To think that doing something for yourself before work is important, especially for those WFH?

[WorthyOrca]

I’ve heard a lot about the benefits of taking time for yourself in the morning, rather than just rolling out of bed and diving straight into work. Whether it’s a quick workout, meditation, or even enjoying a cup of tea in peace, I feel starting the day with self-care sets a positive tone. What do you do for yourself before work, and do you think it makes a difference?

I WFH and half the week I get up and go to the gym before work and the other half of the week I lollop in bed like a sloth and only leave it at 8.55. I’m happy on both days for different reasons and consider it ‘balanced’ 😂

Now this I could get on board with.

Sometimes I even have broken electrical items to drop off too. It's all go here.

Nah, bugger that. The thing I do for myself before work is to get up as late as I possibly can.

Getting up later means I can go to bed bed later, which means all my free time is concentrated in a big block after work.

I do however always go for a walk on my lunch break, come rain or shine

No, my self care is the extra time in bed. I only get up the exact number of minutes needed to get us ready and go. I am not a morning person, my self care is in the evenings. I can’t even have a drink until I’ve been up 1-2hrs.

Work day. In the shower at 7. Wash & go as long commute.

WFH day. Tea in bed, browse the newspaper. Shower at 8, put the washing on & do some housework. At desk by 9. Walk dogs at lunchtime.

I love my team, but my WFH days are my survival days.

Always have a cup of coffee in bed, then throw on something comfy, walk the dog (rain or shine) put on some make up but stay in my comfies and go downstairs to work.
After work I go for a swim followed by a sauna. Bliss and complete me time.

Self-care is important but also is self-knowledge. I much prefer to catch up on overnight emails, news and admin immediately after waking up, over my morning coffee. That's all low-effort stuff I can ease into the day with.

Depending on my schedule I'll go for a run or do other exercise, or take some time to read a book or listen to music, either once that's done or at some other point in the day. I find going for a run first thing fairly unpleasant; later in the day it clears my head, plus it's usually a bit warmer and I'm more energetic.

In the winter I work straight after breakfast and then go out when I'm too cold to work so then I'm warmer when I get back which delays putting heating back on

I am going to do this. Thanks for the inspiration !

I read my book in bed for about 20 minutes. Much easier now the kids sort themselves out.

It's a lovely idea but sadly I don't work from home anymore and my mornings are all about getting myself ready and the kids packed off to wherever they're going. No time for breakfast never mind self care.

I do love the idea of a brisk walk or swim to start the day though. On the rare occasions I manage to get up early enough to have a little walk before work I always feel better for it. However, im tired AF and always opt for an extra half hour in bed.

@AutumnTimeForCosy24 , my work is the one thing I can change. My mornings are quite intense in terms of caring responsibilities (elderly parent and DC1 as well as getting DC2 ready for school). Work starts early and is quite full on in terms of 100% A-game from the moment my pupils arrive, so few opportunities for self-care through the day. Audible audiobook on my way home in the evening is lovely though.
I need to do 2-3 hours work each evening to get things prepared for the next day, but due to said caring responsibilities, I'm not able to do it until DC1 is asleep, which can take a looong time. Once I close my laptop, it's usually the early hours of the next day. I can't get up any earlier than I already do, or I wouldn't sleep at all. So I'm increasingly tempted to take a salary cut in order to get a WFH role. It would be an absolute game-changer in almost every area of my life.

I'm the same plus I take a bit of time out of my early morning (8am) start to do school runs some mornings, or to get away early some afternoons to fit around school so it means I rarely get a lunch break to relax- very stressful, I kind of miss my commute and coffee in the office - although I'm hopefully going back one day a week soon!

I'm pretty confident reducing my sleep even further, to get up at 5am just to fit in some "self care" kinda negates any benefit said self care would have.

Good idea!

When I was 100% wfh, self-care consisted of staying in bed until the last possible moment.

I quite enjoy the school run for this, it's only a fifteen minute walk there with DS (not relaxing), but then 10-12 home on my own, I like it when it's sunny but a bit chilly, earbuds in, podcast on, then WFH. My office is a 25 minute walk in the opposite direction to school so I tend to drive if doing drop off then the office, because I don't have time for a 50 minutes walk in the mornings, but on the mornings DH does drop off I walk to work, it always makes the day seem less frantic

I wfh, and I'd FAR rather treat myself to an extra 30mins of sleep than sitting in the garden with a coffee.

I'm a big fan of Sarah Beth yoga. She has loads of videos on YouTube.
I've been trying to fit in a couple each day where possible. Usually just 10 or 15 mins in the morning after school run (or before kids wake up if its early enough) and then 20 mins or so later in the day. Makes an enormous difference to how I feel the rest of the day. I just choose a video according to what I feel like doing. You can choose by length/type.

Actually, who am I kidding, I stay in bed until the last possible moment whether I am wfh, onsite or whatever.
No amount of calm contemplation in some zen setting will compensate for not being horizontal under a duvet.
Although, er, great if some sort of morning activity works for you.

I wish I was a morning person. I’m 200 metres from the beach but I struggle so much to get up of a morning that I never do anything before work.

That said, I did used to take calls out walking on the beach, so maybe I need to do that again if I have something in the diary where I don’t need to be actively using my laptop.

I've tried, I find I don't enjoy doing much before work as I am just thinking about getting started so rather just sleep and roll out of bed and get cracking. I do however take a 2 hour lunch between 11 and 1 to walk the dog and have a leisurely lunch.

Sometimes i walk to the shop and get stuff in for lunch before work, which I enjoy doing, but obviously I don't need to do that everyday unless I start getting through a loaf of bread and pack of eggs in one day

Yes, I always get up an hour before logging on. In good weather I potter in the garden with a coffee, maybe do a bit of deadheading and feed the fish.

Oooo I also do this while using a micro current device

seem to be stopping the jowls so far

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag8fWHrrTIc&t=33s&pp=2AEhkAIB