Help with Working from home

[Needinglifeadvice]

Hello all, looking for some advice. I am in the office 4 days a week, however the building is now closed for the Christmas period and we are expected to work from home until end of January. Everyone else I work with loves this time of year, however, first day in and I am already feeling so unmotivated, feel like crying and my heart is racing. Does anyone have any tips for getting over this? I can’t cope with feeling like this for the next 6 weeks. P.s I feel so stupid for posting this, however every time I have to work from home this happens, thanks so much.

What is it you don’t like about home working?

Make a list of short easy tasks to start the day. That way if you are distracted by something else you feel as if you have achieved. I have resorted to having "write to do list" as one of the things to tick off.

Is Christmas a busy or a quiet time for your business?

Busy, but a different busy, teaching is finished now, so I have a heap of marking and prep to do for next year

Wfh doesn't work for everyone. Some people miss the interaction with others and simply having a place to work that isn't 'home'.

I think it is the lack of routine and interaction

I will do that tomorrow, thank you!

That’s exactly how I feel

Hi, I love my days working from home but it does help that I have a structure around my dog. So we do a walk in the morning, walk at lunch and the walk after work. This bookends my day and helps me to switch between work and home life.
Even if you don't have a dog, you could still go for a walk or maybe so something else you enjoy (yoga?) to mark the start/end of your day.
I also have a very interactive group of colleagues who will have regular video calls, and make use of platforms like MS Teams for general collaboration.

Yes, it comes down to what you struggle with when WFH. Lack of oversight? Lack of company and social stimulation? Home/work separation?

Would working in a coffee shop or library help you? Or temporarily taking a desk in a co-working space? In general, I would also recommend two techniques for the chronic procrastinator:

1. breaking tasks down into specific chunks, making a to-do list first thing, and then crossing stuff off it
2. the Pomodoro technique. You can download various Pomodoro timers, in concert with web blockers and locking your phone away if needs be

Can you go to an office space or the library?

It's possible that your employer has policy that enables people who can't wfh ( not everyone can) or suffer from mental health deficits when working from home to attend the office another office, or access other support. We do. I have team members who either by choice or lack of choice do not want to work from home, and they don't have to.

I will look into this, thank you!

Right so you're not an office worker as implied by your OP, you are a teacher or lecturer and the problem you have is managing your time doing your planning, preparation and marking when you can't hang out in your classroom or subject office.

This must be an ongoing issue not just at the end of this one term. How do you usually plan and execute this work? The change of scene doesn't seem to be the main issue (hence so many confused posters at the start of this thread) so much as the change in task from your usual tasks and a main focus on teaching time which is timetabled and regimented, to the less-structured aspects of your job.

I'd recommend writing a list of everything you need to do, ordering it in a way that will work for you, plan how to approach each one if you can't do that specific task with ease yet, and maybe even giving yourself a timescale for when to complete each job so it feels more like "timetabled" time.

Get yourself a dedicated work space at home. This is completely your space to work. No distractions.
Set yourself a timetable up, times to do certain tasks.
Have a lunch break and the go back into your space
Tell your family not to interrupt you when you're working
Don't do housework, washing etc
Get up at your normal time, shower and dress etc
Do you have any work colleagues you could call for a catch up? Put a 15 min catch up call just to chat and interact with them

Hybrid worker here who chooses office most of the time tbh as not great at wfh.

This is how I do it:

1. as someone else has said- pomadero technique. Set 25 minute (or whatever alarm). Focus for that 25 minutes then 5-10minute break after that (get a drink, do a quick task, quick walk, pop in the garden, read for 5 minutes etc ) repeat. It’s actually quite tricky to stop after the 25 mins sometimes if you’re on a role but if you end up just finishing something off for another 20 mins or so lengthen your break. It really helps to know you only have to work for short spells at a time.
2. first job if the day is to do list. I put everything in here- checking emails, checking voicemails etc then quite satisfying to tick them off.
3. assuming you have / can make time at lunch book in a gym class/ swim, walk, trip to library/ coffee shop etc- something that’ll make you feel good.
4. Do you have colleagues you can reach out to? Maybe schedule a catch up? With a group or individual . There will 100% be people feeling the same way but not saying it.

good luck x x

O and music too. BBC sounds have some great playlists - xan also be used as a timer- so gonna listen to this playlist and work then have a break x

Didn't you have to come to terms with WFH during lockdown?

This is just 5 weeks. You'll be fine - don't overthink it and don't put so much pressure on yourself. It's pretty normal to feel unmotivated btw...

Hello @Grimmz thanks so much for advice. During lockdown I was still finishing PhD and was working in a shop and doing cleaning jobs too, so was kept busy

When I’m WFH I always start the day by getting out for a bit, whether to the gym or coffee shop or just the park so that I’ve had a bit of human interaction & feel I’m coming back to work.

I don’t know if you’re aware @Needinglifeadvice but the Reply button is essentially useless - it just adds your post to the thread without any indication of who you’re replying to. If you use Quote, which is in the 3 dots on the mobile site (not sure where it is on the apps) then it shows the post you’re replying to.

I struggled when we started WFH during lockdown but found going for a walk before starting and at the end of the day really helped me be focused when I was working. I write a list and when it's done, I'm done (we are expected to keep on top of our workload, not work set hours which can make it harder to focus!) and my colleagues and I started calling each other for a chat (moan!) every day for some human interaction. I also take my lunch break at roughly the same time each day. It's good I found a way to make it work because we never did go back to the office!