The Imperfect Person’s Survival Guide for Working From Home
As a result of the current COVID 19 outbreak…
many of us are now forced to work remotely. While initially that may seem like a dream, some of us are realizing how challenging it can be to remain productive and sane while working amid so many distractions.
Kids. Spouses or partners. TV. General lack of will power. And of course, our old friend anxiety.
Many bloggers are offering their tips and tricks for working from home. In fact, this blog was originally intended to be a “Freelancer’s Guide to Working from Home.” But as I thought about it, I quickly realized that very few of us will be able to create the optimal homework environment. In reality, we’re in survival mode – adjusting to a new way of living in the midst of a global crisis – all while trying to hold on to any semblance of normalcy we can grasp.
So -- consider this more of a survival guide for how to take on as little stress as possible while working in relatively dire circumstances.
Many of these tips come from my own experiences. For the past year, I’ve been working largely from home. However, for the past two years, my wife and I have been on our own voyage of downsizing our life. In the last six months, we moved into a room share where “home” has consisted of one 11ft x 12ft master bedroom with adjoined ¾ bath and kitchen privileges.
We don’t have spare room. We don’t even have living room privileges. Furthermore, the room we live in now is about 25% smaller than where we lived previously, meaning that the space I used for my home office now no longer exists. This past year has been a season of adjusting, learning to communicate, shifting expectations, and really focusing on essential priorities.
It’s been a wild journey, but one that has proven incredibly fruitful. I’m happy now to be able to share what I’ve learned in hopes that it may provide a bit of peace and guidance for you in this turbulent season.
So without further ado, here is Gosewriter’s Survival Guide for Staying Sane and Productive in an Imperfect Working Environment.
1.) Go for the Loose Jenga Blocks First
Raise your hand if you love Jenga!
Now – raise your hand if your strategy involves going for the tightest, least moveable blocks first like some sort of barbarian? No! You go for the loose blocks first! Why? Because they are easy to move and they have the lowest risk of causing literally everything to come crumbling down.
Now – substitute “Jenga blocks” for “crap in your life.” Boom! Metaphor!
What are the things in your life that are the most movable?
What areas can afford a bit of imperfection? What we often discover in crisis situations is that many things we once thought essential really are not.
Laundry may pile up. The living room may get a bit messy. You may want meal plan and have leftovers in place of having something different every night.
If you only have so much focus, attention, and energy, it’s better to save it for the most essential things. We may need to chip away at our picture of perfection and find out where in our lives we have a bit of give.
This will look different for everyone, but I guarantee there are places in our lives where we can let things loosen a bit. We may need to move from the “I only get straight As” mindset to a more “I just need to get this done to the best of my ability” mindset.
2.) Surrender the Things you Can’t Control.
This next point flows directly out of the first.
When things like global pandemics are thrust upon us, it’s easy to jolt into fight or flight mode. We want to feel some sense of comfort and control and we can sort of panic. Who’s with me?
In seasons like this, its wise to pause, breathe, and consciously audit the various aspects of your life and sort them into two categories– things you can control, and things you can’t control. It isn’t always fun, but there are things beyond our control. Those things aren’t worth investing too much mental and emotional energy into.
We can’t control this virus.
We can’t control government ordinances. We can’t control the thoughts, attitudes, or feelings of other human beings – including our kids and our partners.
In my case – I can’t control the physical dimensions of my living space I can’t control that I now must share my already small space with my wife who is forced to work remotely. I can’t control my diminishing income as I’ve lost hours and clients due to this virus.I certainly can’t control how much toilet paper people buy.
It’s good to identify areas where you have no say. It’s challenging, but its so worth it. It’s useless to fight against immoveable realities. In fact, doing so will almost certainly cause damage to you and those you care about. This season certainly provides an opportunity to name and try to accept the things we simply have no say over.
However, there is another side to this coin, and that is…
3.) Take Charge of the things You CAN Control!
I recently went on a trip to Haiti. Throughout our trip, we traveled with an armed security guard who was a martial arts master! One afternoon he decided to give us a demonstration. He asked one of our teammates to be the crash test dummy and then proceeded to put our friend in headlocks, arm locks and other kinds of locks. He’d then demonstrate the countermove.
Bad guy has his arm around your neck? Pull his ear with your free hand!
Oh no! He’s got your arm? Kick him in the groin!
The moves seemed so logical yet, for me, so counter intuitive. If someone has my head in a lock, my instinct would be to try freeing my head. I don’t know that I would naturally consider using other options.
Life can be like a Judo match sometimes, right?!?
We hit a wall and out instinct is to just start punching the wall, forgetting that we could try scaling it or possibly just go around it completely.
We’ve listed off all the things we have no control over. Now its time to list the things we CAN control. And guess what – there is a lot! To see it, however, may require shifting our perspective a bit.
Need a designated work space? Guess what – your entire living space belongs to you! You can alter the entire arrangement of your living room or bedroom, or kitchen. Shoot – set up a desk at the toilet! Now is the time to get creative.
Do your kids need you to help them with school and eating and… just life in general? Maybe consider getting up a few hours before them or going to bed later in order to maximize time. Our lives tend to have much more fluidity than we think.
This is a season to really build up better habits.
Yes – maybe we need to let certain things slip. But, maybe now we’re realizing that because we are all working and living in the same space – we need to do our laundry more regularly or pick up our toys.
Embedded in this point is the idea of eliminating distractions. If we know we are prone to scrolling endlessly on social media or binge watching late into the night – it may behoove us to utilize timers and screen time settings.
The last thing we all absolutely CAN control is our thoughts, words, and attitudes.
Its okay to feel anxious and unsure. Its ok to feel frustrated. Its ok not to know how you feel. But, we each have the power to find healthy ways to express how we feel. This is a season where many of us will be discovering our voices. It may be the season where we speak with our superiors, cordially, about how we’re feeling. It may require conversations with our partners about reestablishing expectations, needs, and boundaries.
Again, we won’t necessarily be able to control every outcome, but we certainly don’t have to remain silent in these situations. We will likely be surprised the power our voices can have.
4.) Mind the Small Changes
My last piece of advice here is to pay attention to the micro changes. We are aware of the major shifts occurring – but we may be overlooking small but significant changes that could have potentially large consequences.
These might include things like our commute to and from work. While many of us may typically begrudge our commute, we may not realize how much we benefit from having a buffer before and after work that we now no longer experience. If this is the case, it might be wise to think abut going for a short walk before starting or ending work.
Other things might include small social interactions. This is something I’m beginning to recognize in myself. I’m not typically a very social person, but on a given day I can have dozens of small social exchanges that end up filling my bucket. Because of our current circumstance, I now no longer experience those exchanges.
Being aware of these small changes can be important.
Again, we may not be able to necessarily do much about them for the time being but understanding them and how they impact us can save us from more stress and frustration in the long run.
Do Your Best!
This season will look different for all of us, but as we continue on, we can find ways to truly make the best of it. By understanding what makes us tick and how to navigate will help us reduce stress as much as possible and hopefully be as focused and productive as we can.
In all of these things, the most important aspect to remember is to offer yourself and others grace. We are all adjusting and none of us knows exactly how to handle these changes. By practicing patience and understanding, we can help carry each other through.
Take care! And STAY HOME!