Work from Home Like a Boss Even with Distractions

by / ⠀Happy Hacks / May 1, 2020

WFW with Distractions


NatureBox Wellness Challenge Rules

Share with us some of the ways you’ve been staying healthy and ‘well’ during this time. 

To enter the contest, you must post a photo that shows how you’ve been staying healthy and ‘well’ during this time. This can look like a lot of different things, from short walks outside and virtual workouts, to at-home spa days and video calls with friends and family. Show us how you are staying well!

You must tag NatureBox and using the hashtag #NatureBoxWellnessChallenge.

2 winners will receive a large box of specially curated wellness snacks, a $50 value!

Rules/Guidelines:

  1. Contest for U.S. residents only. 
  2. Must be 18 years or older to enter.
  3. Giveaway closes on May 23, 2020, at noon PST.
  4. Winners announced May 25, 2020.

Working from home with distractions

What did you picture working from home would be like? For many it looked like waking up later than usual, cooking a gourmet breakfast, and sitting down to work in a quiet house. That hasn’t been the case for most of us. What we hoped would be only a few weeks of quarantine has turned into months of isolation. And we’re having trouble keeping it together.

Working from home can be a challenge in itself. Add kids, pets, and other distractions on top of that? It’s a whole new world we’re living in. It’s no surprise that our bodies are experiencing more stress than usual. 

To find our footing among the instability of our current situation, we are discovering creative ways to bring balance back into our lives. With that in mind, here are four ways to help you navigate this “new normal” of remote working (kids, pets, and all).

Set boundaries

Your new puppy may not understand the sign on the door that says, “KEEP IT DOWN, I’M IN A MEETING!” but your “coworker(s)” sure will.

Be open about sharing your schedule for the day with your partner, family members, and little ones. Communicate if you have an essential project or call upcoming so they don’t interrupt or run the laundry while you’re working. Especially the times when you’re on a client call or doing focused work that requires minimal distractions.

Boundaries are also helpful when it comes to when and where you work while you’re at home. Back at the office, it’s easy to separate work and play. You’re working at work and you’re not when you’re home. Not anymore.

It can be difficult to shut it all off when your laptop and planner are sitting right by your bedside. Working from home feeds into the sense that there is no “downtime.” One way to combat this is to say no to your bed, your bedroom, and your cozy couch… if you want to be productive long-term, that is.

Also, avoid working in the same room you sleep, eat, or relax. Separate spaces or pick the lesser of evils if possible. These boundaries will make working from home more manageable.

Take advantage of productivity tools

And while you’re setting up boundaries, take a look at some popular productivity tools as well.

There are two things that distract us the most while working online: email and social media. Luckily, there are various chrome extensions available to help keep you focused on your work and not your notifications.

For email distractions, try Inbox When Ready for Gmail. When you get intentional with how you spend time on email, you reduce your stress and increase your focus. According to its description, “Many people can reclaim at least an hour of focused work every week that would otherwise be lost to their inbox.” Talk about taking back lost time!

To prevent the endless scroll, there’s the News Feed Eradicator for Facebook. Many of us use Facebook for work or community, so deleting the app isn’t always possible. If you want to stop disappearing into the bottomless pit that is your news feed, this is a great option.

Practice self-care

And after a full day of fielding off distractions, self-care becomes a necessity, not a luxury.

For some, self-care means meditation, breathwork, or exercise. For others, it means being intentional about the food we’re putting into our bodies. No matter what you do, self-care should be a priority while we’re all working from home.

Because sure, you could munch on salty tortilla chips until you’re puffy and inflamed. Or you could bring your body into balance with one of NatureBox’s better for you snack options. And since we’re unable to go out, NatureBox recently released its Snack from Home boxes. This encourages organizations to continue filling their office snack orders to send to their remote teams for a boost in morale and to keep everyone well.

When you have hungry “coworkers” draining the pantry and fridge, a consistent order of snacks that taste as good as you’ll feel sounds like exactly what we all need to stay happy and healthy. Taking care of your mind and body is always important, but especially pertinent right now.

Institute mandatory alone time

Whether it’s five minutes on the porch in the morning with your matcha, a mid-day yoga class, or an afternoon walk without the little ones… you need some alone time.

It may seem like a thing of the past, but it’s still necessary. Constant distractions can overwhelm us if we don’t ease the pent up stress. You deserve some peace and quiet (and will be better equipped to handle those pesky distractions when they arise). 

At a time where working from home is our “new normal,” we should take extra care to fill ourselves up first so we stay motivated, focused, and balanced. This is the sign you’ve been looking for.

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