10 Ways to Chill when you WFH
Did your downtime and safe space at home just get overrun by your new office setup?
Have you been struggling to clock out at night since it's so easy to keep working from your home setup?
I totally feel you and have been experiencing that same effects myself! The burnout from constant working, never leaving the house, and always having something I could be doing that is more productive can completely take over my mental health. School online, work online, socializing online, and more are completely draining! It is vital to take time away from the “office”, make time for friends and family, be happy doing absolutely nothing, and taking that well-deserved time off.
HERE ARE 10 FUN WAYS TO CHILL WHEN YOU CAN’T ESCAPE THE WORK FROM HOME OFFICE FEELING:
Set up a spa in your bathroom. Go all out here. Candles, dimmed lights, soothing music, lotions and potions galore, self-massages (guided ones found on youtube), hair and face masks, nails painted, apply that self-tanner, and do whatever is calling to you for your self-care appointment at your home spa!
Go for a drive. Did you know that driving is a great calming activity for those with anxiety? It is because all the over-stimulation of the rushing by trees and outside the car sights can help release pent-up stress that one may be feeling. Going for a drive even if there is no destination in particular can help get you out of the office and can be a great release. Turn up the music and enjoy the ride.
Dance Party for One, Please. Turn on your hype song at least once a day and go wild even if it's just for one song. Find a safe space with no one else around, lock the door, hideout in the bathroom, or find a quiet spot where you can be yourself and not worry about what others will think. With zoom letting your peers, bosses, and colleagues invade your personal bubble at home, it's important to have some time where no one is watching you to just be you no matter other's opinions!
Sit in nature with no tech allowed. Get off that phone, grab a water bottle, and go find a spot to sit in nature. Take a hike in your local area and find a spot in the forest where you can sit still for 10-20 minutes. This will allow critters and wildlife to come out and greet you! You will get the added benefit from fresh air, exercise, and the calming effects of nature all in one 1 to 2-hour long activity once a week.
Book yourself an Air-BNB for the weekend. This one is the perfect way to escape that work-from-home environment by getting yourself out of the house for a few days. There are so many cheap rentals out there right now and even if the air BnB is just a few miles away from home, there is something about a fun getaway by yourself that can be so recharging. You could also get some friends from your COVID bubble to join you and make it a little mini getaway close to home for the weekend. Getting a new environment will help substantially with the WFH fatigue!
Schedule a Movie Night with Friends. Whether this is your bubble friend group and you have everyone over for a good ole’ fashion movie night, or maybe you set it up over movie streaming platforms online, make a BIG deal about this exciting event on your calendar. Get popcorn, blankets, pillows, a big screen to watch it on (check out this fun projector for a cheap new option), and pick out that new release movie you have been dying to see. Schedule it in your calendar as a 4-hour event allowing for set up, movie time, and hang out time after to gossip about the movie and life with friends. This will not only get you some well-deserved time off but will also help you be productive earlier in the day knowing you have to be done by 5 pm for your big movie night event!
Redecorate your WFH space. This is the perfect project to take your mind off work while also promoting a positive workspace for when it is time to sit down and work. Move your furniture around, buy all the plants you can, order some fun prints from Etsy or your bestie that sells her art (cute ones here), find ways to optimize the light you get from our windows, maybe even wallpaper a wall or change the paint color of your bedroom! Turn up the music and get to work on a fun project around the house!
Get lost in a good book. Head out to your local bookstore or virtually by checking out good reads (find my good reads here!), and find your next read to get sucked into and transport yourself from your WFH situation into a fun different reality. You can upgrade this experience by reading in the bath, taking it to your local coffee shop to support locals during this time, read in the park on a blanket, or gather your friends for a zoom book club (double upgrade if you discuss with a wine night Wednesday!).
Develop your hobbies. Carve out hours in your days to really deep dive into your hobbies and pick up new ones. Work was not meant to consume our lives 24/7. You have to have an end to your day and taking breaks is so important to your mental health. The problem most people have is that they don’t know what else to fill their day with so they just keep working. Well, I’m here to tell you to stop the work and pick up the hobbies. Workout, craft, make art for sale as a side hobby, take singing lessons or guitar lessons from youtube videos, write a book, start a blog (hehe guess you know what I like doing now), hike, become a yoga teacher (🙋🏼♀️), cook extravagant meals for one, bake for your neighbors, hand write letters to prisoners (or friends), or a million other things you have had on your to-do list! Make time for yourself by putting extreme limits on your work life and not stretching yourself too thin.
Challenge yourself to a tech-free day! Oof, I got stressed just typing that one. This may be the ultimate way to chill and truly disconnect from WFH life. Honestly, I don't know if I have had a tech-free day in YEARS... I live on technology from school, work, friends and family communication, reading, entertainment, and more. Not sure I could do this one, but it would definitely be a great challenge to shake up my WFH routine and truly remove myself from work and CHILL. I would fill my day with walks in nature, knitting, drawing, journaling, talking with my bestie roommate for hours, cooking (without an online recipe, who is she?), and I may have to google other things to occupy myself on this tech-free day. Let’s start this challenge together #LBLtechfreedays
I will be the first to admit, I need to work to implement all of these into my life. My work from home experience has been rough mostly due to self-induced stress. I have stretched myself thin and don’t do well at taking breaks when everything can be done from home. I constantly feel as though I could be doing something more productive and therefore I should, but that is not the case. I will be way more productive if I give myself breaks and chill to make my true work time way more efficient.
I challenge you to implement at least one of these ideas from the list above and let me know if it helped you take a chill pill from your WFH situations!
Xoxo,
LBL
