Eat the Frog and other tips for working from home

Greetings! I sincerely hope you are all staying safe and healthy in our strange new normal.

I know many of you are working from home now who weren’t or haven’t before. This year marks my 9th at Koné Consulting – during all of which I have worked from my home office (when not on client sites). I wanted to share some of the ways I approach working from home that I’ve found helpful.

1.     I get ready each day as if I’m going to into an office. I may not wear the same clothes I would in an office (almost every day here is casual Friday – jeans and Seahawks gear), but I get up at the same time every day, shower and get put together. Not only does this put me into a mindset of business as usual, but it is convenient if I’m needed promptly on a video conference or have to run an errand (when not practicing our current self-quarantine scenario).

 2.     I take breaks throughout the day as if I’m in an office situation; especially a 30-minute (minimum) lunch break. During these times, I give my eyes a break from the screen, my mind a break from work, and my body a good stretch. It refreshes me and allows me to do better work throughout the day - while practicing self-care.

 3.     At the end of the day, I organize my following day’s work. Koné Consulting has developed a work visualization tool (WorkBoards) that acts as my electronic to-do list. I am able to organize and prioritize my work and hit the ground running each morning. It also helps me remember all of the little things I’m doing or need to do. I rarely miss a deadline. Truth be told, I would be lost without it.

 4.     Finally, I adhere to the “Eat the Frog” philosophy. If you’re not familiar, the idea is to tackle whatever you’re dreading the most first in the day (notwithstanding my 8:00 AM calls with my boss). Once I’ve “eaten the frog,” the rest seems easy.

These are a few of the tricks I use, but we are always looking to improve, so if you have any tips you’d like to share, please do so in the comments section below. Above all, give yourself some grace.

 Take care! 

 - Christina