5 Ways to Survive Working From Home
It’s weird out there right now. My heart goes out to my entire creative community during this difficult time. I hope you are safe and healthy and following all of the guidelines around taking care of yourself and your loved ones. It’s also critical for us to protect our broader communities by practicing physical distancing. Flattening the curve of the corona virus will get us through this pandemic more quickly and with fewer fatalities.
With that said, community and personal connection is vital. We are blessed to live in a world where connecting virtually is possible for so many of us. While we spend more time at home, having the opportunity to connect with others and shift our focus away from all the bad news is super important.
I’m excited to offer you free live creative trainings 3 times a week starting today. The goal of these online sessions is to bring us together to share how we are feeling and to do creative activities together to support each other right now.
Before I share more details about how it will all work, I thought I should step back for a second and talk more broadly about what it’s like to work from home if this is not already a normal part of your daily or weekly routine. For many of us, this is the first time we’ll be spending so much time at home, working remotely. It’s important to keep a few things in mind and these help me a lot so I thought they might help you.
Here are 5 Ways to Enjoy Working from Home. Please share these with your friends, family and colleagues who might find them helpful. We are all in transition right now. You might have a spouse who is now telecommuting for their job. You might have kids or grandkids at home because their schools are closed. You might have an elderly parent to care for at home or who you need to connect with remotely due to travel restrictions. I hope these tips help in some small way.
#1 Repurpose Your Commute
If you or your spouse are working from home for the first time, don’t fall into the trap of using all that “saved” commute time to do more work. You most likely work a ton of hours already. Think of your commute time as a gift. Repurpose it for yourself. Create a new morning routine that brings you joy. Linger over that cup of coffee or tea. Light a scented candle and meditate for a few minutes. Get out your creative tools and spend 20 minutes sketching or painting. You decide but be very mindful of how you’ll use this “commute time” to support yourself and your wellbeing.
If you are more creative in the late afternoon or early evening, repurpose that “commute time” for a creative activity. You know what works best for you. My point is this time is your time. Not work time.
#2 Set Boundaries
Decide when you’ll start your work day and when you’ll end it. This is very important to ensure that work doesn’t completely take over the entire day. If you are more creative in the late afternoon, start your workday early and quit early. Then switch gears to spend time on a creative project or something new you’re learning.
Decide where you’ll work. Environment is important and I encourage you to decide where in the house you will NOT do work. You may find that trying out a few different locations in the house is a good idea. Maybe there’s a particular spot where you are more productive or feel more comfortable. Protect certain areas and be diligent about not doing any work in those areas of the house. You need space to relax and turn off work.
#3 Take Breaks
When you work at an office, you move from your workspace to meetings and back again. You also (hopefully) leave the office during lunch. Remember to take breaks when you’re working from home. Even with social distancing recommendations, you can still go for a walk. You need to get up from your workspace periodically and move your body.
If you are familiar with the Pomodoro Technique, now’s a great time to embrace it or tweak it a bit to serve you best. The overall goal is to work in a focused manner for short periods of time, say 20-40 minutes. Then take a break. Stretch your legs. If you have stairs, walk up and down them a few times. Or walk around the block. You’ll get your brain re-energized and ready for the next productive session.
#4 Connect Virtually
As I mentioned at the outset, connection is vital. Working from home can be isolating and lonely. Human connection is critical and while group gatherings aren’t happening, you can connect virtually with your work team or my creative community. We are blessed to live in a time when technology allows us to talk to one another over the phone, using FaceTime or other apps so we can see each other.
I’ve started virtual get togethers for my creative community using zoom, a video conference tool. Zoom allows us to see each other and talk to each other. I have used and will continue to use Facebook to connect with my creative tribe. However, while students can see me, I only see a green dot. Also, while you can communicate with me by using emojis and typing into the comments, you can’t talk directly to me. Zoom enables us to see each other and talk to each other which is very important right now.
#5 Lean Into Your Creativity
Art and creativity are tremendous healers. It’s a scientific fact that doing art helps with depression. I know in my bones that it can help with isolation as well. We are all creative in one way or another. Many of you joined my creative community to learn about surface design. Now’s the perfect time to lean into learning something new. Or to take your existing knowledge to the next level.
Here are the dates for upcoming virtual get togethers that I’m leading using zoom. If you’ve missed some, don’t worry. There will be more.
This week:
Tuesday, March 17: noon – 1 pm Pacific
Thursday, March 19: 1 pm – 2 pm Pacific
Friday, March 20: 2 pm – 3 pm Pacific
Next week:
Tuesday, March 24: noon – 1 pm Pacific
Thursday, March 26: 1 pm – 2 pm Pacific
Friday, March 27: 2 pm – 3 pm Pacific
To participate, on the dates listed above and at the time indicated, use this link to join: http://bit.ly/annezoomlink
You don't have to register or RSVP, simply mark your calendars and save the link so you can join us.
If you’ve never used zoom before, here’s what you need to do:
Step one: click on the link above or copy it into your browser
Step two: Click on the box that says: open zoom.us.
Step three: you’ll enter my “zoom room” and you’ll immediately be visible to me, and others on screen.
Step four: I’ll be there to greet you. You’ll be able to mute your microphone and turn your camera on and off.
I’ll be leading us through a variety of creative exercises and introducing you to Adobe Illustrator since many of you have signed up for my From Doodles to Dollars mini-course which starts in May.
If you don’t own Illustrator already, get started with a free trial by clicking HERE.
I can’t wait to see you (virtually) real soon. Save all the dates and attend as many times as possible.
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
