One of the most difficult parts of the COVID-19 pandemic is taking on all of your responsibilities, whether it be work or family related, and doing them at the same time, all the time.

Don’t panic. 

In a recent webinar with co-founders of The Life Guidance Center, Thomas and Judy Heath, they highlight five strategies to work successfully at home, while balancing your new “temporary normal.”

1. Clearly Communicate

Clearly communicating with the people in your home is crucial. It helps to have everyone on the same page and to set reasonable expectations. This helps to avoid reacting to the circumstances, but rather making a plan for future changes that come. Do not assume that what you think should happen is what your family members think should happen. 

Set meetings to maintain structure and a schedule

Having meetings together as a family is helpful to obtain order in your new temporary normal. Sometimes it may seem like your kids, significant other and work all need something at the same time, but setting aside time for meetings and blocking times during the day for work and quiet time can help keep you on some semblance of a schedule and help your kids to better understand. 

Establish Expectations

In the meetings, being upfront about everyone’s needs is crucial during this disruptive change. Having a meeting without discussing expectations can cause unexpected hiccups.  

For example, if you and your spouse opt for a split schedule, make sure to establish expectations of what the kids should be doing with each spouse during their time with them. If parents have different expectations for each other and the kids, this can just end up causing further confusion. Talking about it ahead of time eliminates a lot of the confusion in the future.

Disrupt patterns

Every couple and family have patterns. Some are functional and some are dysfunctional. This is where active listening comes into play. When talking to your partner, strategize together and make the best decisions for the family, even if that means disrupting some of your normal patterns. Listening to each other’s needs and the needs of your kids will make this time at home a lot more seamless.

2. Establish a Routine

Create time blocking

This is something that you can work to do on your own. Because let’s be honest, we need our routine to make sense before we jump into integrating other people’s routines.  

Use your Outlook calendar or a spreadsheet to block time during the day for what you have planned. If you’re like me, you like color coding things…go for it! At least your day will look a little brighter (even if it’s filled with zoom meetings.) 

Choose your mindset

As much as many of us are probably enjoying not having to look office-worthy these days, getting up every day and getting ready as if you were going to the office may help with your productivity. Sticking to your usual routine will help with productivity, too.

If you typically shower in the morning or do your daily yoga before work, take the time to do that even if you aren’t going into the office. The routine can help keep you focused at home and get you into your work mindset.

Be flexible

Be kind to yourself! Setting schedules doesn’t always mean that they will be followed to a tee every day. Life happens and it’s okay to go off script at times.

3. Designate a Workplace

Some of you may have a home office, some of you may not. Wherever you are, ensure that it is a comfortable setting. Surround yourself with light and things that make you feel good, if possible.   

Fun fact: if you are on a zoom call, make sure that the light (i.e. a window) is in front of you, not behind you. If the light is behind you, you will appear dark in the camera to your colleagues and the quality will be poor. 

Set boundaries with this space for your mental health. For many of us, we are not used to working from home all the time and it can be difficult to “turn off” our work brain. Do what’s best for you to establish that space as your workspace. 

A few tips:

• When you leave your workspace, shut down everything and turn off the lights in that room 
• Put a sheet over your workspace so you don’t have to see it 
• Avoid (if possible) going in that room to avoid the anxious feeling that you must continue working (even after your day is over)

4. Reduce Anxiety

During a global pandemic, this isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Here are a few tools you can use to stay in the moment and reduce anxious thoughts:

• 3 deep breaths – this sounds too easy, but it helps. Inhale for 2–3 seconds, exhale for 3–4 seconds, pause for 2–3 seconds and then repeat. 
• Get outside and drink water – getting outside makes you feel good and drinking water helps to reduce anxious thoughts. 
• Limit news and social media – the news and social media are swirling with the pandemic news. Although it’s important to be aware of what’s going on, limit your watch time. Avoid watching the news when you wake up or when you go to sleep and watch the news only once a day. 
• Shower meditation – we are all busy, but take the time while you are in the shower to meditate for 2 minutes. Focus on the feeling of the water washing over you and taking any negative thoughts or anxious feelings with it. 

5. Practice Self-Care

It’s easy to worry about others during this uncertain time, but don’t forget about yourself. Ensure that you are making decisions that are benefiting you. 

This means prioritizing your nutrition (and not eating all the junk food in your house), incorporating exercise and movement and getting the appropriate amount of sleep.  

To view the full webinar, click here.  

Not only does the Chamber team care about your business doing well and further enhancing our region, we also care about you and ensuring that you are doing well. We hope you have checked out our COVID-19 Resources page for additional webinars, resources and information, but if you have any additional ideas or ways we can help you, please let us know.