Are you feeling more cranky than normal these days? Lockdown#3 is very tough. There’s so much pressure from every angle. Whether you’re home schooling, working from home, taking care of people, the levels of stress people are feeling now are immense. We’re all stuck in the house together which can be tough. There’s also lots of people living on their own, which is also very tough!
Today in this blog post I want to tackle the issue of working from home. As hard as it is now, life is happening for you now. You’ll never get these years back and you’ll never be this age again. So let’s work with what we have, and figure out how we can enjoy every day, whether it’s a Monday or a Saturday. It’s so easy in this pandemic to let work consume everything, and that’s no way to live. You want to explore and nurture other areas of yourself too, you are not all work, there are other parts of you that need just as much nurturing.
What other areas of your life am I talking about?
- Relationships;
- Your Physical body;
- Your Spirituality and contribution;
- Your Emotions and meaning;
These areas make us feel alive and happy. Without them life can be dull and you don’t laugh and relax as much.
So if you feel like work is now defining you too much and working from home means work is seeping into all areas of your day, pick a few of these tips below and find which works for you:
Exercise for your mind and body for 30 minutes every day.Â
Getting fit and healthy is the BEST investment you can give yourself, except I sometimes think we can forget this. We find buying take aways and bottles of wine easy to do, without question, but investing in your health? It can sometimes feel scary, but good health is the only thing that will enable you to have a good and long life. What kind of a life do you have if you’re not healthy?
Working out for 30 minutes doing strength and core work with cardio will make your body strong, healthy and give you many more healthy years in the future. It’s such a relaxing feeling knowing that you are doing everything you can to live a healthy and long life.
Also, giving yourself 30 minutes a day to work on you helps you feel good, and you’re spending time on just you, which is lovely. (It makes you more productive in work too, so if you’re a complete workaholic feeling like you can’t spare the time, just think of that!)
Get fresh air during the day.
This is amazing. You workout, you work, you get fresh air, you go back to work. Small little things in your day that take you away from your desk. That’s the key. Not away from your desk and on to your phone. Away from all screens. Getting into fresh air helps get rid of the build up of frustration, that builds up when you’ve too much screen time.
Set boundaries.
This one is so hard as screens are so addictive. But just like you worked hard at getting an exercise routine, now work hard at having boundaries. Until what time are you accessible? When do you stop checking emails? This is something that has to be worked on daily. Take it day by day, BUT you need to be like a drill sergeant with this. I fail at sometimes but at least I know I’n breaking my boundaries, as I have boundaries in the first place!
Get off the screens.
I can sometimes go from my laptop straight to my phone, when a TV ad comes on, phone, phone to laptop, laptop to phone. ENOUGH. What an unhealthy way to live. But too many people think that just because you’re not getting it right all the time, then why bother trying. No way!!!! You get up, you go for it again, sometimes it’ll work, other times not, but you’re always doing your best.
Have a laugh
Take a break and go and have a laugh. We are way too serious with ourselves and everything. I know I can take myself and my life way too seriously at times, and I try to relax and laugh more often now. Making a conscious effort to be silly is a really good thing. Get goofy, be silly and add some spontaneity.
Be Present and in the moment when you are not working.
It can be easy to not fully be present in something when you’re not working, as you’re thinking of work, but other areas of your life deserve your attention. Relationships, your physical fitness, your book that you never get around to. Your kids, your parents, your family, your friends, the recipe you’ve wanted to cook. These things are only fun if you’re there in the moment when you do them. Exercise can be so enjoyable when you are there in the moment focusing on just the movements you are doing, but horrible if you’re running through to do lists at the same time! Focus on what you’re focusing on right there and there. A good twenty minutes platy time with kids is better than one hour of being on your phone while being with them.
You’ve got this. Life can be overwhelming, especially now. Work hard at the right things. Set boundaries, schedule time in for fun and rest, and fresh air EVERY DAY. Life is not a weekend thing. Life is happening right now.
I hope you find this helpful,
I love to help women feel really good from the inside out. It is my life’s mission. Comment below if you’ve any questions or just want to say hi. Go to the free tools section of my website to grab lots of free stuff by clicking here.
Jessica Cooke X
