To take more regular breaks when working from home?

[JustBecauseYouCanBarry]

Our office has now closed and I am working completely from home for the foreseeable, this has been since last week.

I've never worked from home before and have always thought of myself as quite a motivated hard worker but I am losing that now.

When I'm in work, we regularly talk amongst ourselves throughout the day (small office), meet with clients regularly face to face, at their homes, in the office, occasionally for coffee etc...

I'm struggling now being at home alone all day (DH is out at work). I know a lot of people will be struggling with the same thing.

In order to stay motivated with work I've realised that I've started taking more regular breaks. I've been doing a couple of 5 minute workouts on YouTube or scrolling through here for 5 - 10 minutes a few times a day, watching a bit of news on the TV, tidying up a bit etc... all things that I'd never have done during working hours before and feel like I probably shouldn't be doing.

I feel guilty but I just can't sit alone, in silence at a screen from morning to evening. I've been going to counselling recently for a number of mental health issues, anxiety and depression being the main ones and I can see this really causing a flare up if I don't do other bits throughout the day to keep my head occupied.

AIBU? Those of you who manage teams/businesses. What would you think of your employee admitting to the above?

Ps. I do get all my work done, I'm not getting behind or anything. I find that I'm more motivated in the shorter bursts of work I'm doing that I'm getting a lot of stuff done whereas if I just sat here all day I'd end up zoning out if that makes sense.

I think managers (decent ones anyway) understand that this is a strange time.

We do

I’m working from home as are all my staff
Make sure you have regular breaks and a proper lunch time
I wouldn’t have a problem with what you describe if still coping with work load
I’ve set up staff what’s app, regular calls, everyone is updating work plans
I’m also buddying colleagues up to share work and support each other so that everyone is not ringing me as well as being less isolated

I have WFH for years. I have an app that freezes my screen for 5 mins every hour. I can't override it (like the snooze button!).

It helps for the obvious reason - I get up and potter about for 5 mins but also that I set myself mini targets eg work on this till the next work station break.

Without the natural breaks working in a shared office gives you ie walking further to use the loo or make a cuppa or just the odd 5 min chat you need to introduce them yourself if you wfh

I worked from home as assistant accounts for ten years from 97 to 2007 with a baby and toddler , DC are now grown but finding this so much harder for some reason. I dont miss the commute on packed train and commute though.

This is really useful. I’m absolutely exhausted after working a week at home. I’ve been doing 9-5, with tea break but it’s different because I just go get tea and get back to work, no chat or even offering others tea. We are very busy, worse than normal so I feel guilty about breaks.

I think I’ll try the 5mins thing or I’ll burn out pretty fast.

When I work from home, I tend to dip in and out but my working hours are longer than usual. That is because I am a serial procrastinator.

I always listen to the radio if I’m working in silence. It actually helps me concentrate. I like to listen to classic fm as there are no lyrics to distract me and then it’s nice when the presenters chat every so often.

I've just started wfh and created a schedule with a couple of breaks built in but may need more as I'd underestimated how hard it is sitting in front of a screen all day on my own (my job normally involves working face to face with lots of people in different places). That said I got a lot of work done.

I’ve just started working from home, our HR lady has advised us to be more flexible with how we work, rather than rigidly sticking to our normal office routine so I’ve been getting up and doing bits of housework in between tasks. Depends on your role I guess but if the work is getting done, that’s the main thing. I just keep an eye out for urgent emails.

Thanks all! I'll be easier on myself today then

Be kind to yourself and do whatever you need to do to stay well. Most People gets loads more done at home because they are not distracted by calls, people, stuff. When I worked in science we would often report write from home because of minimal distraction versus working in a large open plan office. Aslong as you get your work done each day then as a boss I am happy. My husband finds every teleconference now starts with a 15 min chat on covid panic, so this takes up an extra hojr each day but matters to those people. Do whatever you need to but some form of structure does help as by week 3 you may be a bit feral

There is a weird psychological thing where we can do whatever the hell we want at work - chat, make tea, multiple loo breaks, wander around the office etc. But because we are physically ‘at work’ we don’t feel guilty or like we aren’t working. Then the moment we wfh, if we stop for 5 minutes we instantly feel guilty, even if we get more done overall. It’s all arbitrary really, as long as you get the work done that is what matters.

I have the timer on my phone set for 60mins. When it goes off, I look at my handy pre-written list of things to do and do one of them (always a job that needs me to move from my chair/office and do something).

When I sit back down again, I reset the timer and repeat.

I have optionally wfh for a long time, but I always had the choice to go to the office if i wanted. It is much harder now it is enforced.

My Fitbit is telling me that I only do 250 steps per hour during HALF the working day, as compared to nearly all day before.

It’s good for us to stretch our legs. The ladies toilet and printer are a right good walk from my desks so I got plenty exercise during working hours. But now I have no printer and the toilet is nearer me I find that I’m barely getting my ass off the chair!

So I will be doing what you are doing and taking a bit of exercise every hour. Even just 250 steps in the spot with a few arm swings to get the blood moving!

I've got encore Radio ( I love musical theatre) on and just get up and have a good boogie every so often