For years, working from home seemed like a long distant dream to most of us. Sat at our desk, we’d covet the lives of Instagram stars and YouTubers as they worked from remote places; cafes in Bali or beach bars in Thailand. In London, most of our bosses were still against it, apart from the occasional young hip office that got the luxury once a week. 

Now WFH is everyone’s norm, but it’s not from a desired remote location that we’d want to shout about on social media, but day-in-day-out from our living rooms or bedrooms. 

Getting through these times is going to require some serious creative thinking, ego shedding and a bucket load of patience. We’re going to have to do things we have never done to get through this time. Some days will be tough, some days will be scary and some days will be lonely even in a house full of people, but believe me we can do this. 

Here’s are 8 great tips to keep you motivated when working from home:

1) Get that morning routine written down: don’t just think about it, actually stick it on your wall to give you structure during the week. My personal list is: wake up, journal and meditate, positive affirmations, exercise, breakfast. If you live in a shared house make the list communal so your family or housemates can hold you accountable. Come Saturday, you’ll still get that weekend buzz knowing you have the whole day free of structure. 

2) Track Your Fun stuff: Time tracking can be fun if used right, so to keep yourself in the creative flow when it comes to working try using the time tracker service called Toggl. Not only can you keep track of the time spent on each project you work on, but you can track how much time you spend doing things for yourself too such as meditating, having a well-earned break, dancing to classics from your new Spotify list and you can even track your time spent painting or clearing your wardrobe and organising your items into and unnecessary but very pretty colour order. 

3) Look after the mental health of others too: The easiest way to let go of your own worries and get out of your head is to think about others. Look out for those in a worse off position than you. Reach out to friends or family members who might be isolating alone and make their day with a FaceTime call, or ask for their address to write a letter if this feels more comfortable. If you work for a small independent company, consider taking a temporary pay cut. You may think, what on earth do I mean, but right now your boss will need to make cuts to keep the business afloat. It’s better for all the staff to take a smaller cut than for some to completely lose their jobs. This act of support will never be forgotten and it may be the missing link right now for the company to stay afloat. There’s no time for egos now, it’s all about the community we can build.

4) Become a DJ: Now comes the time you need to relax and create yourself a new Spotify playlist called ’Desk Party 2020’. Fill the list with tunes that make you want to get up and dance. Try going old skool on the music front, think 1990s house music or find the stuff that everyone gets up to at a wedding that we all secretly love. Keep yourself moving by playing it on the hour, every hour.

5) Run before you can walk: If you can get out of the house for a walk then do so as often as you can, but try running to at least one uplifting power track before you start your walk, get the heart and mind pumping. You can always walk the rest of the way home if you get puffed out like most of us do, but do try the run before the walk, it’s a quick fix for the mind shift. 

6) Surprise your Video guests: Calls do not have to be boring, try and surprise your colleagues or clients with a fancy dress outfit or play them a banging track before you get started with your call. Lightening the mood can be fun which can get you both in a healthier mindset. Share the idea with others to get them motivated too. 

7) Play random track roulette: Open up your phone contacts, close your eyes, use your finger to scroll down the list twice and whatever name your finger lands when you stop it you will need to call them. Reach out to them and say hello, let them know the reason for the call by explaining the idea of the game and ask them for their favourite track. Then ask them to pass it on with their own game of random track roulette. Don’t forget to send them your track too.

8) Build your virtual social life: We may be at home, but there’s plenty going on in the world to keep us entertained. Support your favourite business by checking out their website to see if they’ve taken their offering online. Yoga teachers, musicians, personal trainers, drag queens, chefs are all fighting to keep their careers afloat. We can all do our bit to help one another out and stay connected to the world.

Nat Rich: I’m a Personal Responsibility Coach, and in response to the change of economic environment, I thought my own business, I AM Sound wellness academy was about to go under, but it turns out with some careful thought there is a way for me to pivot everything and revisit an old dream of mine. Instead of panicking about having to cancel all of our well planned and thought out events we had booked in for the summer, we decided to take the concept of event based Personal Development and build it into a daily breakfast radio show for everyone to start their day with at home. We’ll be streaming live Monday to Friday 9am to 11am from our website from the 30th of March and will bring you daily positive content, what’s on virtual event guides, live mini meditations, interviews, music and wellness advice to set you up for the day ahead and plug you into a community so you don’t feel alone.