Working From Home - Managing the 5/2 Split

When I began working from home one of the hardest things to adjust too was one of the things that I loved most about working from home:  I did not have a commute.  That commute did a lot for me even though I did not like it.  It helped mark the time, week day vrs weekend day and facilitated mindset transitions, which I believe help mange the idea of burn out.

The Morning Commute

Yes, I really did not like the commute because I saw it as a waste of time and generally a frustrating experience.  It had its good moments, I was able to call friends and family during the commute time and that is an obvious good point.  However, I overlooked how much I mentally prepared myself for work during that commute.  I don't mean a gird my loins I will get through it mindset but more going over what I knew I needed to do, what I wanted to do, it was simply an exercise that I didn't realize I did until I was no longer doing it.

When I began working from home I would walk a few feet and sit down at my desk and bam I was overwhelmed, I had not yet prepared for the day.  I wondered why I didn't often have that problem when I went into and office and then it dawned on me, our minds are complex and do a lot of work in our subconscious.  Once I was made aware of the situation then I needed to make adjustments to find some way to replicate the idea of a commute.

The Evening Commute

Once I established the correlation to the commute on the way to work I started to think about the commute on the way home.  Not counting the traffic headaches my mind was preparing me to be home.  I would listen to things that I found entertaining and relaxing so that I could shift to being Mom, wife, and cook.  My subconscious was also filing away things to do tomorrow, what I needed to finish or start, prioritizing what I needed to do.

When I began working from home I would walk a few feet to see my kids and kitchen, there was no transition time to speak of.  My focus and mindset do not work like an on/off switch.  I need time to transition even though I am generally not aware that I am doing that. 

Why It Matters

We have habits for the five-day work week, and different habits for the two-day weekend.  Source: Gretchen Rubin, Flexible Work Schedule Habits Challenge

If you are working from home all the time now you need to be able to turn off your work brain and focus on recharging.  To do less short changes yourself as well as your employer.  If you are struggling when you start your day more than how you end your day, tackle that problem first.  If you can lessen a frazzled start to your day then you are setting yourself up for a less frazzled day in general, it is harder to recover when you start in a hole.

Think about how you can recreate the benefits of a commute without having one. If you have kids the start of the school year is either upon you or will be shortly and it can be a great time to start to establish a new habit.  One that used to work for me was dropping the kids off at school and then taking a walk, then starting my day.  Just because that worked for me doesn't mean it will work for you.  Other things you could try:

• Kitchen table with your coffee mentall review your day without the benefit of an electronic device
• Call someone that you may have routinely called on your commute

If you work well making multiple changes at once feel free to work on your evening routine as well.  But if you are like me, one big change at a time is all I can deal with without going crazy.

The evening commute is just as important because our minds need down time, let our subconscious work on the work problems while we focus on our family, friends, hobbies, and things that we love to do.  We need to be able to have that mental down time to allow our work brain a break, and that doesn't mean we are not using our brains and active.  This does not mean a vegging out situation it means doing something different.

For me the easiest way to replicate the commute's benefit of putting work away is to log out of work applications and cleaning up my desk. (Note that if you do this then undoing it could be your morning commute routine as you log into your work applications.)  This can also mean turning off notifications for your phone as well.

The changes you make don't have to be huge to have a big impact on your well being.  I am a big believer in utilizing the KISS principle, so start small and if you need to build in a bigger commute than you can.  It is always easier to add than take away.