Living at the office, working from home, career entanglement — whatever you might call it we can all agree that the transition has been difficult. Without an office to physically exit, many people report struggling to come to a hard stop at the end of the day or powering their work brains off. Many of us are still coming to terms with this new arrangement, let alone mastering it. We decided to get a little advice from the experts: Founders — the ones who seem to have it all together. Surely they are hiding a tip or five up their freshly ironed sleeves. You can find the first part of our series where CEOs share their WFH tips here.
Hiraa Khan and Anum Tariq , Co-Founders of Ansel & Ivy
Setting daily rituals that allow us to take mental health breaks throughout the workday is super important to us. These daily rituals can be anything from setting aside time to meditate or journal, water or mist your houseplants, taking a short walk around your neighborhood, or calling a loved one. It’s easy to become consumed with work and overwhelmed with everything going on in the world right now, but even a simple ten-minute break every day can help bring some positivity and peace to otherwise hectic days. We find that these quick mental resets help us think more clearly and be more productive throughout the day.
Fatma Collins, Co-Founder and CEO of Ten Little
As two working parents who are now at home with a toddler, working from home can be stressful. My one tip would be to dedicate 30 minutes to yourself. Exercise, meditate, dance and most importantly, disconnect! Those 30 minutes can make the other hours left in the day a lot more healthy for both work and family life.
Nellie Coffy and Jocelyn Stradiotto, Co-Founders of Sun Chaser
When you wake up 15 feet from your “office,” it’s easy to feel like you should start work right away, eat through lunch, and in general always be “online”. After a few weeks of falling into this way of working, we realized we needed to be more mindful of how and when we are working. Sun Chaser and entrepreneurship are our passions and life’s career! We knew that this new arrangement of working remotely, which was going to be semi-permanent throughout our career, needed a better approach. We now work from home by first shaping our schedule: what things that day we will be doing together and what sections of our day are up to our own discretion! This is important for two of our shared values: self-responsibility and freedom. Each of us like to stay active and get exercise as part of our day. We also ensure we have time that day to do a fun, non-work related activity. The beauty is that since we shape our own schedules, we’re not confined to the typical 9-5 p.m., and can place that dedicated time where it makes sense. If you’re not feeling your best in your WFH set up, we highly encourage you to question how you structure your day, making space for play, stillness, and reflection.
Stephanie Zheng, Founder + CEO of Mount Lai
I always start the day with a cup of tea, a gratitude practice in my Happiness Planner and an outline of my priorities [and] schedule for the day. On days where it feels like I have a billion things to do, I’ll do a brain dump by writing every task down and then circling the top 5 or 6 most important things that I need to get to for that day. Whatever doesn’t get done moves onto the to-do list for the next day. I aim for 25 minutes of diligent work followed by 5 minutes of break. For me, I’ve found that it’s just the right amount of time for me to work before getting distracted. I like to keep my Mount Lai De-Puffing Eye Tool next to me at my desk to give my eyes a massage during the breaks since I stare at my laptop or phone pretty much all day. At the end of the workday, I love to take walks outside to get some fresh air and soak in the sunshine. (While wearing SPF, of course!)
Allison Evans, Co-Founder of Branch Basics
I regularly work from home, which means my “office” is frequently visited by my children and their messes! When my space is a mess, it’s hard to focus and I feel pulled and distracted. There’s just something about an organized physical space that literally creates a peaceful mental space. Since I spend so much time looking at the computer and phone screen, I can’t live without my blue blocker glasses. They help prevent headaches, balance sleep cycles and block any harmful light that comes from staring at a screen for hours on end. Another is my AustinAir purifier — indoor air quality can majorly impact your productivity and everyday well-being.
Melanie Goldsmith, CEO of Smith & Sinclair
To stay productive, during this time I have found an outlet in writing fictional short stories that are based on the current health crisis. For example, what if a complete stranger had to move in to occupy our second bedroom? Or more out-there extreme fiction, what if this was finally the time where all the dogs of NYC took charge and led the city? This activity allows me to release some creativity and move away from our current reality. As we are working from home, I try to keep my mind and body healthy and take workout breaks. I have been doing some really fun dance workouts to release tension and have been stepping outside of the house to get fresh air at my local Brooklyn park where I set up obstacle courses. My husband and I are trying to avoid screen overload, so we’ve created ‘no tech’ times in the evening and weekends where we’re reading a lot more, playing board games (our investment in board games has essentially replaced our expenditure on eating out) and playing with our gorgeous new rescue kitten.
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