Dressing up for lockdown — How a morning routine makes you more productive
Introduction
One thing is for sure, 2020 has provided us with a paradigm shift in the way we go about our daily lives, including how we work. If you weren’t one of the lucky ones who already had the whole working from home thing down, then you were in for a surprise. If you are used to working in an office environment, working from home provides some freedoms that would otherwise be frowned upon in the office.
Negative Feedback Loop
One of the first impacts of working from home was not needing to travel to work every day (obviously), leaving me with an extra hour in the morning. I for one love my sleep so, needing to leave early to miss the traffic was just the motivation I needed to get up on time. Without this extra shove out of bed, I found myself using that extra gained hour to sleep in. While getting some extra sleep isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I started forming a bad habit of oversleeping. To make matters worse, I soon realized that I didn’t need to shave or brush my hair. All of our meetings were now virtual so I could just keep my webcam off. For each routine that I could skip out on, I was able to sleep in a little bit more. This led to a negative feedback loop of skipping out on things because I overslept, and then realizing I didn’t need to do it so I continued to sleep in. Soon I went from a functioning member of society to the walking dead. Only getting out of bed a few minutes before my first meeting.
Mindset Matters
Working from home has also blurred the lines between work and personal time. If you’re not careful, the two can easily become indistinguishable. For some, this may mean not being able to put the laptop down at the end of the day. For others, it may mean not being able to work productively because you’re still in that “at home” mindset. I found that by not having a clear separation between home and work, I did not have the right mindset to be productive. I noticed that I was unable to focus on my tasks or pay attention during meetings.
Suit Up
While still working from home, I got the opportunity to move to another company. I took this opportunity as a fresh start. A way to correct the wrongs of the past and, well… put on clothes before a meeting. I decided to set a morning routine, it was time to suit up.
Regardless of whether I work from home or the office, now I always follow this routine:
- Shower
- Shave
- Style my hair
- Coffee!
- Get dressed in workwear, more often than not in a suit
- Coffee!
While actually needing to wear a suit and having two cups of coffee is not really necessary, having a routine is. Having a fixed morning routine gives you the time you need to get ready for the day. I found that one of the most important parts of my routine is getting dressed in workwear. Not only will your colleagues and neighbours appreciate you not being in your underwear. You will appear more professional, and be in the correct mindset to be productive. Finally, a morning routine provides a smooth transition between home time and work time.
Conclusion
Working from home during a lockdown has led to the lines between personal and work time being blurred. Having a good morning routine helps clearly separate the two while ensuring that you’re in the correct mindset to work productively.
