Flex appeal: Working from home

Working from home used to be a rare, precious, and almost luxurious experience for all of us. 

The idea of being able to roll out of bed late – sans commute – have your tea in your favourite mug and only be interrupted by the occasional phone call or delivery seems like a gift. 

As times change though, pandemics emerge and flexi-hours and working from home (WFH) become the norm, it’s a wonder how you can get anything done when you only have me, myself and I set the rules and limitations.

With working from home and flexible working can come the common habit of pushing some things to the side or not being able to prioritise effectively.

Working from home

What I wanted to write about after reading about the Flex Appeal is the idea of procrastination and how being able to accept and understand procrastination is a huge stepping stone to a successful workflow.  And not just to complete all those tasks on your list, but also for your mental health in stressful times.

This can be as either a parent and/or small business owner or even as someone just wanting a change in their life and doesn’t know where to start.

There are some small steps that you can take if you find yourself in a situation of procrastination. If you take these on one by one, you will find yourself actually using procrastination to its fullest potential.

Remind yourself what is important

If you find yourself stopping any kind of mundane task to do something ‘more interesting’, then you aren’t taking into account what is truly important in your life. 

By simply living with your boredom or wishing for something to go away, you are not fully focused on the long term and what you want to achieve. So, remind yourself of your end goal, how long have you really wanted it, and what it means to you.

Make it easy

Boring doesn’t necessarily mean difficult. If the task has been put in your hands, then there is a large chance that you can get through it.  When your procrastination kicks in telling you that everything is too hard, remind yourself of the boss you are and that you’re the best person for the task!

Make time

When it feels like time is against you, you rush through all of the easy and interesting things to do. If you’re struggling with working from home, try this next tip. Create some simple to-do lists can really break down your day or week and give you some flexibility to
A. Move things aside that are less important

B. Create a clear headspace for you to get through everything!

Avoid the easy way out 

When working from home, taking the easy way out is procrastination’s best friend. And taking the easy road is never the best decision to make. This is what can happen. You will never give yourself a real challenge and therefore never truly grow with your goals and ambitions. What will feel like you completing a task will only be a short-term reward with no long-term growth.

Ride out anxiety

During all of this pushing and challenging yourself, you’re going to get anxiety – that’s usually a given. Anxiety will tell you to stop what you’re doing, turn around and give up. 

This is when you need to fight against those urges because all anxiety is doing is signalling that something new is afoot and it doesn’t know what it is.

What you need to do is teach anxiety about this new challenge so that you never get quelled with anxiety again.

Philip

Therapy in London