How to Work From Home + Maintain Your Sanity

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most likely your company has transitioned to a WFH (work from home) policy. During this uncertain time where things are up in the air - your kids are suddenly home, your routine is nonexistent, your office is constantly reorganizing their efforts - it is important to take things day by day and remain calm. 

Here are some tips for parents - How to Survive Remote Work With Kids During COVID-19 Social Distancing

Basically...don’t carry unnecessary trouble and, instead, only worry about the things you can control.

So far, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has kept citizens informed about what they need to do: 

1. Wash your hands.

2. Keep your hands away from your face.

3. Avoid mass transport. 

4. Stay home, if at all possible. 

With everyone scrambling to adjust their lives to a new schedule / routine, here is some advice for employees and company leaders alike on best practices to balance work and day-to-day life from the comfort of your home. 

Working Remotely - It’s Not a One Size Fits All Situation

Just like how some learners are more audio, others are visual, and some are verbal - there are different approaches to working from home. You may have a personal preference for how you approach your new WFH lifestyle, but these tips should help guide / inspire you in the days to come! 

#1 - Establish a Morning Routine 

Welcome to your new “ordinary” for the foreseeable future! Start your day as you would normally (though, maybe you can give yourself a couple extra minutes of sleep knowing you don’t have to commute anymore). 

Get out of bed, make breakfast or coffee (whatever gets you moving), and get dressed...yes! You need to wear normal clothes. Roaming around in your undergarments is NOT going to give you the motivation you need to get down to business. 

Some people recommend:

• Going for a walk 

• Putting on makeup / stylizing your hair

• Cleaning your workstation

• Meditation

• Making lists for the day

• Meal prepping for the week so you don’t over or undereat

#2 - Prepare Your Workspace 

What motivates you? Sometimes a cluttered space can lead to a cluttered mind. Set some time aside to clean your work area. Put decorative plants around the space or play music to evoke inspiration and motivate you throughout the day. 

Make sure your playlist does not distract you from work. If you have to get up every five minutes to skip a song, the music is ultimately taking you away from your focus. Create a playlist specifically for working. Also, place your phone in a designated location so that it is not an additional distraction. 

TIP: Be sure to separate your working space from your resting space. 

A big thing about working from home is distinguishing the time between the work and play. If you work where you sleep, you will associate that space with that activity and vice versa - making you less productive and blurring the lines more.

#3 - Create a Schedule and Stick to It! 

Set timed deadlines for yourself throughout the day. Knowing when you plan to complete something and how long you’re giving yourself to complete it gives you:

1. Goals to look forward to,

2. a sense of accomplishment when you complete those goals to act as extra motivation, and  

3. specified productive time so that you’re not working 24/7. 

When building this schedule, depending on the type of worker you are, it may be best to organize easiest tasks first to knock them out of the way. 

TIP: Make a list of everything you need to complete during the week; prioritize the most important tasks by numbering them; break bigger projects down day by day; and make sure to factor in time for breaks. 

#4 - Take Breaks 

It’s not only good for your mind and body to take a break, but it is also good for your sanity. Set breaks throughout the day to go for a walk, do some office yoga, say hi to your kids, have a dance party, or eat lunch. Even if you set aside 20 minutes to watch a show while you eat, mentally excuse yourself for the allotted time and then get right back to work. Some movement or screen separation throughout the day may stimulate creativity or different streams of thought. 

Read more - Tapping into a Marketer’s Inspiration and Covering all the B.A.S.E.S.

Also, during your breaks, it’s important to count your wins! Understand that you’re doing the best you can with the situation you’re given - so reward yourself for that!

#5 - Over Communicate with Your Team

You may be under your roof making your schedule, but you still are accountable for your team. Whether it is through Slack, Google, Asana - make sure to update your team periodically about your status, where you need help, and innovative ideas to adjust processes moving forward. An open dialogue could lead to new opportunities or just keep employees honest. 

Some helpful teleconference tools are: Loom, Zoom, and Uberconference.

Whether it’s with your team, boss, or family, video calling, when you can, can be beneficial during this isolating time. 

#6 - Exert Additional Energy to Learn a New Skill 

Plenty of programs are available (some free and discounted) to help you level up in your career. Schedule extra time to achieve your personal goals like reaching an ideal fitness weight, learning an instrument, or cleaning your house; call your family; or learn a new marketing skill. 

Take a UX/UI course, get your certification in Google Analytics, learn the Adobe Suite, take a Hubspot course to master content marketing - you finally have the time to get to the things that are so easy to push off...you just have to do it. 

Now is the time to create something new or discover a talent or passion within yourself.

Check out this inspirational post from the Executive Director at Butter.ATL, Brandon Butler. 

#7 - Remember to RELAX 

At the end of the day, we are all in this together. Remember to take a deep breath in and out, try your best, and greet each challenge day by day. It’s important to take this situation as seriously as possible, but to remember to smile / laugh when you can. 

Read more - Lessons from a coronavirus refugee

We are all going through this together - it isn’t a time to use marketing to take advantage of one another...but rather, to lift up one another. Below is a great post from the CEO of Modo Modo Agency, Moira Vetter. 

Have additional questions? Harvard Business Review answered 15 key questions to guide employers during this difficult time. The most imperative steps are: 

1. Supporting / Coaching your employees during this difficult transition period.

2. Understanding that the transition period will be hard and having trust in your staff despite the challenges. 

Are you starting a new job but it is currently remote?

Some companies are having hiring freezes while others are keeping the show going. If that is the case, here is what you can do to stay ahead / help with onboarding: 

1. Introduce yourself to key team members (preferably through video) and ask for an attachment of the business strategy. 

2. Set up discovery calls with key stakeholders, cross functional team members, and leaders.

3. Offer to help on specific projects - this is your chance to go above and beyond to become a real asset. 

4. Read the employee manual, annual report, and anything and everything about the company on Google. 

5. Form a solid relationship with the admins since you will be coordinating with them frequently.

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We understand this time is difficult for everyone.

At Setup, our goal is to be a resource to marketers - we can do this by providing guides to help you with tasks like setting up your budget or easing your agency selection process, content with advice such as tips for a new marketing role, or connecting brands with an agency free of charge…we want to do our part to make your job easier. Especially during this trying time.

Let us know how we can best help.