Two things have inspired me to adjust my work from home lifestyle.
First, my new puppy, Eva, has taken a liking to our old above-ground pool. After we go for our morning, afternoon, and evening walks, we come home and she goes straight for that pool. It’s soft-sided, so she uses momentum to run right up the side and then jump in. She swims around but mostly lounges on some noodle-net floats that we keep in there for her.
Second, a BBC article was posted by a colleague about his dream work from home situation, if only his wife didn’t have to go into the office. The dream situation was them moving to Bermuda! The article announced that Bermuda was allowing non-residents to pay for a work visa to stay on the Island for a year. They have extremely good wifi and beautiful weather! Who wouldn’t want that to be their work from home lifestyle!
Before, when Eva went swimming, I usually sat on my patio feeling extremely jealous. Anyone who has known me for long, they know that I’m part fish. Every birthday party I’ve ever had included a water feature. And I only usually get to use my pool once or twice a weekend during the summer. I’m so busy working on Data Wonderment then, that I usually try to cram the work in first, and then play after… and, of course, in the Florida summer months, that means it’s raining in the afternoon and then I can’t go in the pool!
Now, I’m sitting here in my office wondering how many bathing suits I should buy to have one on hand so I can join Eva every time. Why am I not taking advantage of the fact that I have a beautiful backyard, patio, and a fun pool buddy! Of course, we’d only go swimming five minutes here and five minutes there, but that adds up to me being one happy fish!
I can’t believe it took me this entire time (I’ve been working from home since March) to figure this out. I don’t want it to take any longer for you, either!
What’s your Bermuda? It may not be a pool. You may live in a small apartment and the complex’s pool is closed for a bit. But what can you incorporate into the day that gives you a quick respite and provide a perk of actually working from home? A quiet soak in the tub for 15 minutes? Reading a quick chapter of a book on your porch? Having a puzzle on your dining room table and taking little moments to find a couple of pieces’ homes?
Find your Bermuda. Embrace your Bermuda. Heck, if you can, GO TO BERMUDA! But know that the concept of work is changing, and for the better. If you can work from home, enjoy it.
And if you still have to go to the office, or your work is something that means you have to be onsite, (first, THANK YOU – it’s a really hard decision and if you’re doing it, stay strong – you are awesome) how can you add more things to your work that give you a “reset” moment? I used to do a five-minute meditation as soon as I got to work, right after lunch, and right before I drove home. It was a good moment to just stop and refocus. I also had fun pictures on my cube wall of family and vacations so I could look at them and smile. Perhaps you can listen to music while you work? What’s your favorite vacation spot and what kind of music do they play? Listen to that!
And then, when you are home, make it the best place for you it can be. Your home should be the one place that you have defined how it should suit you rather than it defining how you suit it. Try the Marie Kondo method, Minimalism, or the Happiness Project. Get your home set up so it’s a place when you’re there, you can go “aaaaaaaaaaaaah.”
Find your Bermuda!
Patti is still learning 