When I decided to launch Seaside Styling full-time, I was thrilled about the prospect of having a home-based office. It was a dream come true!
I’ll get so much done around the house.
I can sleep in.
I can work in my pajamas!
Then, reality hit.
After a few weeks of this new self-employed freedom, I realized things weren’t going as well as I had hoped. Part of me felt like since I was home more, our house should be perfectly clean at all times: the laundry should always be put away, the dishes cleared, the floor swept, the pillows fluffed— I could spend hours of my morning just doing these things. Oftentimes by the time I got started with my work, the day was already half over. “Where did the morning go?” I would often lament.
The Daily To-Do List
An organizer’s best friend
Setting Priorities
What was going on here? Never before in my life had managing my time been a challenge, but never before had my schedule been completely up to me to decide. And it turns out, I wasn’t doing a great job. My priorities needed reshaping. I fell back on an organizer’s best friend: the daily “to-do” list.
Each morning I wrote out everything I needed or wanted to accomplish that day and then prioritized each task. Everything from emails that needed to be sent to laundry that needed swapping went on the list. (After all, being able to sneak down the hall to swap out a load of laundry is a nice benefit of working from home.)
By prioritizing each task, things like laundry and cleaning the bathtub became low priority items I could fit in here and there during breaks or even the next day if needed. My days began to feel more balanced and household chores no longer consumed my work day.
If you are managing work from home schedules and distance learning sessions, don’t forget the power of the to-do list.
Pajamas all day?
Sounds good to me!
Let’s Get Real Here
In the early days of working from home, there were quite a few evenings when I heard my husband’s car pull into the driveway and I would fly to the bathroom to change out of my pajamas and brush my hair for the first time that day. When I wasn’t in my pj’s, you could usually find me in a pair of leggings and a comfy tee. The dream, right?
Not quite. There’s a reason why “Pajama Day” is a special event during the school year. After a while, the novelty of wearing pajamas to work began to wear off. I began to feel slovenly. Unkempt. Some days I would even forget to eat because I would get so caught up in a project I was working on, which often involved hours of sitting in front of the computer screen. At the end of the day, the combination of being hangry, showerless and screen-crazy made me feel like anything but the trail-blazing entrepreneur I was aiming to be. Forget the linen closet: my self-care routines needed a makeover!
Self-Care Tips
Get dressed every day.
Build a lunch break into your schedule.
Take movement breaks.
First, I started wearing real clothes again. Having curated my closet so that I only had items that Spark Joy, it felt great to give some of my other outfits a stroll around the block, literally. In addition to adding a lunch break to my day, I scheduled an afternoon walk with the pup to get myself out of the house and off my behind. With a few simple changes, my dream of having a home-based business was beginning to look more like what I had envisioned (and less like a Saturday morning on repeat).
“Resting State”
At the end of each day, I return everything in my office back to its place so that my work space is ready to greet me the next morning.
Establishing an End-of-Day Ritual
With work & home boundaries blurred, it became necessary to establish a clear ending for my work day. As one who tends to fixate on tasks, I needed something to signal to my brain: “Okay, it’s time to put this aside now.” What works for me is to return everything in my office back to its place at the end of the day so that my work space is ready to greet me the next morning. Even if I am in the middle of a project, I gather all the papers, put them in a folder or bin and put them away for the night.
If you have a separate home office, the end of day ritual can be as simple as turning off the light or closing the door. If you work from the kitchen table these days, resetting your work area to its “resting state”, where papers and projects are tucked away to be dealt with the next day can also set a physical boundary between your work life and your home life. Taking an evening walk, turning on some music, or finally changing into those comfy clothes you love can be incorporated into your end-of-day ritual as well.
If at all possible:
Avoid setting up your work space in your bedroom where rest and relaxation occur.
Joy-Checking Your Day
My husband and I are both currently working from home and doing our best to navigate these challenging times, and in addition to the strategies above, we have incorporated one final ritual into our daily routines: to intentionally engage in at least one joyful activity every day.
Whether it is baking a special sweet treat, whipping up a fancy cocktail or scheduling a virtual dinner date with friends, now more than ever, we need to curate joyful moments into our daily lives.
If you have been living in pajamas and athleisure wear for the past month, it’s time to get dressed and face the day— you’ve got this!
Until next time,
For those of you for whom working from home is more than temporary, tune in next time for tips for creating a home office that Sparks Joy!