Alexandra Niel shares eight habits for remote workers: establish a morning routine, dress for the office, set work hours, use 50-75 minute focus blocks, meditate, exercise, eat low-glycemic meals, and stay hydrated. She recommends trying one change at a time.
Are you still struggling with some of that work-life balance? I know we've been working from home for a while, but, and even though it seems like maybe things are starting to settle a little bit, I thought maybe it would be good to go through what I think are kind of the 8 things that help to keep that balance going while you're working from home. And I know you have a lot of responsibilities. Some of you, I'm sure, have children, I don't happen to have children, so I can't speak from that perspective, but really being able to share with you some of the things that I know have helped me to have that balance while working from home. I just want to share that with you because maybe there's something there that you can learn, that you can apply in your own life. So the first thing that I wanted to share is the importance of having a morning routine, right? Because having a morning routine really sets you up for the day. I know when I'm— when I skip my morning routine, and it doesn't have to be long, I'm not talking about hours and hours of morning routine, it can be 20 minutes if that's what works for you, it can be an hour, whatever it is, it's a way for you to start the day, one, doing something nice for yourself, but not start the day being crazy and being harried, you know, it's like you hit the snooze button 15 times and, oh my God, you know, I got to be at work in 15 minutes and I haven't showered yet. It's really about giving you that time to settle into the day and really think about yourself, but how you want to show up for yourself. And when you have that me time in the morning, you're much more balanced, you are much more even, you're less likely to fly off the handle or get frustrated by things at work because you approach your day with intentionality. So So having that morning routine is hugely, hugely important. Now, the second thing is shower and get dressed, right? How many times have we seen on the internet people that, you know, are business on top and, you know, party on the bottom? No, show up. You're at work. You're supposed to be at work. That means if you are, you know, if you're— how can I say this? Wear what you would wear to go to work. You know, it's not an excuse for you to slack on your clothing simply because you're working from home. You're not going to feel as efficient, you're not going to feel as present as if you're dressed like you're in the office. So take that shower, get dressed, forget the split personality thing, and just be the best that you can be for yourself so that you can have a fabulous day. Number 3: establish your end time and your start time. I should go the other way around, your start time and your end time. Because what I found was that the days seemed to blend into one big long day that never ended. Because, you know, sometimes you start off, you know, the alarm goes off, you start with your email, and then you take a break, and then you take a shower, and then you read your emails, and then you have your coffee, and then you start and at the end of the day you say, okay, whatever, you can say 5 o'clock, but you could have evening calls, you can have, um, you know, things that you didn't get to that you try to catch up in the evening. So marking that time as your dedicated work time is going to make it feel— it's going to give you some guardrails so you stay on track, you're less likely to slack off, you're less likely to be distracted during the day, but it also gives you that time that you know you're gonna be able to do something else, something that's gonna recharge you, something that's gonna replenish you. And we all need that now more than ever because everything else has gone so crazy. Number 4: work in block time. So when you have meetings, that's a block time. But if there's something that you need to do, like prepare a presentation, prepare for a core pitch, prepare for Whatever it is that you've got going on, a meeting, you know, future meeting with a client, whatever the case may be, set some specific time and work in that time. So, and what I would recommend is working in blocks of 50 to 75 minutes time if that fits within the schedule. And one thing that I used to do which worked out pretty well for me to be able to have those focus times Mark some time on the calendar for you not to have meetings, right? Meetings are always going to happen, but it doesn't mean that you have to participate in every single meeting, especially not if you have a, you know, deadline looming where you need to actually get something done. When are you going to do it if you're back-to-back meetings between 8 o'clock and 5 o'clock at night? You're going to do it on your off time? No. Set some time when you can work on those things that you know you need to work on, which can get— you know, you can always say, oh, I'll get to that later because this meeting is important. Well, the meeting might be important, but not every meeting is important. So really make sure that you block those times off in your, in your calendar. Number 5: make time to meditate or do some breathing exercises. So meditation could be a part of your morning routine, it could not be a part of your morning routine, but as you're going throughout the day, you need to find moments where you can recharge, right? And a quick meditation or a quick breathe and bounce exercise is a great way to actually do that. So you get some oxygen in your brain, it makes you feel revitalized, it makes you feel energized, and then you can take on your next, your next task. Number 6: get some exercise in. How many times have I been in the office where I literally sat on my butt for 6 hours straight because I was working on a presentation. You need— that's where your block time is going to help. That's where your end time or start time and end time is going to help. That's where you need to put those boundaries so that you can be healthy for yourself and you can keep going. So between the block time, the recharging time, and then getting that exercise, whether it's first thing in the morning, because you know if you don't do it first thing in the morning, you're not going to do it at 6 o'clock at night. Whatever shape that takes, take some time for yourself. Number 7: Eat well. Be prepared. Have food in the fridge that is going to support having energy throughout the day. Try not to, you know, go down the rabbit hole of the sandwiches and the breads and the pastas and the rice and those types of things. Well, the rice actually, I'm gonna set that aside because it's not in the same family, but the breads and the pastas and those types of heavy things for me give me horrible brain fog. And that's why I used to feel knackered in the afternoon if I had lunch at noon. By 1 o'clock, 1:30, I was like ready for a nap. And I don't have time for a nap. No one— well, few of us have time for a nap. So staying away from those foods that are going to bring your energy levels down is really, really very important. And lastly, just make sure you drink. Have a lot of water that you can you know, that you can just keep guzzling down because hydration is good for your energy levels, it's good for your brain, it's good for so many things. Just make sure you hydrate throughout the day so you never get to that point where you're feeling thirsty because by then it's too late. So those are the 8 things that I wanted to share with you today. I hope you find them useful. I would encourage you to take one and apply it and see how it goes for you. Sometimes, you know, it— we want to make a lot of changes at once, and you may already be doing most of these things anyways. So if there's anything that resonates with you, I would encourage you to take it and apply it, see how it feels, and if it feels good, keep doing it. All right, that's it for me for today. I hope, um, you are well. I wish you much success, and I wish you um, all the good things that life has to offer, and I will talk to you soon. Bye!
