How to ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶-̶l̶o̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶a̶n̶i̶c̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶a̶c̶k̶ work from home!
Mostly real advice for a strange time.
Ideally, most of you are now working from home. Maybe you are excited about this! Maybe it feels like a snow day (maybe we are on a different internet). Ah, my sweet summer children. I freelanced for 5 years and working from home sucks shit. It is absolute soul-crushing garbage. It made me just laughably depressed. All I can hope for now is that it will be novel and exciting for all of you, and then it will be over.
In the meantime, here is some paltry advice so you can be better at it than I was.
1. You are a simple animal
We are all creatures of habit. The best thing you can do for yourself is establish structure, as soon as possible. Getting dressed and commuting to an office puts you in a certain headspace — now that’s up to you. The basics:
Get up at the same time you normally would.
Indulge in other rituals or routines to give you emotional margins. Maybe you meditate, do yoga, pull tarot cards, journal, draw, make an elaborate breakfast, summon demons…the simple things.
Take yourself on a walk or a bike ride (assuming you are not under quarantine), to simulate your commute. You still need to create a little emotional airlock between “home” and “work” mode. Try and do this early in the day — I lost so many days to spiraling unproductive tunnel vision followed by finally dragging myself out of the house at 4pm only to be miraculously “cured” by realizing I was alive on earth in a physical body, a fucking unbelievable miracle!
2. A simple animal (that also has to work)
These rules may seem arbitrary but ignoring them destroyed me.
Get dressed. I recommend a “uniform” that is comfortable but not too comfortable — something that makes you feel lucky to be working from home, but structured enough that you would need to take it off if you wanted to nap.
You need to have a separate, designated space where work happens. Do not work in bed. Do not work from your couch if you can help it.
Block off time that is Work and stick to it, and be realistic. You will not work for eight hours. Experiment to see what time of day you’re most engaged and creative — I work best in the morning so I try and give myself a big block of time to channel the Muse, and save emails and administrative work for the afternoon when my energy is lower.
Block every social media outlet immediately. Switch tabs and block them. Right now.
Take regular breaks. DO NOT DO CHORES ON BREAK. If you start to do a chore, stop and start your break over from the beginning. You are not a machine.
3. This isn’t normal working from home
Give yourself space and time to appreciate that working from home, in fact, sucks so fucking hard. It completely collapses whatever space was left between your personal and professional boundaries, your identity and your work, your sense of self-worth and our wildly unrealistic expectations of productivity. It’s a swirling grey hellscape where you and your limited executive functioning are suddenly responsible for everything that working with other people automatically gives you — structure, accountability, validation.
Assuming all of this — be kind to yourself.
Develop healthy hobbies. A healthy hobby is not a side hustle. It is not something you feel obligated to do. A healthy hobby satisfies just three criteria: 1. It feels good while you are doing it. 2. It is, ideally, a little bit embarrassing (remember friendship bracelets?). 3. It is impossible to monetize. Let me repeat that: A TRUE HEALTHY HOBBY IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MONETIZE. It is for you and only you.
It’s also okay to get tired of you. Make yourself a schedule for phone calls or video chats with whoever will make you feel tethered to reality — a coworker, a mentor, a family member. Maybe a friend who moved away. Maybe someone you owe an apology to. Maybe it’s just because I’m writing this on a Sunday, but. This is a sad weird moment. It’s okay to feel sad and weird. Leave yourself the possibility that you are needing to mourn something, whether or not you can name it. Try to put that feeling into something meaningful.
Use this sad weird moment as your cover to rekindle some other kind of intimacy you wouldn’t ordinarily. Remember your community and check in. Be present with yourself and others. Remember things clearly. Write a thank you note. Be a little vulnerable now, while you can get away with it.
