5 Ways to Escape a Work-From-Home Rut

5 Ways to Escape a Work-From-Home Rut

Every day is almost like a copy of the day before. Tomorrow will probably look similar to today and this feeling will continue. This is what being in a rut feels like. All of us are faced with the challenge of maintaining a work-life balance when we work from home. Feeling stuck in a work-from-home rut feels like you’re trapped in a cage. Even though it might seem that you’ll never break free, you will if you read our pieces of advice. How do you break free from a work-from-home rut? Here are 5 ways to escape a work-from-home rut.

1. Block out time for work

When people transition to working from home for the first time, they struggle with time management. This struggle results in a complete loss of boundaries between work hours and personal time. Both of these, the time assigned for work and personal life are equally important. You should learn how to set clear boundaries between these two sections. Start by blocking time for just work. This means that you won’t let anything aside from work interrupt your block of time. You are advised to take breaks so schedule work and break time equally. Aim to wake up like you usually would so that you can finish your work during your official work hours.

2. Socialize

Socializing in the era of social distancing sounds like a real challenge. But, as long as you keep yourself safe and respect your distance you can still do it. You can meet up with one friend at a time and take a socially distant stroll or a hike once a week. Wear your mask at all times and you can safely engage with others. If you are in countries where people are still advised to stay home, connect over the phone, and online. Zoom parties are all the rage now and you can still have fun with your friends, share stories over wine, and have a good time. 

3. Bring life into your routine

Tired of your routine? Change it. If you feel stuck, you have to find ways to feel less bored with your current lifestyle. Your options are limited because you have to spend time on activities that are safe and socially acceptable during a pandemic. If you suddenly have an urge to travel, that’s not a viable option. But this limited list is so vast that it can be considered as unlimited. For example, if you used to exercise four times a week at your favourite fitness centre and now you can’t, you should change your exercise routine. You already know the drill, all the moves, the entire choreography if you like. All you have to do is get yourself a set of dumbbells in order to make it challenging and you can work out from home. Disrupt your day with exercise and improve your mood and ultimately your outlook on your current lifestyle.

4. Create

By now you’re probably triggered by that saying “If you don’t come out of this quarantine with a new skill, you never lacked time, you lacked discipline” you are correct. Don’t let the social media pressure you or make you feel lazy. But, let’s explore the healing aspect of doing something creative and how it can help you bust out of a rut. Creative processes can make you calmer because you will divert your thoughts from things that stress you out. You’ll reduce anxiety by immersing yourself in your project. Pick up something you’ve always wanted to find the time for and start. Find a Youtube tutorial for beginners and use it as a starting point. Just remember that finding your creativity in uncertain times serves to make you feel better. It’s not a competition who’ll end up with more skills than the other person. 

5. Change one thing in your day

We can all agree that we’re living our own version of the Groundhog day movie. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, put it on your list to better understand the idea of this passage. Basically, in order to stop yourself from doing the same routine over and over again, change one thing in your day. For example, start your day with a shower, put on your favourite perfume, do your hair, put on your makeup, the order in instead of cooking. If you live in a place where coffee shops work during the day and they have implemented social distancing rules, go there. You can work at home, take a break, and finish the remaining work hours from a different location. 

If you want to try this technique of changing one thing in your day, write down all of your weekly activities on a sheet of paper. Write it in a column on the left side of the paper. On the right side, write a list of variations of the same activity you can implement in your day. This list will help you make a daily plan to change the routine and regain some joy.

Lastly, it’s okay to feel like you just need some time off and not a new activity in your day. But, don’t let it last for long periods of time because it’s a path to depression. Now we have to take care of our health and especially mental health. So, give these ideas a try and revive your daily routine.