Tag: planning

Categories
Featured My Advice

Me time while working from home

Cold autumn or winter weekend while reading a book and drinking warm cocoa with marshmellows. Lazy day with cat on the sofa. Cosy scene, hygge concept.
Cold autumn or winter weekend while reading a book and drinking warm cocoa with marshmellows. Lazy day with cat on the sofa. Cosy scene, hygge concept.

When I started this blog, many of my friends suggested I write about me time. About how I manage to balance my professional and my personal time. And particularly how I manage to have time for myself while making sure that my family and my household are getting the attention they all need. After all, it is not easy when you are a business woman, a wife, a mom and more recently a blogger, who also works from home. I did mention in a previous post (The truth about working from home) that working from home can easily swallow all of your time if you are not careful.

So I decided to write about this not because I have THE ANSWER. I really don’t. I struggle just as much as anybody else. But throughout these last 6 years that I’ve spent working from home I might have learned a lesson or two and I would love to share those with you. Maybe you find some inspiration too. But before you read any further, you might want to grab a snack or a drink because this is a long one šŸ™‚

Prioritizing time for yourself does not make you selfish

In fact it is the opposite of superficial or selfish. This might seem counter-intuitive to some. I used to fall into the trap of believing this as well. But I learned early enough that if I don’t look after myself I cannot expect anybody else to. And if I am not happy and fulfilled, I cannot share happiness and joy with my family and friends. Or I cannot focus at work and do my job as best as I can. So I learned to prioritize time, and I try to do that every day, for myself. To do what gives me joy, what makes me happy, what gives me energy.

Now, I am an introvert. I’ve always been. I take my energy from being alone, by myself and with my thoughts. I get energy from meditating and reading more than I do from interacting with others. But if you do, that is great too. It is just important to have an honest conversation with ourselves and figure out what it is we truly enjoy. What is it that truly gives us energy. And do some or more of that.

So I make it a point every day to save even if only 30 minutes for myself. To do what I enjoy. And I encourage you to do the same. Trust me, anyone who loves you will understand that and will not feel deprioritized or left aside. On the contrary, they will appreciate the fact that when you are together you really spend quality time, that you are present and happy instead of complaining or being unhappy.

And this brings me to the next lesson I’ve learned.

How to find the time?

Many times even if we understand that we need to look after ourselves, we fall into another trap, an even larger one. The trap of time. Our society has conditioned us to believe we don’t have time. Even worse, it has conditioned us to believe that being busy is good. That it makes us important and it gives us status.

Time has become the most precious and sought after commodity of our generation.

But at the end of the day, time is just an illusion. And whether we think we have time or we think we don’t, we are right.

–

The lesson I’ve learned over the years is that it is all about intention. And transforming that intention into action through planning and prioritization.

Planning is transforming intention into action

I was always a structured and organized person, I’ll admit that. But over these past years I believe I’ve taken planning to a whole new level. I always used to-do lists and calendars, but everything changed when I started using a planner. The planner helps set an intention and work to make it happen. It help you prioritize and choose what’s really important to you.

At first I used a planner I bought online but then soon after I realized I needed much more than it offered me. So I created my own. I built my own weekly planner that helps me FIND TIME. It helps me prioritize, stay motivated and look after myself. I call it my Mindful Planner. In a nutshell, it helps me stay sane and productive, while inspiring me every day. If you guys are interested in more details about my Mindful Planner I am happy to write a post dedicated to it and how I use it. Just let me know šŸ™‚

Another change I made that literally changed my life is waking up earlier. After reading Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning (https://www.miraclemorning.com/) I started waking up at 6am. And this gives me 1 full hour in the morning, before anybody else is up, just for myself. I will soon write a post to share more about my miracle morning.

The last learning I want to share with you is about

What do I do with the time I make for myself

First of all, as I said, I try to book more slots of time for myself during the day. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. And that’s ok. But even if it was a crazy busy day at work, or a day when my son was sick and had to stay at home and I had no time for anything else, I do try to set aside at least 15-20 min at the end of the day for myself. And then, I either have a cup of tea and read, or I meditate, or I watch a quick YouTube video – depending on what I feel would bring me more joy.

Other times, when I do a better job staying on top of things at work and when it comes to my household, then I take more time for myself. I really enjoy cooking or baking. So even though most week days I look for the quick and easy meals, once in a while I will take my time in the kitchen. This relaxes me and it also brings joy to my son and my husband who are big lovers of good food ;). Also, I enjoy a lot going to hot yoga. So when I have more time, I sign up for a 90 min hot yoga class close to my house. This helps center myself spiritually, mentally and physically.

Make appointments

Last but not least, I do plan time for myself to go to the nails or the hair salon. Even though one might think it’s not necessary since I work from home. But this makes me feel good. It gives me joy and makes me feel stronger and more secure in my own body. It also is a great way to make sure I do take time for myself even during crazy busy times. Because I have an appointment and someone is waiting for me.

I truly hope that these 3 lessons I’ve learned over the years about finding and planning for me time have inspired you too. And that you will look to find more time during the day for the activities that make you happy. And trust me, it doesn’t need to be 90min. It can be just about going out and getting a cup of your favorite coffee. Or going for a quick run. On even sitting on the couch and relaxing for 5 minutes. As long as you are present and enjoying that moment to its fullest.

As the end of the day, it’s all about those little moments that make us happy.

Until next time,

Laura

Categories
Featured My Advice

How I stay organized working from home – work edition

organized woman working from home with laptop
laptop working from home organization tips

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has visited my blog and also liked my Facebook page. Although this is a new thing for me, and I am learning so much, the feedback was overwhelming. And I am so grateful for the positive response.

Now, the topic for today – organization. This is probably one that comes the easiest for me to talk about :D. And if you know me a little bit you know why I’m saying this. And if you don’t, well, fun fact about me, a while ago my close friend Steph was telling people I am sometimes more “German” than her :).

Anyway…so, I thought I would cover today the tips and tricks I use to stay organized at work. Just to keep it short and readable. And will have another post later on regarding the tools I use for personal organization purposes.

PLANNINGĀ –Ā takeĀ timeĀ toĀ saveĀ time

As mentioned in one of my previous posts regarding My top 3 tips about working from home, planning is one of my secret weapons. And here I do 2 things.

  1. I take Sunday evening 1 hour to plan my upcoming week. First I work in large chunks. I figure out when I need to block time in my calendar for personal errands and what time slots are non-negotiables from a work priority perspective. I also look for intervals I can block for email, focus time and other key tasks. Then I check which meetings I still need to schedule, which I need to move and so on. While I am getting into Personal Assistants like Cortana and I am training my Assistant Bot to help with my calendar, I don’t feel comfortable yet delegating this.
  2. Every morning, I take 15min to plan my day. I review key meetings I need to participate in and I decide on the key tasks I aim to complete for the day. This gives me a good indication of achievement and effectiveness at the end of the day. For this I use a good old to-do list. And that is simply because I love the feeling of crossing items off the list. I tried OneNote to-do lists (here is a video tutorial in case you want to try it out), I tried Digital sticky notes, yet nothing is as satisfying as my hand written to-do list. Even if the millenials in my team keep telling me I am old fashioned šŸ˜€

CALENDARĀ –Ā giveĀ yourĀ calendarĀ theĀ powerĀ toĀ tellĀ youĀ whatĀ toĀ do

I’d be dead without my Outlook calendar. I use it religiously for both work and personal reasons. And I have everything in it – work related meetings, tasks I need to focus on, personal approintments for me and my family – EVERYTHING. And I feel my brain does not need to spend any more effort and energy remembering what I need to do. I just do what it tells me to do. Basically Outlook is more my boss than my actual manager :D. If you are not using a digital calendar, I encourage you to. It is lifechanging, trust me. And of course, you don’t need to use Outlook, it is just my choice because it is straightforward and integrated with my email.

Moreover, it is available on all my devices. And trust me, that makes a huge difference. Because slowly but surely, my phone is becoming my main device for work as well. And having my calendar at hand on the go allows me to stay organized and manage my time all in one place.

INTENTION AND DISCIPLINEĀ –Ā it’sĀ hardĀ butĀ I cannotĀ recommendĀ itĀ enough

“We don’t have to be smarter than the rest, we have to be more disciplined than the rest.” – Warren Buffett

This last one is in fact a segway from the previous one. And that is the fact that I start my days with a clear intention to be productive, to start on time and end on time. Not only the day as a whole, but also each time block I have in my calendar for the day. And I know, this takes a lot of discipline and for many it requires effort at least at the beginning – like any other habit you want to develop. But trust me, once you do it, it works like magic. You will start being more productive and many times finishing earlier than planned. Which is a nice treat both for you and your work colleagues. Everybody appreciates time back.

I hope you found some inspiration here. I’d love to hear your feedback if you try any of these.

Until next time,

Laura

Categories
Featured My Advice Stories

The 5 biggest challenges while working from home and how to overcome them

Working from home is a lifestyle that many believe they’d enjoy as they choose to think only of the benefits: flexibility, comfort, no commuting time. But once they get the opportunity to try remote working, many find it challenging. So today I will cover some of the biggest challenges I have encountered while working from home and what I’ve done to overcome these.

1. LONELINESS

I wanted to start with this one as it seems to be, at least in my experience so far, THE biggest, yet somehow unexpected, challenge many encounter. Although obvious that one is moving from working in an office surrounded by co-workers, to being alone in their home office, this is one aspect that many seem to be blindsided by. Or at least its impact is somewhat underestimated by many. And, regardless whether you are on introvert or an extravert, you will find this to be a challenge as well at some point in time.

In my case, I am quite comfortable being alone as I find it easier to focus and that helps me be more effective. Nonetheless, I do feel lonely at times. And so, recently I have made a few changes to my working routine that seem to be really helping:

  • I work every Friday from a different cafe. Sometimes I choose the same one if I lack inspiration šŸ˜‰ What this does, is it allows me to be surrounded by and interract with others, I meet new people and it also forces me to get ready and presentable šŸ™‚
  • I do all my conference calls on Teams with the video on. Again, this not only allows me to see my team and my co-workers and makes the interraction more personal, but it also requires some getting ready and puts me in a proper “working mode”.
  • Thirdly, and this is something I have not tried yet but I am planning to try it out really soon, you could use a co-working space. Nowadays there are more and more of these spaces made available to remore workers and digital nomads. Selina is the one I’ve heard most about, but here in Zurich we have one dedicated to women called Birdhaus which offers a great environment for women of all backgrounds to meet.

2. WORK LIFE BALANCE

As mentioned in my previous blog about My Top 3 Tips about working from home balance is key if you want to myke this lifestyle an enjoyable experience. Taking care of yourself, and consciously deciding ony our start and end working times is crucial. This allows you to spend more quality time with your friends and family, as well as to take time for yourself.

A few other things that work for me:I set up reminders to take breaks, in my Outlook calendar.f

All of my team members and co-workers know I stop work officially at 5:30pm so I don’t take any calls or join any meetings after this time. I have blocked my time in my calendar too so people cannot cheat ;). If you don’t believe you are disciplined enough, I suggest you schedule activities or personal appointments around the time you want to stop working, so you don’t get to cheat either. It’s all about seld-discipline and intention.

3. DISTRACTIONS

This is such an obvious yet annoying one. And it’s not just the distractions around you: your phone, the TV – in case you still watch it, the pot on the stove, the washing machine having finished the load, the door bell, but it’s the work distractions too. Since you are not there in person, many tend to assume you are always available and thus feel fine calling or “pinging” you any time. I will come back to remote working etiquette in another post soon as it is a topic that I find fascinating and think more people should understand these things šŸ˜€

4. PERSONAL WELLNESS

Don’t forget to eat and drink enough water. Coffee does not give you more than a short energy boost. And trust me, I am guilty of living on caffeine till late hours in the afternoon when I realize I need to eat otherwise I cannot keep focusing. So I am not one to follow here, but nourishing your body is just as, if not more, important while working from home as it is when you are in an office. And this is because when working from home you have no one else to remind you it’s lunchtime than your own body – so don’t ignore it to finish “just this one more task”.

5. COMMUNICATION

Last, but not least, another aspect that many find challenging when working from home is communication. Ability to bring clarity in your communication and ask quoestions when needed is crucial to being successful here. Otherwise, either you or your co-workers will need to redo a lot of work – and trust me, I’ve been there ;).


“When the bulk of your communication happens via email and the like, it doesn’t take much for bad blood to develop unless everyone is making their best effort to the contrary. Small misunderstandings that could have been nipped in the bud with the wink of an eye or a certain tone of voice can quickly snowball into drama.” –
Basecamp founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier

Again, I’ll come back to this topic in a separate post as, over the years I’ve learned a few skills that come in handy here.

All in all, remote working is not easy and it is certainly not for everyone. But as long as you understand the pros and the cons, and the positives compensate for the compromises, then I suggest you give it a try. You might enjoy it afterall.

Until next time,

Laura