By Ann Lloyd, Student Savings Guide
Working from home certainly has its benefits: a flexible schedule, no commute, and a daily homemade lunch. Unfortunately, it’s become increasingly apparent that working from home also can lead to stress, burnout, and living in a virtual career rut.
Whether you were already working from home or you were sent away from the office to quarantine during the pandemic, you’ve likely seen by now that a home office can present its fair share of challenges.
Luckily, with some easy changes in your daily routine, it’s possible to escape the work-from-home rut and expand your professional and personal horizons. Here’s how:
Establish a Workspace
Remote work can especially be a struggle if you weren’t prepared to move into a home office. But if you’ve been muddling along from the couch or kitchen table, now’s the time to put some thought and effort into a real workspace.
It’s important to create an inviting and productive workspace you can call your own. If possible, find a room with a door that closes to block out distractions. At the very least, avoid high-traffic areas, such as the family or dining room, so you can stay focused throughout the day.
Keep Your Home Working
If your home is in need of repairs, it can be hard to balance those maintenance needs with the demands of working remotely. Not only can repairs eat away at your limited time, but they can cost a pretty penny, too. Luckily, home warranties are available that can help take care of major repairs. Fix a leaky pipe, a faulty fridge, or an entire HVAC system with a home warranty.
Stay in Motion
Without the external stimulus of having to clean up and go into the workplace every day, you can be lulled into a state of inertia, doing only the minimum physically and mentally. It’s easy to inadvertently dig a rut even deeper by staying sedentary. Don’t let yourself fall into this trap.
During your workday, it’s important to take breaks and get moving. Setting an alarm can remind you to get up regularly, walk around the house, stretch, take some deep breaths, and refill your water glass. Moving around throughout the day keeps you looser, reduces your stress, and helps you relax.
Tackle a New Project
Doing the same thing day in and day out is boring, monotonous, and tiring. No wonder it can be so easy to slip into a career rut — and even easier when you’re stuck within the same four walls with little to break the routine.
If you’re struggling to get out of a rut, try to take on a new project at work. You’ll learn new skills, break free from your routine, and maybe even meet new people working on the same project. Plus, a new project is the perfect way to get noticed, putting you in line for a potential promotion.
Work Toward Financial Wellness
If you’re struggling to keep track of your personal finances, the stress involved can quickly interfere with the attention you need to devote to your work life. Set your mind at ease by taking steps toward a healthy financial life.
Create a budget that allocates money for necessities, but also lets you set aside some savings, if you can. Especially if your income has taken a hit, go through your expenses and see where you can trim your spending.
Also, learn what your credit score is and understand how to grow your credit over time. Having a high credit score can save you money in the long run with lower interest rates.
Upgrade Your Tech
Working with old software, outdated hardware, or slow internet service can bog you down and hinder your productivity (not to mention frustrate you like mad). If you’re working from home, it’s important to keep your tech up to date. If possible, ask your company’s IT director to check for the latest updates. This will increase your computer’s performance — and your own.
Build Your Network
Working from home can be lonely. When you don’t have a chance to interact with people, you can get stuck in the kind of closed-off mindset that exacerbates a career rut.
That’s why it’s more important than ever to grow your professional and personal networks. Make new friends, stay in contact with old friends, and lean on your co-workers when you need some social interaction. You never know how staying in contact with the right person might help propel your career in the future.
Expand Your Skills
When you repeat the same tasks every day, it’s easy to forget how to learn. Working from home, it’s important to continue to expand your skills, whether or not they apply to the workplace. Take an art class, learn to drive a stick shift, figure out how to play the guitar, pursue another language. Just change it up!
Learning new skills can help keep your mind fresh and flexible, allowing your brain to better absorb information and accept new training in the future.
Mix Up Your Routine
While routines are necessary to complete your job, they’re also the perfect way to get stuck in a groove — permanently, if you don’t watch out. Routines are functional, but they’re also a trap.
To sidestep the dreaded work-from-home rut, mix up your routine throughout the day. Complete your tasks in a different order, start the day with a different breakfast, or schedule an impromptu video chat with co-workers to give yourself a much-needed midday break.
Working home can be a wonderful opportunity for people to work independently on their own schedules. But working remotely also can present a whole slew of challenges, especially for people thrust into a remote office environment during quarantine.
It’s all too easy to slide into a rut when working from home, but by keeping your mind and body active, tackling new projects at work, and engaging with your network of co-workers, it’s possible to break free of the rut and achieve your full potential.
