Stuck in home office? Me too! Like millions of people in Europe I’m currently working from home since three weeks. I was on business trips the first to weeks in March and was more than happy that I could return home just hours before the borders got closed. After two weeks travelling around, meeting new people and exploring new cities and offices I was looking forward to have my “normal” routine back, return to my “business as usual” days… How wrong I was 😌.

The first few days were a bit weird, getting up and finding yourself immediately in your office a.k. your kitchen in my case. Now at the beginning of week four I feel much more comfortable with the whole situation and I could find my (new) routine (again). A lot of people I know are still struggling with those new daily routines, all the bad and good news etc.

I try to give you some tips and ideas on how to find a daily routine and what you can do that may helps to feel better 💕.

Working hours
Even though you might be working from home now, keep an eye on the time. Try to get up at the same time during the week and work the same hours you usually do. If you stay in the office until 6 p.m, try to finish your work at home around the same time. Don’t forget to do a lunch break and maybe a 10 minute break in the morning and afternoon (don’t touch your work – it should be a real break for your brain). Put away your laptop or whatever you work with once your done and focus on something completely different. Give your brain the break it needs 💆‍♀️.

Sports (for those who love it and those who want to start with)
I’m a sport addicted person. Usually I go to the gym after work at least three times a week and do some home workouts during the weekend. As the gyms got closed I had to expand my home workout exercises. It was not very funny at the beginning and after my business travels I was reeeeally excited to go back to the gym but – nada! Since three weeks I’m now doing home workouts on a daily basis after work and I really love it. I’m scrolling through Instagram daily to find new ideas and inspiration and I’m sharing my own workouts as well – hopefully giving others inspiration and motivation 🏋️‍♀️. Normally it takes me two hours to travel to work and back. So I got two additional hours per day and this allows me to really focus on the different exercises, what’s good for my body, what’s helping me to reach my goals and so on – so again something good about the current situation 👍.
And for all those who always wanted to start doing sports and never did – you have the possibility now to start all by yourself without stress. There are so many videos out now also for beginners, you can join live sessions etc. Nobody is watching you in a crowded gym so no stress at all and you don’t even have to pay for it! So give it a try, you can’t lose anything but some weight 😉.

It also helps to feel better. Seriously who can sit around the whole day for weeks without getting back pain? Doing some exercises work wonders and it will also lift your mood.

Cooking
Definitely not something I’m very good at as I usually don’t have much time. So for people like me it’s a great time to improve the cooking skills 👩‍🍳. I always tried to cook healthy as I’m doing lots of sports but I don’t really know many healthy recipes. Thus I now started to try something new every week, two or three times. You can find thousands of recipes on Instagram, Youtube, Fooby, Google etc.
As many of us are currently working from home we have more time to maintain a more balanced diet. Use the time and try something new! You can only get better 😋.

Learn something new
Just try to expand your knowledge. If there is a language you always wanted to learn, download an app and start practicing! If there is something you always wanted to know more about – order a book and read about it or watch a documentary. We are always complaining that we don’t have time to learn something new, something apart from our daily life – now we have the time to do so.

Focus on the positive
It’s maybe not as easy as it sounds but if you try to focus on the positive impacts it gets easier day by day. It starts with simple things, f.e in my case I’m saving a lot of money – no public transport to pay, no expensive lunch meals every day, nothing to pay for the gym, as you can’t go anywhere no dinners to pay, no drinks or beauty appointments. Think about how much money you’re saving. And then start to think about all the great things you can do with all that money once everything is up and running again! You can go on a cool vacation with friends or your love, you can enjoy nice dinners in summer, you can buy new furniture or what ever ☀️.

You also have much more time for yourself, use it. Learn to be at peace with yourself, get to know what makes you really happy. If you are not happy with something in your life, find a way how you can change that. Distance yourself from toxic people, it has never been easier. Stay in contact with those who make you laugh, organize some funny Skype calls or open a Whats app group with your family members etc.

For me it was also very helpful to stop reading the news. At one point I felt intimidated by all the bad news, the hysteria, the panic newspapers all over the globe were spreading every few minutes. So many articles are misleading, so many numbers are misleading. At the end you only get confused, you don’t feel save anymore and even though you have been reading all those articles you don’t know what exactly is going on because nobody really knows. So I just stopped reading any news. And since I stopped I feel so much better, kind of released. My brain can focus much better on my work again, I can think about things who make me smile, I got more creative again…👩‍🎨

Last but not least, make sure you get some fresh air. Go for a walk in the morning, during lunch or in the evening. Just enjoy the silence of nature, listen to the singing birds and enjoy the beautiful colors during spring – it’s balm for the soul 💛. And if you are really really in the need of a smile – scroll through old photos and remember the stories behind, send the photos to your family and friends and talk and laugh together about the memory!

What are you doing to feel better? Let me/us know!
Stay healthy!