Are you new member of the home office club? Well first of all, welcome. So nice to meet. Thanks for signing up!

Humans are social beings and community is extremely important, however, when you work from home it can feel difficult to create boundaries between your work and home life – especially since they are now in the same place. More importantly, what do you do to replace the chit chat in the work kitchen or that quick walk to get a coffee with a co-worker? Well, there are no easy answers and it is important to listen to yourself about what you need and what will work for you.

Below are some tips to help you break up your day, stay focused, and most importantly stay sane (as much as possible).

READ

Read! Even if you aren’t a reader, read. I do not believe that people don’t like reading, I just think they haven’t found the right genre/book that works for them.

Reading is a great way to get out of head when you don’t have anywhere to go. It can help relax you. It can help your creativity. I am the first person to admit that sometimes I need to not think about a problem or concept for a while to be able to think about it later.

If you aren’t keen on reading psychical books, you can also try audiobooks. There are thousands out there.

BE CREATIVE

Do something creative throughout the day. Try knitting. Try drawing. Try writing in a journal. Some of these tasks you can do while you are having voice call meetings – two birds with one stone!

Being creative and seeing the thing you are creating manifest in your hands can help you feel like you have control over something as you are adjusting to your new home office.

EXERCISE

This goes without saying – if you can move your body you should be! Exercise is great and much like reading, I am sure you can find something that works for you.

Don’t use exercise as a punishment for your extra serving of pasta the night before, use it as a tool to help clear out the cobwebs in your head when you are feeling a bit flat and overwhelmed.

You can exercise at home too! My absolute favourite online workouts come from the YouTube channel “Fitness Blender”.

I did this workout the other day! Fitness Blender are my favourite because they are free to use and easy to do at home. They have exercises with and without equipment. They have stretching, strength, and cardio workouts. They have warm ups and cool downs too. And my favourite part: they don’t have any music with their workouts so you can pick what you like!

DRESS UP STILL

Let me tell you about a little known concept called “The Pyjama Line”. This refers to a time in the day where if you are still your pyjamas you will not get out of them. When you are working from home it is so important to keep some sort of structure, and more importantly it is about still being you. Even if no one is there to see it.

Put on red lipstick if you feel like. Paint your nails. Who cares if no one sees you. If you only think that you should dress up for other people, then you are missing the point. If you are staying in pyjamas all day while you work from home then I can tell you now it is a slippery slop. Go on, put some pants on!

COOK

Make sure you keep to meal times and make sure that you are not eating them at your work desk. If your work desk happens to also be your dinning room table, then make sure you can pack away your work things for a bit so you can enjoy a meal.

When you are having lunch, try to use that time to not be at work. Switch off. Call a friend, go for a short walk after lunch. Spend a bit of time cooking up something a bit special. Just don’t keep working.

How do you manage your home office? What tips and tricks work for you? As always, now more than ever, share the reading love.