Lucinda's 3 tips to staying connected

To prepare for this little stint at home I’d done a lot of reading and listening to tips and tricks to make WFH productive and enjoyable. I’ve often worked from home in the past, particularly in previous roles, but never for more than about 2 days at a time and I was quite apprehensive about the toll on mental health.

Tips such as ‘get out of your pajamas’ and ‘hygiene is still a thing - have a shower' - are good reminders! But I think the most useful for me has been the overwhelming guidance on the importance of routine.

With that in mind, over the last week, I have generally stuck to the same timetable for my days and, although it’s early yet and this may change, so far I’m absolutely loving the change in work structure…I’m wondering if it’s because I’m introverted and secretly never want to leave the house, but I think I’m made for WFH!

7:00am Today my day started as usual around 7am with a walk. Having more time because there’s no commute, I’m able to walk further - this morning went around Surry Hills and looked at all the cool street art. 

8:00am It’s time to get ready, which is significantly quicker and less complicated! I even have time to make breakie which makes me feel extremely organised.

8:30am: I sit at my computer at the kitchen table or at the desk in my bedroom if I need a monitor for the day.

I live with 4 others who are all also WFH in their respective roles so the kitchen table is well and truly all bases loaded. The living room has been designated the ‘Zoom Space' for when we are in meetings/on calls, to not disturb everyone else.

8:30am-11:30am I have started working through the day’s emails and to-do list. At 11.30 I stole a friend’s idea and wrote a ‘Quarantine Goals' list which includes:

• exercise for 30 minutes a day
• read one book a fortnight (currently, Fleishman is in Trouble), and
• facetime a family member or friend every day.

11:40am With the latter in mind, I went for a short walk around the block and called my grandma to check-in while grabbing a coffee from the local cafe.

12:00pm -6:00pm I zoomed, called, slacked, facetimed, and generally connected with various colleagues to get 2 contracts and 2 marketing/product projects reviewed, as well as got some backlogged admin out of the way. I’m conscious of eating well while not being overly mobile so I made a great salad for lunch and munched away on mute in a meeting…

I tried to mix up my locations within the house. Last weekend I bought some great outdoor furniture for the balcony - it’s an awesome little oasis now (that previously just housed my washing racks) and I wish I’d done it sooner! So from about 4pm I sat with my laptop outside on the new lounge in the beautiful weather.

6:00pm I walked up to Centennial Park with 2 of my housemates and a bunch of at-home-gym equipment to do a 20-minute app-based HIIT workout and then a loop around the park.

7:15pm Home to cook dinner - which I never do so it’s kind of exciting being home early enough (and prepared enough) to do it!

Finally, the day ended on HouseParty playing Harry Potter trivia with a friend to stay connected.