If you are not used to working full-time from home, the home office can be a bit overwhelming at first. After all, the boundaries between private and professional life are fluid, the pajamas don't want to be taken off and there are no real breaks. It is, therefore, all the more important to establish a daily home office routine - and stick to it. This is the only way to be productive without overworking. In addition, a structured daily routine helps to clear your head in the evening and really leave work behind - at least until the next morning.
The ideal routine when working in the home office
The following daily home office routine is of course only a suggestion and assumes a typical 9-hour job with a start of work at 9 a.m. and an hour's lunch break. Whether you prefer to do sports in the morning or in the evening, cook yourself or order from the delivery service is of course up to you.
7.30 a.m .: Get up and get ready
Even if you don't have your first meeting at 9 a.m., you should definitely set an alarm clock and wake up at the same time every day, as this ensures a structured start to the day. Immediately after getting up, you go to the bathroom - because yes, brushing your teeth and showering is an absolute must in the home office. But you should also think about your home office outfit: The look should be comfortable, but still professional so that spontaneous video conferences are not a reason to panic.
8.15 a.m .: Breakfast
To start the working day full of energy - and without a growling stomach - a delicious breakfast should not be missing. Whether avocado bread, muesli, or smoothie bowl does not matter - the main thing is that you consciously take your time for breakfast and enjoy it stress-free (checking emails is a no-go!). Extra tip: look for a place to eat by the window.
8.45 a.m.: Write a to-do list
What are the meetings today? Which to-dos have to be done? What has absolute priority? Before the daily work madness starts, it is best to get a little overview and write a to-do list with all the important tasks. At this point in time, you should ideally already be sitting in your office or at your desk in order to get into the workflow.
9 a.m .: Work, work, work
Then work can really start - checking and answering emails, building presentations, thinking about concepts, creating reports, making phone calls with customers and/or colleagues, taking part in virtual meetings, etc. The most important thing is that you - especially at to Start the working day - don't let yourself be constantly distracted by WhatsApp, Instagram & Co. Therefore, put your (private) smartphone away and concentrate on your work. But: Deliberately taking a short break - around 11 a.m. to get a cup of tea or coffee.
12.30 p.m .: lunch break
Devouring toast on your laptop within five minutes, writing emails on the side, and then continuing to work? Please do not! Especially in the home office - when you spend a lot of time alone anyway and it is difficult to separate free time from work - it is important to really use your lunch break. Incidentally, that doesn't mean that it always has to look the same: one day there is pasta, the next salad, today you sit at the kitchen table, tomorrow on the balcony and the day after tomorrow you take a walk to your favorite restaurant and get a lunch to go.
1.30 p.m.: Back to the desk
After lunch, you can go back to work for the rest of the day. The same applies in the afternoon: Anyone who has a low after a few hours and needs a little energy - for example in the form of coffee, chocolate, or simply fresh air - can and should treat themselves to a short break. In order to stay in the workflow, however, such a break should not last longer than five to ten minutes.
6 p.m .: end the working day
Unless there is an urgent project pending and you are in your "normal" day-to-day work, you should say goodbye to your colleagues punctually at 6 p.m. - a short message on Slack or Hangouts is sufficient -, close the laptop and, if necessary, push notifications, who have to do with work turn off the phone.
6.15 p.m.: Do sports
If you haven't been out in the fresh air during your lunch break, you should definitely do this in the evening. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends physical activity for 30 minutes at least five times a week. So how about an after-work stretching and jogging session outdoors - provided the weather is halfway along? Of course, there are also tons of home workouts that you can easily do in your own four walls and for which you only need a mat and nothing else. Anyone who saves commuting to work every day and, in addition, almost never leaves their apartment due to the current situation, should pay more attention to exercising regularly anyway.
7 p.m .: Cooking and dinner
If there is one advantage of currently spending so much time at home, it is that you have more time to cook and that you can also experiment a little in the kitchen. And no matter whether you live alone, in a shared apartment or with your partner: There is nothing better than cooking something delicious in the evening, setting the table nicely and really enjoying the food.
8.30 p.m .: Relax
After a long day at work - you did sport and cooked too! - it's finally time to relax. How exactly you relax differs from person to person. While one of them continues binging their favorite series on Netflix or reading a book in the bathtub, the next one is chatting with their BFFs via FaceTime or conjuring up a DIY face mask. But no matter how you spend your me-time: The most important thing is to switch off and not think about the job.
I hope you find helpful my suggestion for a daily home office routine. As a working mom, it took me also some time to find my own routine.
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