When you’re used to a busy office – bouncing ideas off your team all day, meetings with clients, office dogs humping each other – remote working can leave you feeling very isolated and dare I say it… a little lonely. We all know we need to feng shui our desks, take regular breaks (blah blah), but here are a few extra things that are helping me to stay motivated, productive and doing the best work for all of our lovely clients.
Keep your work/life balance
I’m thankful for still being able to have a solid routine of work during the day, and shooting the shit with the other half the rest of the time. Yes, I love my job and our team so I’ll always be on hand to jump into those urgent tasks whenever they come up, but being able to shut the door for the evening and sink into the sofa is a luxury I’m going to keep hold of.
Get your bop on
As much as I love our Creative Director playing his ‘dad music’ on repeat all day (shoutout to Elbow and The Sleaford Mods), being at home means I get to belt out my favourite albums without having to subject the entire office to my screechy tones. Sorry, other half – but here’s yet another performance of the Moana soundtrack featuring me as every character.
Stretch it out
If you didn’t get up early and do yoga this morning who cares, we’re all on the same sinking ship here! But having little stretch breaks actually does help to keep those joints in check, the blood pumping and the ideas flowing. I’m finding that drinking more coffee means I can stretch on the 3 metre walk to the loo – little hack for you.
Hit em up
Keep in touch with your team! The chances are that if you’re used to a busy office environment, they’re feeling a little lonely too so keeping in regular contact is key. Send that funny gif, kick each other out of the team Skype chat to make each other laugh and at this point, our daily Skype meetings are the the only thing keeping me showering regularly so that’s a cheeky bonus too.
Keep snacks in your work room
This can be a dangerous one depending on how long lockdown lasts but when you hit the 3pm slump, you’re gonna need a little pick me up. Hey leftover Cadbury’s Easter egg… I see you.
Cuddle your cat
Cuddling cats releases oxytocin that makes people feel happy and loved! This clearly doesn’t work the other way as my cat will do anything to escape his forced snuggles, but hey ho. This step can be tricky if you don’t actually have a cat but maybe you could try and tempt a neighbourhood feline into your home office? I’ve heard Tuna works.
Have something to binge after work
I mean… thank goodness for the crazy life of Joe Exotic, for the dodgy dealings of Saul Goodman and for Andy Samberg… just because. Also thank goodness for Sky Store giving us current cinema releases early as I never got round to watching The Invisible Man before lockdown – winning!