for the body to cope is of vital importance. For those wishing to reduce external noise and focus during their yoga sessions, then a pair of SnugsZen is a must. Made from a medical grade soft silicone, they are custom fit to the shape of your ear and reduces outside noise, allowing you to relax the mind and be at one with yourself.
“Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges, so relax” – Bryant McGill.
So, to summarise, although working from home may seem a bit alien at first, you can do it! We would like to finish off the post expressing our gratitude to the workers who are on the front line, be it helping in health care or working in the supermarkets to ensure that people are still able to get food. We hope everyone stays strong in these challenging times, sticks to the rules and most importantly, stay safe.
Sources
1 – Mental Health Foundation, 2020. How to look after your mental health using exercise. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/how-to-using-exercise
2 – Harvard Health Publishing, last updated May 2018. Yoga for anxiety and depression. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/yoga-for-anxiety-and-depression