Working at home has many benefits. However, there is some downsides as well. Not the usual ones might think either.
Self-care can be a challenge when your office/computer is virtually a few steps away. If you are a "workaholic", it can be even harder. Maintaining self-care functions, like showering, eating, taking a break from the computer screen, or going outside to get much needed time to refresh your mind and body is important when working at home. It is so easy to get up, brush teeth, get coffee, and sit right down to your computer to work away. The next thing you know, it is dinner time and you don't even realize it until your stomach starts growling loudly at you.
Another wonderful reason to not pass over self-care is it improves your productivity. Science shows that. When you treat yourself to regular breaks, it refreshes your mind and improves cognitive functions for all ages. Getting up from your chair and stretching out your body is shown to help reduce your overall pain that can be caused by sitting in your chair at your desk for hours and hours.
I mentioned in another post, 8 Tips for Working at Home and Distance Learning, that using the Pomodoro Technique can help with productivity and focus. This also works for the self-care aspect of taking breaks to refresh your mind and stretch out your body. Try the Pomodoro Technique and see if it you like it. Once the timer goes off, get up and move around, get a quick snack and take some deep breaths.
For me personally, I know that my day can get very crazy and pivot from peaceful to chaos on a moment's notice. Because of this fact, Pomodoro does not always work for me on a daily basis. But it does help me to focus during those stretches of time where I can actually work uninterrupted. These stretches of uninterrupted time is usually late at night. The best part, I actually get work done before I need to go to bed.
My high school aged child inspired this blog post and helped me to start, since I had writers block at the beginning. So, I would like to add her golden piece of advice to this post. It's the least I can do since she got me out of my writer's block. My daughter mentioned that sometimes it even helps her get motivated in the morning when she does little things like cleaning her face or getting dressed. (Which, by the way, is a big thing when you are a homeschooled teenager that is on month 6 of sheltering in place because of COVID19!)
As always, if you have any further questions about this or any bookkeeping subjects, please contact me at Rebecca@RHBizSolutions.com. I look forward to talking to you about your bookkeeping needs.
Here's To Your Success!
Rebecca Hurt
RH Business Solutions