Working from home is no easy feat and can present unique challenges for those across any employment sector.
As a 5-Star crisis responder who works remotely to help vulnerable people in distress, attention span is a very important commodity. All it takes is some very specific utterances to steer clients towards a more goal-oriented focus, even when things seem incredibly tough.
However, it can be increasingly hard to keep your focus sustained when you’re filled with many distractions from home.
Some of us overwork and we end up losing time with the ones we love the most. Balancing life and work within the same environment may require a high degree of self-discipline, a commodity that can get easily drained.
While it’s easy to get drained, there are many ways to keep yourself replenished and productive.
1. Move our Bodies
When you work remotely, you’re often sitting in front of a computer for many hours at a time. It’s easy to get used to this sedentary approach, but we are human, and we deserve some breaks every now and then.
Taking the time to stretch your body in between tasks can do wonders for the body, like reducing physical tension in the legs. If you can, take a small walk into your backyard, or through a wide path nearby.
If you’re getting stuck on a specific problem or idea, we can get our brains further oxygenated by the fresh air outside. As the research has noted, taking a small jog can allow us to remember new ideas or generate creative but novel solutions.
2. Examine Our Goals & Create Structure
We sometimes think about the purpose we are serving, especially when it comes to our career aspirations. When you’re working on a tedious task, reminding yourself of the reasons why you do this, can keep you grounded for the time being.
At first glance, our overarching goals can be pretty overwhelming, but breaking down these goals into more manageable sub-tasks can make it easier to do things leading up to our bigger goal. For example, if you have an actionable list of items that can prioritize your most important tasks, it will keep you busy.
Maintaining regular breaks while having some time for leisure and exercise can help with managing high levels of predictability and structure. If you give yourself the illusion of having too much free time, you might start to slack off.
3. Maintain and Forge Reliable Interactions
As verified through scientific research, we are social beings, and we are meant to connect with others across a wide variety of topics. When working remotely, it’s harder to cultivate and sustain our social community.
While fostering some semblance of a relationship can be tedious to some people, it can keep us validated when we think things are going terrible, as other people may be going through something similar.
Being proactive with virtual engagements can help us feel like we belong to an overarching community, and with it, a sense of purpose, especially if others have similar professional goals to you.
Feedback from coworkers, alongside consistent engagement, can help us generate new insights, alongside bouts of humor, and new friendships. These friendships could lead to something greater, such as future partnerships and professional alliances.