When to know to sign off while working remotely?
Maya Ben Zid
30 replies
How many breaks do you often take while working from home? And for how long.
Also, what do you do during your break time :)
Replies
Simon Blok@simonblok
MockMagic
Depends really on your family situation :-). Now fulltime from home, with three kids. Default breaks (lunch, coffee).
What to do? Everything which is different from the things you do outside the breaks!
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@simonblok A lot of people forget to have their lunch when working remotely so good to hear you're not missing on that haha It was a bit messy for me at first, but now my family got used to me wfh so whenever i'm on my desktop they seldom interrupt my work XD
Airpals
@simonblok @maya_ovice I am one of those, haha need to put in practice the suggestions on this thread. At the moment only taking 1 break in a 8 hr work day :(
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@joshe_ordonez even a 40-sec break to look away from your laptop, rest your eyes, or stretch a bit is good for your health and work performance ;)
I take two breaks usually, but I rarely work at home because I got distracted easily especially with my kids. I prefer to go out for co-working spaces even though I might not talk with anyone and focus on work but I feel better than working at home.
In my break time I eat, relax, talk and sometimes a nap
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@mahmoudilyan Oh I can imagine! Sadly a lot of coworking spaces are closed because of the virus so you're lucky that you have a local one open :') I also take power naps during my break time 💪
I was working at the office before covid, so I basically kept my working hours the same. I allow myself more flexibility but it helps me to keep it normal hours.
Also I started thinking about something: it's easier to notice when you're procrastinating at home than at the office (for me at least). At home it's quite obvious when I'm not being productive, but in the office you can always distract yourself helping other people or having a chat with your coworkers. With that in mind I try not being very hard on me when It's like 3 or 4pm and I'm basically done for the day. I don't need to be productive 40 hours a week.
As far as how many breaks, it depends on the day. But I always stop twice to have a snack. Oh and I don't rush through lunch too, I eat in about 20min and take the rest of the hour to relax and watch videos.
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@luis_martins Yes I totally get that too! Actually when I was at the office, I used to always rush through my lunch because by that time I've already spent a lot of time helping other co-workers so I feel like I have so much left to do but when working from home, I have more control on how to spend my working hours, and also take breaks whenever I feel tired or unproductive and always come back to work later that day.
Just one thing I'd like to mention, whenever you take breaks try spending them away from your laptop screen, even a short walk around the house is good for boosting blood circulation haha
@maya_ovice Yes, that's a great piece of advice. Even if I don't have the time to go for a walk I like to got to the balcony and just watch the view and the people for a while. I try bot to think about work at that time, just relax and clear my mind.
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@luis_martins oh yeah! Catching some sun rays and enjoying a view is what I like to do too. I also don't have time to go for a walk, or let's say I prefer not too with the virus situation *shrugs* stretching is a good alternative
I've been working from home (and cafés/coworking space pre-covid) for 3 years now. It's quite important to "schedule" your breaks and include them in a routine. At least for me as I was finding myself working in a pyjama for 12 hours and forgetting to have lunch (or take a shower).
I'm not a big fan of the gurus selling their "road to be great" routine... but I think it's necessary to have some stuff that you do daily or few days per week.
For me it's sport in the morning and reading in the evening.
During the day I have only one break: lunch + a walk. And I try to make sure my workday is shutdown before 7pm (unless something really urgent needs to finalized).
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@khalid_b That sounds great! Making sure to wrap up before 7 PM is so hard for me but I've been setting reminders to just leave my laptop and finish what I have left the day after.
"I'm not a big fan of the gurus selling their "road to be great" routine": about this one XD I couldn't do it until I wrote about it and found myself unconsciously putting my words into action.
I've got a dog, who mostly dictates my break schedule. Generally, I take 4 breaks of 10 minutes to take him out, which gets me out as well!
@jimmy_cerone @maya_ovice They are the bomb! It's not always easy but they are great for getting into a routine and getting exercise. Plus, they just rock haha
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@jimmy_cerone I wouldn't disagree XD I mean I have a cat but she's pretty old so she's napping all the time *shrugs* Dogs are full of energy and excitement!
@jimmy_cerone @maya_ovice Some dogs are wild! But you can also find a chill breed! I've got an Australian Shepard so he's pretty hyper but I looked at a bulldog which are lazy pups haha
Great question! When I'm working from home, I'll usually take a short 5 min break to get some snacks and some water every hour or so. We recently just got back to the office, and I will usually take a 20 min break in the afternoon to go take a walk around the block. On Fridays my coworkers and I will take a 30min-1hour break to have coffee and chat, if our schedules allow it.
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@hannahsuyun I also find taking small breaks every hour effective! Going outside for a walk and getting some fresh air is always a good brain energizers!!
I feel like most people are now taking the chance to socialize with their coworkers during their breaktime after being under lockdown XD
@maya_ovice Haha yes, being stuck at home has definitely increased the value of water cooler chats :)
For me, it changes based on the environment I am in. If I am with my family, I tend to take more breaks then when I am alone.
Now I try to make sure to take around 45 minutes, for a good workout. To be honest, this has increased my productivity.
I just started trying out the pomodoro technique. Too soon to give you any conclusions from my side but definitely something worth looking into!
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@nicolaas_spijker wow! My brother uses it too and it's working so great with him! I honestly could not use it since an urgent thing might come up when deciding to take a 5 min break but I do hope that it helps you focus better and accomplish multiple things faster :)
Hey @maya_ovice, I have been working from home since 2015.
There are a few things that seem to help make the difference between work life and home life. Firstly, it is worth sharing I live alone in a one bed flat and I visit my partner on weekends. During the week I try to stick to working 9:30 - 17:30 allowing for 2 hours of evening work on a personal project.
Changing clothes between periods of the day has helped me greatly. In the morning I wear workout clothes and go for a jog or walk for 20 minutes, before showering and preparing my mindset for work.
At lunch I always go outside or leave my desk and find a space that I never work in to chillax for at least 20 minutes without screens. More recently I have started listening to a podcast during lunch as I walk around my flat / outside which seems to reset my brain for the afternoon.
At 5:30 I put dinner on and sometimes change again to signal that work time has finished. I always try and eat before getting back into a personal project. Right now I am working on Freelancenotion.com. For personal projects I try and work on a different desk to my day time work, this seems to make me feel more relaxed.
Delaying personal calls until "after work" time also helps me to have something to look forward to an evening. Catching up with family and friends on the mobile phone (not zoom which now feels like work)
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@natalie_furn That's lovely! I'm also thinking of starting to exercise before work and I love the idea of changing clothes periodically! some people work in pj's nd i can never do that cuz my brain associates it with sleeping lol
It is also good to keep your social life away from zoom meetings... I personally don't use it because me and my team use our own virtual space to work but I heard a lot abt zoom fatigue so it is nice to have a traditional phone call with someone to not get reminded of work.
If you have some podcasts to recommend, pls drop them down in the comment ^o^
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