Working From Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Like most of the world, you are probably home right now, practicing social distancing, during these unprecedented times. You may be needing to work from home, or participate as a student at home. Here are some important tips to keep in mind when your home space, becomes the only space.
If you are working from home, (including school work), it is important to set up “zones” within your home space. Even if you are in a one-room studio apartment, this can still be achieved. We are used to having physical boundaries to delineate work life from home life, and since our home space is now our work space too, we must make efforts to create real and virtual boundaries at home so that we have a sense of separation. If you are able to do so, designate one area in your home that will be your “work” area. This is important! When you go to work or school, there is a physical location where most of your work/learning takes place -- that means when it’s time to punch the clock, or classes are over, you get to leave a physical space which helps you mentally transition. Since you are working/learning from home, this mental transition becomes harder, which is why it is very helpful if you can create one designated working/learning area. Not everyone has this luxury, especially in small residences and shared spaces, however, if at all possible, try to keep your working/learning to one specific area so that when you are done for the day, or need a break, you can mentally transition to another zone.
Create a daily routine and stick to it! I am all about a flexible plan. When we are stuck home, in the same space, doing the same things, everything can start to blend together -- it can feel like there is no separation and you are living one continuous unending day. In the morning, shower, brush your teeth, and get dressed as you would for work or school; it may be tempting to wear only sweats or pajamas, but putting on “real” clothes is another way of creating a virtual boundary that cues your brain into remembering it’s work/learn time! Don’t feel compelled to adhere rigidly to this; remember this is about flexible structure that is adaptive and responsive -- there may be some days where you just need to stay in those cozy sweats or when dry shampoo is your new best friend -- that is perfectly fine!!
If you live in a small space (and many folks are in this situation!), it is important to position yourself and your work space out of the direct line of sight of the kitchen. If you are in a one-room living situation, make your work area such that your back is to the kitchen. If you have extra food supplies, (bulk bags and boxes), it is best to put them out of sight and away in a cabinet at possible. Studies have shown that proximity to larger amounts of food in the line of sight activates our brain's reward system. Additionally, the significant acute stress that we are all under every day during this global health crisis, causes us an imbalance in our internal world physically and emotionally. Our stress response goes up and not only do we begin craving foods that trigger our reward system we may also begin to rely on unhealthy coping mechanisms and resort to eating disorder behaviors. For more on this, see our guide How to Manage Your Eating Disorder At Home During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Make sure to maintain a set number of working hours and clearly define them. In the same way that your work and learning hours are typically set and structured in the confines of your office and school setting, you should aim to do the same thing at home. Again, it is important to be responsive, flexible and adaptive. These are unprecedented times and we are all asked to be operating “business as usual” when in fact nothing is usual. This is painful, challenging and creates a great deal of stress and discomfort due to the cognitive dissonance. We need to strike a balance between being easy and gentle with ourselves, attending appropriately to the complicated feelings we are all having, while also continuing to require completion of obligations and responsibilities. This is part of building emotional muscle (see our blog post on that here).
Create some self-made transitions between working/learning and the rest of your day. If you are lucky enough to have your work area be a separate room, when it’s time to stop, leave the room and close the door! Change out of your work clothes and into something comfortable. Sort through the mail. Pet your dog. Do the things you would typically do, upon arriving home from work or school. Again, this serves as a buffer and mental cue to help you transition and create the sense of distinction between tasks and settings -- crucial when we are stuck at home.
Monitor your consumption of the news and social media during working and learning hours. Set website blockers on your computer and cellular devices if necessary. Not only are visiting these sites a distraction away from the important tasks at hand, over-consumption of news media during this time will lead to increased fear and anxiety. Distractions are unhelpful, however breaks are good! If you are working all day staring at a screen, please make sure to take regular visual breaks every 90 minutes to let your eyes rest. Take a few deep breaths, get up and walk around the room, do a little light stretching, get a glass of water, and then get back to it!