With most of us spending much more time at home and school kids
among them, I thought I would do a post with suggestions on how to make your
time at home "better" - or at least more livable and maybe more
productive. I cannot take credit for the origination of any of these ideas, but
I think I might present them in a different format and context.
People need and crave order and schedules, at least to a point. I
know we all crave and enjoy a day or so where we can just crash and not worry
about the clock or things we have to do. Unfortunately, we all DO have thing we
have to do - even when home. We also have to maintain our sanity and our peace
of mind.
So, if you are home from work and "working from home",
set up a schedule. It is important that you get up at a reasonable time and go
through a "normal" routine of preparing for the workday (or school
day - but I will get more specific on that aspect in a bit). Now, if you have
to get up at 5 am to be ready to catch the train or bus or have a long commute,
I am not saying you still should get up a 5 am. But you should not allow
yourself to sleep until noon, or even well past your normal start time. If you
normally start work at 9, get up and get moving to start your work around that
same time. One suggestion here - I mentioned that people crave order. One thing
you can do to help here is: make your bed. I mean make your bed, not just pull
the covers up. It does not have to be in military order or have hospital
corners, but it should be actually made up. This is very important if you
normally do this but can be helpful even if you normally don’t. It is proven
that a small act like this can give you a sense of control and order. When you
walk back into the bedroom later and see the made bed it will offer some
psychological satisfaction. Trust me, try it. (as an aside, I make my bed every
workday morning before I leave the house. I do not always do it on weekends and
days off, but every workday.) It is a small task, relatively easily
accomplished, that can give you this boost of order and control.
Try to keep your morning routine, well – routine. If you normally
make coffee – make coffee. If you do your morning bathroom and grooming – do
so. Follow as close to your normal routine as you can. Again, if you grab toast
as you are running out the door willy-nilly to catch a train each morning, you
can slow down a bit; just do not stay in your PJs (or whatever) and go directly
to the couch and turn on the TV or computer. (unless this is what you normally
do – then I would work on your life goals). You should do this on your
workdays, just like you were going into work.
There is another benefit to this. When we work from home obviously
there is much less separation between home life and work life. If you have a
large enough space to make a true home office, you are ahead of the game. Do
so. Set up a home office and use it for work – only work. (fyi, paying bills
and doing serious financial “stuff” if only for you, is still “work” as opposed
to “play”) You should go to this work area/office and work. Again, it does not
mean if you are home with family and children that you cannot answer a
question, give a hug, or otherwise interact, but you should treat your work
time seriously as work time. If there is no work to be done, go play. Some time
each workday should be spent in this work environment and mindset.
Now, to the separation while at home. I just said to go to your
workspace and work. By the same token, when not working – don’t work. That
doesn’t mean you cannot check an email or even take a call. Try to keep your
activities as much like a
workday as you can. Treat your emails and calls as you would
during your down time of a normal workday. This preparation, mindset, and
separation is what will help you get more done and still have a healthy work –
home balance.
Now to the kids and school. Most schools in the country are closed
now with no immediate plans for opening. A lot of school districts are already
doing distance learning using online tools and connections. If this is the case
for your child, make sure they are taking part as scheduled and doing all the
work. Most of what I said above is the same for school. Just substitute
“school” or “school day” for “work” or “workday”. A schedule is very important for
your children, even teens. The ease of just letting them sleep and staying out
of your hair is very enticing I know. But they need order and scheduling as
well. Most teenagers I know will almost immediately go to a sleep until noon
and stay up until the wee hours of the morning, if allowed. As a parent it is
your responsibility to keep them on a schedule as well. They too should get up
at a reasonable hour, do normal hygiene routines, follow meal schedules. It may
not need to be totally rigid, but it cannot be total anarchy either if you
expect them to get things done and to reintegrate back into the “real world”
once this is over. If your school system is not doing a formal distance
learning thing, you need to step in. There are many online learning sites, some
that are totally free. They cover most of the subjects that a student would be
taking. One I like in particular is Kahn Academy. It seems to be very thorough
and is totally free. There are others as well as sites with curriculums and
syllabuses (or syllabi if you are so inclined). Require your child to do a
certain amount of reading and writing. They too should have an area where they
do schoolwork. A high school student is going to want to go to their room or a
more private setting and that is your call. Just make sure that when schoolwork
needs to be done, they are doing it. Speaking of that, this remote schooling is
going to require you to be involved in your child’s work. Hopefully you were
already. But if not, this is a great opportunity for you to become involved.
Check their work. Make sure they are completing any assignments whether given
by the school system or by your agreement. The time schedule that I outlined
for adults above should be enforced as much as possible for your children as well.
In this modern electronically connected world, it is going it be
very tempting for all (but especially children) to just go online, stream a
movie/show, or immerse in video games when not specifically doing work or
schoolwork. This too is not good. There is nothing in even the strictest of
social distancing rules that says you cannot go outside. Be aware of others and
your distancing requirements but be outside. Take a walk, ride a bike, whatever
you like to do. Fresh air and interaction with the real world is important,
especially to children. (fyi, teenagers are children too – even though they
would disagree!)
Do your best to follow a normal meal schedule. Everyone grabbing a
Hot Pocket or Pop Tart at various times is not a good way to stay grounded or
healthy. Actual meals (and they do not have to be fancy or elaborate) are
another way to keep things stable and in control. If you do not normally eat as
a family this could be a good way to start. Try to get at least one together
meal every day. Also, make sure that other nutritious meals are eaten by all at
other times if you do not do anything together. The challenge to keep everyone
from just snacking all day on whatever they can grab will be large, but it is
important for many reasons.
Now during school days and workdays is when this schedule should
be heeded as tightly as possible. On weekends/days off you can relax things to
whatever level you are comfortable with. I will tell you that studies have
shown the people that sleep 10 or 12 hours on weekends when they get 6 or so on
weekdays, are not as healthy or rested. A schedule can be important for all
days. I do want to make the point that you do need a separation between
work/school days and days off. Make a schedule but make it different. People
can sleep in, maybe skip a meal, play more games, watch more TV, etc. Just do
not keep working or “schooling”. Separation is important for mental health.
A one sentence recap of the above: Set up as normal a schedule as
possible and have everyone follow it as much as possible on workdays/school
days.
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