How to work from home (with dragons)

As the YHE team goes 100% remote and continues with business as usual, our CEO Grail Noble (and her coworker friendly dragon, Ziggy) sent us these tips. So we thought we would share:  

• TURN OFF THE NEWS!  It will make you crazy. Check-in after dinner to see what you missed and in the morning and then put on a great playlist and ignore it because there is actual evidence that the constant doomsday drone has a major impact on your mental wellbeing and anxiety. That includes those news alerts. Turn them off. Exhale. 

• TAKE LOTS OF BREAKS. If you are not in quarantine or isolation and lucky enough to still be social distancing, go out for a walk, find a local hiking trail, sit outside say hi to neighbours from afar while you still can. We could be isolated further where we aren’t allowed to leave our houses, so don’t start yours sooner than you need to as long as you are being safe of course. If you are in isolation, set an alarm every hour and walk around your apartment or house, stretch, throw on a great tune and dance. Enjoy some apres work drinks with friends over Skype, Google hangout or video conference. Toast to something positive. You forget how many little chat breaks you get being at work, which you don’t get at home. 

• DRINK LOTS OF WATER and WORK OUT. Easy to forget to do at home. There are so many apps available right now for working out at home and many yoga and fitness studios are offering video classes or one on one instruction. And pre-cut healthy snacks to have within in the fridge 

• SET A NEW ROUTINE. They say this is key. Meg Sweeney, our VP Operations, has worked from home for 4 years and swears by this. Create your new schedule and book it in your calendar. Schedule your morning workout, don’t stay in PJs all day but get dressed for “work”. Schedule an hour lunch break and a coffee break mid-afternoon. Switch off after work hours so it doesn’t all run together. If you have tried or are willing to try meditation, this is a very powerful way to start your day. Clears the head and allows you to set affirmations and steady breath before diving in. Just 15 mins a day will do it. It is so good for mood, mind, positivity and goal setting and is hitting the mainstream hard!

• MAKE TIME FOR FRIENDS. On line, over skype, group gaming or in person at a distance. Plan a social distance picnic in the park or at the beach this weekend. Just a few friends at least 6ft apart. Having a laugh is key and try to steer away from too much Covidconvo (TM! – I just made that up and I like it). There are still so many other things to talk about! 

Take care of the body, mind and soul. Be well.