The COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent trend of working from home (WFH) have changed people’s lives.
While it seems that everyone now has a lot of time to do their work and accomplish more stuff during their day, there remains the difficulty in establishing a good morning routine that will guarantee productivity.
If you find yourself WFH and are having problems adjusting, you may have been asking yourself “Is it okay for me to wake up later than usual?” or “Should I still follow my old schedule when I used to go to the office?”
Well, wonder no more! Here are 10 tips on how you can vastly improve your work from home morning routine.
1) Your WFH morning routine always starts the night before
In reality, you should give yourself a good head start the night before by dealing with certain morning chores early, such as preparing breakfast and/or lunch, setting out the clothes you’ll be wearing, etc.
By eliminating these trivial tasks as early as the night before, you reduce the tiring hecticness of your morning and allow you to focus on the work for the day.
In addition, depending upon your schedule, make it a point to get a good night’s sleep of six to eight hours so that you wake up refreshed and invigorated the next day.
2) Wake up at the same time that you usually do
If you used to work in an office, it is important to maintain your discipline of getting up at your usual wake up time. If you are placed on a flexible schedule, determine what is the best time for you to get up from bed and stick with it.
Do not hit the snooze button of your alarm clock. You may seem like you’re getting more sleep, but in reality, you are confusing your brain and putting your body’s internal clock out of sync.
3) Hydrate yourself
Nothing can be more refreshing after a long night’s sleep than a glass of water. Make sure that you keep a full glass beside your bed for when you wake up. Or if you want your water cold, you can put it in a vacuum flask or tumbler to keep it cool all night.
As an added pick me up, you may consider adding an apple slice or two. Not only will it give you that initial burst of energy, an apple slice also helps to get rid of morning breath.
4) Don’t go online
It has become instinctive for a lot of people to check their phones before they even get out of bed. However, you should avoid checking your phone for work emails, texts, or even updating yourself on the latest happenings in social media.
Your morning routine should focus on YOU and allow you to jumpstart your day on a positive note. Always keep in mind that you’ll have more than enough time to read those texts and emails and scan your social media during your actual work time.
5) Exercise
Nothing can get your adrenaline pumping for your work day than exercise. Even if you don’t have gym membership, you can enjoy a brisk walk or run through the neighborhood.
You can also partner your yoga with a meditation session. You can also follow along to online workouts.
6) Take a shower and get dressed
The acts of taking a shower and getting dressed prime your mind to the thought that you will be working during your day. If you are not yet fully awake and have decided not to exercise, a nice shower can wash away the sleep cobwebs and jolt you to wakefulness.
Never, ever consider working in your pajamas. If you are serious about working, you shouldn’t choose clothes that are too comfortable.
Even if you’re not wearing your office uniform, choose a casual chic attire, like a nice blouse and a pair of slacks. For video conferences, you can also add a blazer or jacket to complete the ensemble.
7) Have a healthy breakfast
WFH is a great time for you to switch to eating healthy. As we mentioned in Tip No.1, you can prepare your breakfast the night before. Eat carbs and proteins to keep you energized. Keep hydrated with water, fruit juice, or a cup of coffee or chocolate.
8) Do your morning chores
One good thing about WFH is that you don’t need to endure that long commute to work and thinking about the household chores that you have to do when you get home or over the weekend. The one to two hours you spent on that commute can now be allotted to doing the chores.
Not only can it help to boost your productivity, you also free yourself of these trivial responsibilities so that you can solely focus on your work without any distractions. You can also make tedious chores bearable by listening along to your favorite music or podcast.
9) Always start work at the same time
It is important that you maintain a consistent work schedule while WFH in order to firmly set your day’s routine. This means, you need to start work at the same time each day.
Even if you are on a flexible schedule, you should always start work on the time you have set. Do not give in to the temptation of starting at a later time.
10) Always set your day’s goals at the start of your working day
As soon as you are seated at your desk, list down the goals that you need to accomplish during your working day. Jot down all the assignments that you have on your plate and prioritize which specific tasks need to be accomplished first. Tick each task off as you finish them.
This will prevent you from missing any important tasks. Just seeing the tasks you have finished ticked off on your checklist can help fill you with positive feelings of accomplishment which you can carry over for the next day.
Prime your working day for success by having a great WFH morning routine. Just follow our tips above and you are sure to have a much improved morning routine for your work day.
If you’re looking for other resources on working from home, be sure to check out our Complete Guide To Working From Home to get you started!
