How to have more fun when working from home
Working from home can give you a space to reduce distractions, work focused and productive, and you even save some of your personal time by not going anywhere. This is ideal if these are the things that matter most to you.
However, it can also mean feeling detached from your colleagues, a lack of pleasant office conversations, and can even seem boring and unstructured. The good thing is, there are things you can do to make working from home more fun, and here we look at how you can do just that.
1. Create a Spotify Playlist for Work
Research has shown that listening to music not only increases productivity, but can also reduce stress and increase your motivation levels. In fact, many offices have a radio for this very reason.
Instead of working in silence for eight hours of the day, try creating and listening to a Spotify playlist. This playlist should be made up of songs that put you in a good mood and make you feel energized, but also keep you focused.
To create a new playlist in Spotify on your desktop, just follow these steps:
- Click on Create a playlist on the Menu.
- Modify the Name, for example, “working playlist”.
- Click on To safeguard.
Then when you see a song you’d like to add, just Right click the song, click Add to playlistthen select your professional playlist.
Also, you can use Spotify To research bar to find public playlists that other users have created. Then add them to your library or manually select your favorite tracks.
2. Schedule social chats
In a shared office, conversation flows naturally and part of the workday is expected to be spent socializing. It’s a normal part of team building and helps build working relationships.
Working from home means you miss that, so you need to prioritize time to catch up with colleagues where the focus isn’t on work. This is essential for feeling connected to your team and cultivating good working relationships. Plus, it prevents loneliness, which can negatively impact your mood at work.
Whether it’s a phone call or a video call with one or more of your colleagues, put something in your diary at least once a week and stick to it! Your team will thank you, and you’ll likely leave invigorated.
3. Start an exercise routine at your desk
Exercise releases “feel-good” hormones called endorphins, which invigorate and energize you. It’s a fantastic way to bring more enjoyment to your workday, and it also has a positive effect on your overall cognitive performance.
You don’t need anything fancy to get started, but if you want some inspiration, there are plenty of desktop exercise apps you can use. These apps simplify things with stretches and workouts meant for the office, and all you need is your desk and chair.
If you don’t like the idea of working out in the office, you can always try creative ways to add physical activity to your shift, like answering emails while taking a walk. The idea is that you do more of what you love during office hours.
4. Entertaining challenges with teammates
A bit of friendly competition with your colleagues gives you something to work on and is a great bonding experience for everyone involved. If you’re the competitive type, setting weekly challenges with your co-workers might be just what you need.
At the start of the week, set a challenge for your team to complete by Friday. It can be anything, but make sure it’s kept light and everyone can participate. Here are some ideas:
- Decorate your desktop and take a picture to share with everyone.
- Send a nice comment to a colleague during the week.
- Draw a picture of an animal that best represents you and share it with the team.
- Prepare a nutritious lunch and show it to everyone.
To make sure everyone feels involved, you can create group challenges on the Goalify app and track everyone’s progress. Or, you can even create a dedicated Slack or MS Teams channel to stay in touch as you go.
5. Recycle your commuting time
You can use what would have been your commute time to prepare for the day, rather than waiting for your shift to start. A great way to do this is to play brain games.
If you like a good puzzle, you can try Wordle, or some Wordle alternatives, like Absurdle. It’s a fun way to wake up and get ready for any meetings or tasks you have planned.
Plus, why not get your team involved? Start your workday with a show and tell, and share your results with each other. It’s something small that could become part of your daily routine and work culture.
6. Listen to your favorite podcast
For days when you don’t have dates booked or aren’t feeling particularly social, listening to your favorite podcast can be a lot of entertainment. Like music, it breaks the silence of remote work.
You can find huge podcast libraries on Google Podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc. There’s even a Find the One quiz on Spotify that finds your perfect podcast, if you’re not sure where to start.
It can be something you do most of the time or just something you treat yourself to on calmer days. Either way, working from home is the perfect place to start a podcast hobby because you have more control over your surroundings.
Enjoy working from home
Just because you’re working doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy light entertainment and fun. Give yourself permission to relax and inject some excitement into your day, whether it’s laughing with your team or listening to your favorite tunes.
Your work takes up a large part of your day and it doesn’t make sense for it to be boring and isolating. Try some of the things above, and you might just feel a little better by the time the weekend rolls around.
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