An Attic of Solitude

Applying my work from home routines to my self-quarantine

I’ve been self-quarantined in the attic of my partner’s parents house for four days now. It’s me, him, and my dog up here. We have agreed not to leave the attic except to go on daily walks with our dog, taking less traveled paths to ensure we keep at least 6 feet away from people we come across. So far each day has exhibited different weather- snow, rain, freezing rain, sunshine, clouds. We’re lucky to be warm.

Before all this happened, I had been working from home (WFH) for about 8 months and had managed to develop a successful routine. I have already gone through the stage of sleeping in late, being easily distracted, and procrastinating via cooking elaborate lunches. When no one is looking over your shoulder keeping an eye on what you’re working on, it’s easy to avoid working much at all. I learned the hard way that the transition to WFH can be tougher than you think.

There are several issues that arise, the major ones being isolation, stagnation or not moving your body enough, and the change in routine and/or location causing disruptions to the systems that maintain your focus.

Many of my friends have said that I was lucky to have already been remote for 90% of my work, I also thought maybe nothing would change but that has proven not to be true. First of all, I’ve had to change locations three times since COVID-19 became a serious threat to ensure I’m effectively sheltered in place. I have suffered dodgy WiFi connections, and have felt utterly exhausted some days from the mental load of it all. My routines have been shaken- I can’t rely that everyday I will have a coffee and a desk to work at. Will I have to sit on the floor? I find myself lying down, staring out the attic window in the afternoon, watching the snow fall.

In an attempt to still hit my targets I’ve been maintaining 3 daily goals that I have learned over the past few months and I thought I would share —

Patience with self

It can feel frustrating to not be as productive as you normally are, but we are not just machines. Practicing self-forgiveness, kindness and patience with yourself will help you get back on track faster. When creating new routines, start small. I brush my teeth at 7am, eat lunch at noon, and drink tea at 3pm. These serve as easy to achieve mile-markers for my day that I can build other activities around.

Free your mindspace

It can be easy to put off going outside, but it makes a huge difference in your perspective and mental space. Another great option, if you’re in a densely populated area, that has a similar effect is just letting your mind wander while taking a shower. As is meditation, or even watching videos about nature and space. Stepping outside your immediate surroundings to experience the larger world can have a calming effect and put our challenges in perspective. From personal experience, set a timer for these activities and track the total time spent on them per day.

Stay connected virtually

There are tons of tools and tricks that can help in terms of productivity which I will get into below, but often just talking to someone about how you honestly are doing today can be a good reminder that you aren’t alone- we are all struggling with the transitions taking place right now.

Tools that might help

Additionally, let’s not forget we have access to resources designed specifically to help with the transition to online work. Whatever work you may do, you may not be aware these new tools can be a perfect addition to your workday.

Reminder: these technologies are meant to help facilitate working and learning, not replace it or take up too much unnecessary time to integrate, that’s why I am sharing these specific tools.

Beastnotes — Take notes while you work, watch a lecture or video, with the convenience of being stickied to your browser. Beastnotes is a browser extension that can be found here: https://www.beastnotes.com or in the Chrome Web Store.

Pricing: first three notebooks free. Thereafter, there are 2 upgraded plans for $2.99 and $4.99 per month.

Headspace — this app has guided meditations aimed at tackling problems related to anxiety, sleeplessness, and relationships. It’s designed to help you train your mind and body for a healthier, happier life and get the most out of your day.

Pricing: the basic package is free. From there, a monthly subscription is $12.99 per month or $95 annually.

Slack — this is for engagement. Join slack groups for any number of topics- from working moms to helping anxiety, there are channels for everyone. Avoid the feeling of isolation by reaching out to others who are in the same (virtual) boat. Connection is incredibly powerful.

Pricing: there is a free version and businesses can pay for their own private channels as well starting at $6.67 USD per person per month.

Airtable — Keep track of anything with this program, Airtable fields can handle any content you throw at them. Add attachments, long text notes, checkboxes, links to records in other tables — even barcodes. Whatever you need to stay organized.

Pricing: Airtable has a tiered plan system. The free version includes unlimited bases, 1,200 records per base, 2GB of attachment space per base and two weeks of revision history.

I hope you find these tools useful and remember that often the most efficient thing you can do is take care of yourself first. In that vein, I’m going to go outside. The sun is shining at last.