So it has happened, my routine has relaxed!

When this all began, a good friend of mine said it wouldn’t be too long before I would be getting to my desk at 11am!

Well that has not quite happened, but things have relaxed somewhat, and I am here to tell you how.

First things first – I ordered a folding desk, and set up a second workstation in my bedroom:

I was getting bored of sitting at the desk in my living room, it felt much more isolating there for some reason. In my room I feel cosy and comfortable and opening up my laptop in the morning, by my amazing window, and in the wonderful light my room holds, feels like a pleasure.

It was important for me to get a desk for the room rather than sitting on my bed, because that mental separation of space is very important. It is also much better for posture and attention.

So here is is, my working from home routine (take 2):

• I wake up whenever my body wakes up! Now bear with me on this one…After almost 15 years of work my body is conditioned to get up early in the morning and get moving. Naturally I wake up sometime between 7 and 8 without an alarm. Now that I don’t have to actually be at the bus stop at a certain time, or setting off on my walk to work by 8.15, I allow myself to rise when my body knows it is time to.
• I shower and do my yoga practice – I now shower before practising yoga. It helps me to feel more awake for it. I am not having to go anywhere afterwards so it is ok if I am a little ruffled or not put together, though to be honest, showering before results in less sweat for me anyway. (TMI)
• I get my laptop powered up and check my emails by 9am.
• I meditate then, or meditate later on if I am not feeling ready. Lately I have been waking between 4 and 5 am when it gets light. I tend to meditate then and fall back asleep for a couple hours.
• I take my morning herbs (Cat’s claw) on an empty stomach then have a light breakfast with a cup of tea. (cereal, oats, breakfast oat and banana cookies, fruit, that kind of thing.)
• I settle down at my desk by 10am to work for a couple of hours until lunch.
• Sometime between 12 and 2pm I have lunch (and a multivitamin), usually batched cooked at the weekend, though I have been known to have my lunch at 3pm because of a jacket potato miscalculation…but I digress!
• After lunch I work for the rest of the afternoon, interspersed with lots of movement in the form of putting clothes to wash, cooking dinner, getting teas. snacks and water (important to stay hydrated).
• Sometimes I will take a break and do some colouring or sketching just to get my eyes away from the screen for a while – is anyone else finding all this extra screen time exhausting?!

• If I have a Zoom meeting where I will need to stay focused on the screen for upwards of 2 hours, I will factor in even more off-screen time in the form of written tasks and more frequent breaks.
• I wrap up work by 6pm everyday and begin my evening of relaxation in the form of colouring, reading, Netflix and/or meditation.
• Lights out about 10pm (I need my sleep)

On the Weekend:

I am really enjoying my weekends at the moment. In contrast to when we could all socialise, I now feel like I actually have time to relax more which I am loving.

So here goes:

• I am up whenever I fancy it and then practise really listening to what my body wants.
• Most of the time this will be (after my morning Cat’s Claw) a really big breakfast of eggs, veggie sausages and beans, or french toast, or pancakes…you get the gist.

• I will watch Netflix, You Tube, or read.
• I do yoga at whatever point I fancy it, and often on Sundays now I have a rest day.
• I meditate whenever I fancy it, sometimes several times a day.

Miscellaneous…

• I have been able to continue getting my online shop, so that’s groceries sorted. I also get a regular delivery from a local health food store with things like essential oils and all the natural beauty products I use.
• I go out for a walk or sit on the grass in my communal gardens whenever I fancy it, rain or shine.
• I have started to really examine how much I socialise on zoom or talk to people on the phone. I have the kind of personality that likes to make sure that everyone close to me is OK, but lately I have learnt that making sure I am OK is important too, and for me being OK is having a lot of time to myself without my ear glued to the phone. So now I talk to people a couple of times a week rather than everyday.

Ooh that was a beefy one! I hope you enjoyed reading it 🙂

What is your routine looking like, now that we have all been working from home longer than we might have thought we would?

Has yours relaxed?

Much love and virtual hugs Txx