Social beast, working from home
Tags: wfh, motivation, productivity, health
Published: 2020-03-20 15:41:28

---
title: Social beast, working from home
published: true
description: Sharing my experience with working from home
tags: #wfh, #motivation, #productivity, #health
cover_image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QPMgUpuYFew5xKR67ll-WWSmhdR-blyby6b_YZaNnN6c1ZD4uC59Rmool5Je5XZXfCFcRaOHrvDYOY2hkU88X2lZDH3gkPI-d0NrMRJu7QHz5f_b5PEociP7GP57xKsAiJegaycwwLg=w2400
---

Ok, I need to be completely honest with you guys and say that if this whole quarantine situation was not in place right now it would've probably been years before I even started to write anything.

I am not by any means a stay-at-home type of person. My weekly schedule used to look so full you couldn't even throw a pin in there without having to jumble around the whole thing. But now, now I actually know where everything is in my apartment and what my neighbors look like :eyes:.


<p align="center">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/xT9IgG50Fb7Mi0prBC/giphy.gif" /><br/>
<figcaption>Hi neighbor!</figcaption>
</p>


So, from a social beast with no experience at working from home, here are some practices that helped me get on the better side of the experience 😉.

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## Enhanced morning routine ☕️

Moving from a fast `wake up -> clean up -> dress up -> get out`, having my last routine step blasted away left me a bit disoriented at first, unable to figure out what to do at that point, especially since I was just saving ~1.5h of commute and exercise time 😱.

After a few stumbling days I settled on a few routine tasks to replace that time and hell, gain some new edges:
* Stretch time - get that body up and going for the day
* Audio news - my Google mini has a wonderful good morning routine walking me through most of what I need to know
* Time to disconnect - I'm a tech guy and most of my day happens online so now I'm reserving a few minutes to just sit and watch mother nature and the city 🏙

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## Good vibe music 🎹

Normally, if you are anything like me, even when you were not facing a bloody pandemic, after staying a few days home you would start to wonder what's the purpose of life, what should you be focusing on and so many other existential topics which are more recurrent than the actual seasons at this point 🤔.

I've found out that by isolating a good vibe playlist for these periods helped a whole bunch on getting focused and being able to achieve more. Talking to colleagues, writing documentation or code, self-critique, they are all a little better with a sprinkle of [good vibe music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tivz2BcUBsY).

{% spotify spotify:track:397fm8R9ws5tpHQhV4XSOT %}

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## Start actively thinking about your food 🥘

When working from home, it's easy to grab a bite to eat at any time and also just chip away at some snacks as you work. One thing I had to get myself in line with is the mindset of consuming less since I am using a lot less of that energy.

So, hear a brother out, you don't want to end up over-consuming when you're actually under-using 😅. I'm no nutrition guru or anything so can't really tell you how to manage this but keep an eye on all those 🍟.

<p align="center">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/VOXNpQqddjjLW/giphy.gif" /><br/>
</p>

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## Be kind and supportive 💛

Some of us figured it out right from the start, others are still struggling with it and others might never figure it out and that's just perfectly fine. The truth is, we're all adapting to a new environment and some changes that two or three months ago we couldn't even imagine.

Keeping that in mind, reach out to a colleague, ask "What's up", and change a few words about... well about anything really 🤷‍. Find out about how he's dealing with this new mindset and life or what new tv series is rocking the world right now.

<p align="center">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/WdiaOAX35Pnzi/giphy.gif" /><br/>
<figcaption>Remote HI5!</figcaption>
</p>

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## Exercise hour 🏋

Being inactive is not something your body is used to. No matter what your job is, you were pulling in some steps and some physical activity every single day in one form or the other.

Since we're mostly staying inside these days, that activity drastically dropped 📉 and that's not great, to say the least. So pick up your phone and find a good hour for a reminder when you can spend some time moving that tooshie. Here's a great [article](https://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/the-7-best-at-home-workout-routines-the-ultimate-guide-for-training-without-a-gym/) to get you up and running in no time.

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## Video social time 🎬

The first few days I was really suspicious about spending some time with friends in a video conference. I'm like, hell, it's not the same thing as hanging out in real life right? Righhhht?

As it turns out... yeah, I was absolutely right 😆 it's not the same thing at all but no matter what, it's still miles better than not talking with them and after a few hours of continuously talking one over the other and not synchronizing at all, we kinda got into the vibe and had tons of fun.

<p align="center">
<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/xT5LMq8pK04cIsVAB2/giphy.gif" /><br/>
<figcaption>Aren't we all special ❄️❄️❄️</figcaption>
</p>

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# Wrapping my thoughts

As you probably already figure it out, in this first article of mine I am not focusing on how to improve your work schedule or being more productive on your tasks, but rather how to keep the best version of you up and running in this time of change so that those things can come afterward.

Heck, this was pretty fun to write and now I'm super excited to share it with you 🦄. Would love to get your feedback and thoughts on it so don't hesitate to drop a comment.

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<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/14qIliCMe87BwA/giphy.gif" />
</p>

<p>
Tons of love 💛 y'all stay safe out there!
</p>