While some people might be loving life in lockdown there are more that are finding it increasingly hard to get by. We are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, which is why its important to keep our spirits high. The following are some general tips that have helped us get through this time.

Fresh air and exercise

There are so many ways we can keep active during this time, from running, downloading one of the many latest fitness apps and joining a class suitable for you, vigorous cleaning or even just setting the intention to complete 10,000 steps a day if nothing else. By doing so, we unleash a magnitude of benefits from increased productivity, improved memory, more energy and more access to dopamine and serotonin – and who doesn’t want to release more happy hormones!

Take breaks

Want to improve your well-being, productivity and boost your performance? Remembering to take breaks might just do that. Back at the office, those quick breaks would happen naturally. Quick chats with colleagues at the watercooler, in the hallway between meetings or grabbing a coffee. It might not feel quite the same in our home offices, but working flat out isn’t sustainable and may send you into a physical and emotional burnout. Try to not let your breaks involve aimlessly scrolling on your phone but rather eat lunch away from your laptop, practice some self-care by doing some mindfulness meditation, prep your dinner or do some washing! 

Stay social & keep in touch

Not being able to leave the house to meet friends and co-workers can have serious effects on your mental state. Meeting up frequently with your co-workers digitally is great for multiple reasons, you get the social aspect of those quick chats. In addition, it’s a lot faster and more effective than messaging back and forth. We at Work In Startups meet up twice a week, on Mondays we discuss what is happening during the week and on Fridays what we achieved that week and in between we have a couple short informal coffee chats. Top tip: Don’t be hiding, turn on your camera! Actually seeing the person you are talking to has a huge effect, a large part of our communication is nonverbal so the camera is important.

Remember to disconnect at the end of your working day!

Now we’re not experts, but if you follow the points above, your productivity and motivation levels should improve. Therefore, when it’s the end of your working day, you can happily log off and switch off! This is possibly the most important point of this entire post! It’s so easy to either work longer or keep logging on to check your emails or some other information you have been waiting on. This leads to you never properly disconnecting and getting the rest you need. Burnout is a real threat in most industries, so when you log off make sure you are off. This can be by not going into your office space during non-office hours, or just putting your laptop out of sight and turning off notifications.