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While it was already everyday life for some people, many people had to adapt to working from home, especially at the beginning of Corona. Some did this more easily than others, but less peer feedback, little encouragement, and fewer interpersonal interactions increase unproductivity, risk of burnout, and risk of developing depression. 

You miss what used to be a part of your everyday life – chatting over coffee during the lunch break, casual morning greetings, and looking forward to the end of the day together. Remote working has many advantages - getting ready takes less time, saves time on the commute to work, and in general gives you more freedom and flexibility. However, the average working day loses some of its structure as a result. You see everything as more relaxed, and sometimes no longer perceive work as “work” anymore. After all, you are at home. Children who are temporarily in quarantine or homeschooling interrupt you at the most inopportune moments, the cat has knocked something over again or the dog is barking at a bird outside the window again. You're not at work, so you can look at your cell phone - whoops, that were already 10 minutes spent on social media. For most people, the home office does not consist of a real, quiet office, but the desk in the living room or bedroom. Distractions are inevitable. Whether through housework, children and animals, or your own smartphone.

Overall, working from home sounds very tempting, but when done wrong, unproductivity skyrockets and work output drops accordingly. You can now find out how to counteract this.

Create a working atmosphere

Make your temporary study free of distractions, at least as much as possible. If you have a free room – then set up a small workspace there. Put your cell phone away, other distractions such as the TV, tablet, or private games are also out of sight. Clear your desk as much as possible, and if you use the same laptop for both personal and work needs, set up another profile just for work. This also divides the storage, and you won't be distracted by your own files as often. The same goes for the browser – you can create different profiles there. With different bookmarks and password memories, as well as different designs. It is important to separate your everyday life from your working life in order to avoid those two merging together.

Get into a routine

You have to start work at 7 am, so getting up at 6:55 am and going straight to the computer is enough, right? No! Of course, it is comfortable to start the working day right away, to sleep as long as possible, and not have to get ready. However, that is exactly what promotes unproductive behavior. You stay sleepy and have no real structure, and the best way to counteract this behavior is to get into a routine. Even if you want to sleep as much as possible – turn those 5 minutes into half an hour. Then you have time for a shower, drink some hot coffee or tea, eat breakfast, and get dressed. This will bring routine into your everyday life and give you the energy you need to get through your working day. Losing structure is one of the largest problems while working remotely, as, over time, it will create many disadvantages. 

To-do lists are your best friends

Well, do lists sound tiresome and like a waste of time? They're not, because ultimately they save you time! Many note-taking apps, websites, and programs offer wonderful to-do lists. Divide your tasks, ideas, and projects into different categories, and to provide a smooth transition from project to project, all it takes is a glance at the list! No more long thinking about what is best to work on now. With a to-do list, you have all possible tasks at a glance and can structure your work hours perfectly in order to waste as little time as possible. It's even easier if you can send the list to colleagues - then it's easier to share everything with each other and see each other's progress. All in all: a must-have for orderly day-to-day work.

Colleagues are important!

Sounds obvious, and it is! In many home office situations, meetings are held, files are sent back and forth, and emails are exchanged. In the team chat, “Good morning, I will work on XY today. If you have any ideas or suggestions, let me know!” is a start. Wishing someone a nice day at the end of an e-mail or working together in meetings fulfills the social need – and keeps the spirits high! If you're not on particularly good terms with your co-workers, it can help to talk to other people or try to build that connection. If you tend to work alone, talk to your roommates, friends, or acquaintances. Talking about the working day, for example at the end of the day, helps to set a boundary between work and free time, and to close it off better. You often take the stress from work with you when you leave work, and bad moods and stress can be avoided. This works even better with our emotional training and the seminars included in the app. Understanding stress is the best way to combat it effectively.

Give yourself breaks!

Many forget about it in everyday home office life, but lunch breaks are very crucial! Attention and concentration spans drop after a while, and it's important to take breaks to keep up the pace. You can go to the restroom, make yourself a snack or take the dog outside for a moment – ​​clearing your head is a significant step of the day, because no one can work at peak performance without taking breaks. But it is important to have a plan for the breaks as well. How often and how long do you want to take breaks? Try to divide your time sensibly and fairly without using your cell phone as a distraction out of habit. For example, write down exactly when you take breaks and how long they should be. When you take breaks, set the clock or a timer on your phone. This not only ensures productive working hours, but also productive breaks. 

Get enough sleep

Think about it - how is your body supposed to be productive if it lacks the energy for it? Above all, it is important not only to sleep a lot - but also to sleep well! If your sleep is restless, you wake up often or it takes you forever to fall asleep, it is time to change something. The best way to do this is with our sleep harmonies! You will be guided through wonderful dream journeys by our speakers, and combined with the specially composed film music, you will fall asleep better in the long term, sleep better and recover all the more. It can also help to go to the toilet before bed and then put water on your bed. But only enough so that you don't have to go to the toilet at night - otherwise your recovery will be interrupted again and again.

Dinner - or rather a late-night snack?

Well, do you get hungry just before you go to bed, and are you already thinking about what else you could eat? Have a drink instead or just eat a little! Eating late at night keeps your body particularly busy, and you use your energy to digest rather than resting - and you are even more tired in the morning. In general, there should be much more focus on a good breakfast than on a good dinner. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day for a reason! If you can't get rid of the food cravings, brush your teeth and drink a glass of still water, that alone should help. If you think that cravings occure at the same time very often, then it could already be a habit problem - meaning a deep-rooted cause. Fortunately, we have a solution for that too: Our Harmonies help you to replace bad habits with new, good ones. This would, for example, replace a late appetite with a cup of tea, a glass of water, or washing your face. 

Fight negative thinking!

You haven't heard from the boss in a long time, and a voice in your head tells you: “You will definitely be fired soon!”? Then it is important to find out where these thoughts come from. Maybe you haven't gotten much feedback lately, or maybe you made a silly mistake that shouldn't have happened. The best way to counteract this is by repeating our affirmations (we also have thoroughly explained instructions for this in our seminars, for best success) and speaking to yourself. Make a concrete plan to tackle what's worrying you and find the real cause. Because behind negative thoughts often hide something completely different!

In his WorkLife podcast, author and professor Adam Grant talks about seeing yourself as a person with multiple identities. Perhaps a colleague was recently pleased that you completed your work particularly quickly. Well, then think this: “XY thinks I'm a hardworking and fast worker!” Another colleague may have been particularly pleased about your reliability. And now for the exercise on this topic:

Consider which people in your life value you and what they value you for. For example, a friend of yours appreciates you for your honesty and someone else for your creative way of thinking. From this, you then form sentences like: “Maria thinks that I have a talent for creating clear and beautiful flyers.” You then say these sentences several times – until you have internalized them. Many people are currently missing the feedback from their colleagues and superiors, and such “little things” are completely overseen. Give it a try!

Besides, what goes around, comes around. You can start by leaving nice messages and compliments to your co-workers because it's often easier to return a compliment than to randomly throw one into the usual work exchange. On the other hand, you can simply ask your superiors for feedback. Also from the superiors' point of view: give your colleagues feedback from time to time or motivate them by praising their work so far. That boosts morale a lot!

Off to the fresh start!

Sometimes it just helps to reset yourself for a moment. If you have the feeling that you can't get away from everyday work, then go out to the fresh air, go for a relaxed walk, in an area that is as quiet as possible. If you still can't get rid of the feeling of stress, then our emotional training can most likely help you. Your body constantly releases stress hormones, as if it were on the run or even involved in a fight. This, in turn, puts your mind under constant stress, and the vicious cycle starts all over again. Relaxation and rest work wonders - and your body deserves it, just like your mind. 

Grab the bull by the horns

Have you tried everything but nothing seems to work? Then don't worry, you're not alone. The most effective way to change feelings or motivate yourself is to change your perspective. You can't be happy and motivated if your head keeps telling you that you can't do it anyway. You have to fight the inner deamon that always holds you back. And that requires emotions. This works wonderfully with our emotional training, in which you learn to understand your feelings and change your state of mind accordingly. Negative experiences and habits are transformed into new and positive behaviors. If you tend to live within yourself and are quickly unsettled, our affirmations will be of particular help. With them, you increase your self-confidence and learn to give yourself encouragement. With our seminars, on the other hand, you will learn to better understand the work that your brain does for you in the background and use this knowledge to simplify your journey. Our harmonies ensure a good start to the day, a nice trip to dreamland, or are combating negative feelings - whichever one you need them in the moment. All elements of the app can be used according to individual needs because most of the change starts within you. The workout, the music, the affirmations. Everything awakens feelings in you and depending on what your construction site is, you can change the program. For example in the addiction programs - you learn how addictions work and how they affect you and your body. Plus how to fight addiction and how it all works behind the scenes. No matter what your addiction, you can apply the program to any situation you can think of, and the same goes for the other sections of the app. You learn to deal with the situation yourself and fight the root instead of just fighting the symptoms.

If you are interested - try it out!

An article by

lumeus

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