Tips For Staying Energized While Working From Home

The year is 2021 and you've been working at home since last March. Although you have found ways to adjust to your new situation, like setting those flowers up in your work station, you're still running into a major problem. Energy.

I've been working from home for over a year now. One of the biggest challenges I face during the week is keeping my energy levels high when I'm sitting alone at a desk. As someone who is extroverted, socializing with others during the day gives me a boost of energy that translates into motivation to crush the task at hand.

So when I started work on creating a Slack app from my basement, while my co-founder lives across the globe, it was a tough adjustment. Instead of finding a boost from teammates who are right beside me, I had to adopt new strategies that worked best for my situtaion.

And to be honest, it's something that I'm still working on. Focus, drive, and happiness are all important qualities any professional needs, but obtaining them in a remote environment requires a different apporach. But you can't achieve any of these if you can't get the warm, soft touch of your pillow out of your head.

So, here's a list of things you can do today that will help you stay energized while working from home.

Eat right

I know it's been said, many times - many ways, but eating healthy foods is one of the best ways to keep your mind and body energized. The after lunch, afternoon slump is a notorious phenomenon in the working world. You go to your favorite sandwhich spot across the street, slurp down a Coke along with your Italian sub, and by the time you get back to your building, you're not walking towards your desk, you're crawling.

This article from Harvard Medical School does a pretty good job at outlining ways to create a diet that keeps your energy levels high. But, I'll list off some of the points made below. I'm sure most of you are already pretty familiar with these, but you might not practice them consistently (; .

- Small lunches are the way to go (Remember the crash!).

- Take it easy on the caffeine. Just enough, is just enough.

- Stay hydrated!

- Avoid drinking alcohol during the day.

Talk to friends and family

While working at home can feel isolating, it doesn't have to be - all the time. As an extroverted person, taking the time to talk to friends and family during the day keeps me happy, grateful, and motivated. While I would prefer to see people in person, this isn't always possible. People are busy and sh*t, and we're also in the midst of a p-word 🤫.

But good thing we're living in 2021 (wait, is that a good thing?), and we got computers, cell phones, and hoverboards. So I do have a couple tools up my sleeve that help me communicate with the people I care about:

- Google Hangouts for text based group chatting with friends. Also for having video calls with Steve (co-founder of Bill and overall smart fellow) and Tinder dates (shhh, don't tell my Mom).

- Discord for audio based group chatting with friends. There's also a pretty good video client on here that allows for streaming.

- My cell phone.

Stay off your phone

This is something I STRUGGLE with. But, and I know no one is going to be surprised when I say this, I'm 10x more productive when I'm not on my phone. Also, the content we consume with an insatiable appetite is usually draining.

Scrolling through IG is one of the laziest activities I could think of, but still makes me want to take a nap 🤷🏾‍♂️.

Find good music to listen to

Did you know that music has a profound impact on your brain? I'm sure you did, but just in case you're not convinced, here's the FACTS from people who you should listen to.

Having a good playlist or album playing in the background while I work helps me stay on task and get locked into the "zone". I try to go with music that doesn't require too much of my attention, so R&B is usually my go to genre. Here's some of the stuff I've been listening to lately.

- Anita Baker's Compositions

- Daft Punk's RAM

- dvsn's Morning After

Excercise

And last, but certainly not least. I have recently gotten back into running in the mornings. And the difference in mood that I have when I get out there, vs. when I don't, is night and day. I don't think I need to link any articles to convince you smart cookies that excercise is directly correlated with energy levels, but it is worth repeating.

So get out there, get moving, and if you're like me and have a ways to go in the health department, get fit!

Conclusion

Well, we've reached our conclusion. Thanks for giving this post a read. I hope some of you can find something of value, or at least get inspired to look at working remotely in a new light.

While all these tips are helpful, in reality, the #1 thing you can probably do to keep energy levels high while working remotely is to have a good attitude. Which I know, not easy in the times we live in, but it is necessary. Remember, you are the difference maker. So take that frown ):, and flip it around :).

Written by David O. | Twitter @David_O_J