As we have now reached the fourth week of lockdown and working remotely, some of us may have settled into a consistent ‘work from home’ routine, whereas others of us may still be struggling with keeping motivated during this strange time.
As part of HAVAS’ ‘Wellness Wednesdays’, I had the opportunity to tune into a very inspiring workshop led by Dr Heather McKee, Behaviour Change Specialist on ‘Staying Motivated Against the Odds’.
The session was informative and discussed aspects of our daily routines that we would most commonly overlook, such as the importance of having regular mealtimes and how important it is to have time to unwind before going to bed. As we find ourselves having to work from home, we may find that our natural body clocks have started to become rather scrambled. Dr McKee discussed techniques and ways in which we can overcome the physical, mental and environmental barriers to establishing a solid routine. Even if wearing your pyjamas all day and showering five minutes before your first video call sounds appealing, it’s definitely not conducive to your productivity.
The key takeaway from the session was that it is important for us to establish a system in order to bring about a habit change to make sure that we aren’t exhausting our willpower when creating a routine.
For example, brushing your teeth in the morning doesn’t require an enormous amount of effort; it’s second nature because it’s a habit that you have adopted over time. It is possible to incorporate other elements (such as an early morning workout or yoga session) into your daily routines by circumventing the decision fatigue that you may experience when deciding whether or not to do something.
The session was broken down into three parts: physical habits, mental habits and environmental habits.
Physical habits
These include the big three necessities needed for survival: food, sleep and movement.
It is important to establish regular wake and sleep times, as well as unwind time away from screens before bed. We all know that a good night’s sleep comes with a wide range of health benefits, such as making you more alert and improving your memory, but it is also important to spend some time first thing in the morning and just before you go to bed, away from your phone, tablet and laptop.
As good as it is being so connected with friends, family and co-workers, it is important to take a break from instant messaging, firing off emails and scrolling through Instagram. According to a study, people who are constantly checking their email, texts and social media were significantly more stressed than those who don’t check them as frequently. When you receive a notification, the body’s sympathetic nervous system kicks into action and triggers a ‘fight-or-flight’ response, releasing stress-inducing hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream. Not exactly what you want your body to do just before bed.
In addition to determining a regular sleeping pattern, it is also important to establish regular mealtimes as this is not only good for digestive health but can even help boost your immune system. The human body was not designed for a sedentary lifestyle and according to the book, ‘Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life’, ‘being sedentary can lead to hypertension, imbalanced eating, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and even certain kinds of cancer.’
Therefore, you should make a conscious effort to move more, whether that involves going for a run or dancing around your house to your favourite song.
Mental habits
Dr McKee explained the Pomodoro Technique to us, which can help boost productivity while ensuring you also take frequent breaks from work.
You can use a kitchen timer to time your Pomodoros or you can use an alarm on your phone. I have been trying this method for the past few days and can seriously vouch for it.
Another way to promote productive habits is to celebrate ticking something off your to-do list. Appreciate that if your to-do list is very long, indulging in a grand celebration may not be very practical, but you can take a moment to have a little celebration by putting your favourite song on, making a cup of hot chocolate or even just by giving yourself a pat on the back. This will trigger your brain’s reward-pathway through the production of the hormone dopamine, which will encourage you to continue ticking off items from your to-do list in the future.
Environmental habits
As you’re reading this, take a moment to stop and observe your surroundings… what is in front of you? Your surroundings and items in your workspace directly influence how productive you are and can serve as distractions to your flow of work.
You are more likely to interact with items that are in closer proximity to you, e.g. if a big distraction for you is your mobile phone, try moving your phone away from eyeshot or placing it in a drawer. Something that I had not thought about before that was brought up in Dr McKee’s session was about how your phone has a micro-environment. If you find that you spend a big bulk of your time scrolling mindlessly through social media platforms, then rearrange the apps on your screen so that these culprit apps are in a folder on the last page and are therefore less accessible.
Likewise, if you would like to foster a positive habit but are lacking motivation to do so, you can leave that book you’ve been meaning to start reading on your desk or lay out your morning workout clothes the night before. You may find that between your Pomodoros, instead of grabbing your phone, you end up grabbing a book instead.
During these uncertain times, we could all use a little motivation to keep our productivity high to keep us going. Hopefully these tips and tricks will help you increase ‘friction’ for unhelpful behaviours/habits and conversely, reduce ‘friction’ for helpful and productive behaviours/habits.
Now, set your timer for 25 minutes and let’s go!