Due to the CoVid-19 Pandemic, more and more employees are working from home. Not all could do so, but as a researcher and lecturer at a state university, I have been advised to start working from home last week and I find it a bit challenging to do this since the environment at home is so cozy. But I have been doing my best in following my 8-5 duties as much as I can at home. Here is how I effectively work from home:

1. Create a daily schedule.

Just like any regular work day, I created my work from home schedule and made clear that I would only be working on certain hours at home. This is my schedule:

5AM Wake up and call family members that are living abroad, 6AM Active Yoga, 7AM Tend to garden and take a bath, 8AM Cook and eat Breakfast, 9AM - 12NN Work from Home: Administrative work

12NN Lunch, 1PM-4PM Work from Home: Prepare lectures and study on research, 4PM Clean room/house, 5PM Cycle or at home workout. 6PM Dinner, 7PM Learn Dutch, 8PM Restorative Yoga, 9PM-5AM Sleep

I do have an 8 hour typical office work but now I have been working from home, as you can see I only work for 6 hours daily (for 6 days a week). I didn't want to overwork myself and still want to be active at home. Sometimes, the schedule changes especially when I have online classes or research group video calls.

2. Pretend as if you are at your workplace.

I like to pretend as if I am going to work. I wake up and realize we are still in community quarantine but the night before, I already listed the work related stuff I need to do for the day. So I would wake up and prepare for work the way I usually do on weekdays, take a bath, eat breakfast and start working on the appropriate work hours.

3. Choose a dedicated and comfortable work place. And stay away from bedroom and kitchen.

I personally chose to work at my study desk at home which I rearranged to face opposite my bed to avoid feeling sleepy and thinking about sleep. I also invested in a comfortable office chair. Back in college and grad school, I used to study at the dining table, kitchen counter top or living room. Which I realized was a bit inappropriate since counter top chairs are too high and I keep slouching and studying at the dining and living room wasn't ideal as well as I keep moving my books and notes when somebody needed to use the room.

4. Plan out what you will be working on.

As I mentioned in point 2, I always create my to do list during the last minutes of my work time. The work mode is still ongoing so everything is still fresh on my mind and I get to see what things needs to be done the next day.

5. Use pomodoro during work.

It is important to take breaks in between work hours. As they say, sometimes the most productive thing to do is rest.

6. Prepare your meals the night before.

I usually cook twice a day (breakfast and dinner) to save on gas, energy and time. For lunch, I would heat up leftover breakfast or dinner.

7. Exchange time during travel to exercise.

I realized, so much of our time is wasted when traveling to and from our workplace. In my case it takes half an hour in the morning to work and hour (or more) going back home. Since, I'm working from home, the time I would have spent to travel would be allotted for exercising.