Get in the Groove: The Importance of Building a Work From Home Routine

When we settle in at a job, we usually start to get comfortable. The process of physically getting there, or how you plan out your day once you stepped inside of the office, was an important element to putting your best foot forward. Now that many of us have switched to remote work, that routine may look wildly different, but the importance it has on both our productivity and our happiness is as big as it ever was.

Before your workday even begins, the first step to kicking off your best routine is to get a full eight hours of sleep. Nothing can throw off even the most well-planned routine like a fatigued, dragging start to your day. Working from home is every bit as taxing as it is from the office, so never take for granted how important it is to get adequate rest before the day begins. Consider keeping the same waking hours that you had when you went into a physical space. This will help you create a sense of routine and allows you to keep consistency in your approach. A tactic like this goes hand-in-hand with another major WFH tip, and that’s to ensure that you’re creating a schedule for yourself. It can be easy to just wing it a bit more when we’re working from home, but a schedule for your day, and even your week, will provide the structure that many of us need to focus on the tasks we need to get done. On top of that, it will plain feel good to knock them out during the day and feel like you’re progressing in the same way that you would at the office.

Now that you’re ready to get to work, make sure that the place you’re working in is set up to do exactly that. Finding the balance of comfort and productivity in your workspace is everything. To know that when you’re up you have a place to go to get the job done will give you one less thing to worry about. Even more important than that, having a space to work in that feels comfortable to you gives you the ability to focus more on your tasks than outside distractions or even the headaches of working within an office. Just as vital as making sure your area is great to work in is making sure that you leave it every once in a while, too. Sometimes when we’re working from home, we can lose track of time. We can forget that we’ve been at it for hours without a break. A part of your daily schedule and routine should be to work in breaks that allow you to step completely away for a while. For some, a midday workout is just what they need. Others just need to get up and walk around. Whatever feels best for you, ensure that you’re allowing yourself to step away from time to time so that you can return to your workspace more energized to finish strong

The truth is, your brain craves routine. Whether it’s in work or life outside of it, you’re at your best when you have some consistency in what may be in store for you. By creating a routine around your work schedule, you give yourself the comfort in knowing that there is a structure in place to perform at your highest. Because many of us do not have the consistency of the office life to push us towards more production, we have to replicate many of those things at home. But the good news is, if we set it up right we can be every bit as productive as we were in the office and a whole lot more comfortable, too. Navigating this new world of work from home will continue to be a learning process, but take the necessary steps to give yourself a routine for each day and watch how much better the whole thing becomes.

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