In the past year, the pandemic has pushed many of us to adapt to unexpected challenges and disrupted the way we live and work. But there have also been some welcome changes. Many of those fortunate enough to be able to work from home are looking back at their nine-to-five office jobs with a sense of enlightenment: why did we get ourselves stuck in traffic every day just to go sit in an office and do the work we could be doing in our pyjamas at home?
And while many at first learned to love the remote lifestyle, others are starting to feel the effects of long-term social isolation and the boredom of always being at home. What this calls for is our ingenuity to reinvent and optimise our at-home office environment, so here are some simple tips and tricks that are sure to make remote work less boring and a lot better for productivity… and our sanity.
Separate your workspace
You know the saying, “don’t mix work with your personal life”? The same should apply to your workspace. Separating your living space from your work area will make it a lot easier for you to establish a routine and a better work ethic. Over time, you’ll associate your clean and tidy workspace with the need to be productive, rather than the need to sit back and relax as you would in your living room.
Get the right gear
Considering the amount of time you’ll be spending at home, you might want to take a look at investing in better equipment. A comfortable chair is a good start, but tech-upgrades are even better. LG’s UltraWide Full HD display, you could argue, will not only improve your productivity by providing a side-by-side view of browser tabs or work documents, but also has Flicker Safe and Reader Mode which makes reading a lot more comfortable over extended screen time. With these benefits, maybe you could even convince work to pay for it! (Don’t mention it to your boss, but the monitor also supports VESA DisplayHDR 400 which makes movies a lot more visually immersive).
Listen to music
Working with music on is a lot more immersive than working in silence. Finding the right playlist can make a good day feel great, but be careful of spending too much time choosing different songs rather than actually working. If you find song lyrics to be too distracting, try ambient soundtracks of a place in nature you love or instrumental playlists. Every now and then, throw in something exciting to boost your energy levels and get back in the groove.
Go out in the sun and stretch
This is probably the most obvious and easiest way to preserve your sanity when working at home, which is why you should remind yourself regularly to go out and do it. Staying hunched behind a computer screen can tie some mean knots in your back and shoulder muscles, so go sink your toes into the grass and do some sun salutations. Stretching and sunlight have a long list of health benefits and are sure to relieve the stress of working in isolation.
Home is still where the heart is
Our homes becoming our new offices has been an adaptation for all of us, and it’s a practise that’ll take some time to perfect. At the end of the day, home is still where the heart is and it’s important not to see it in same way as the confines of an office.
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