As a web developer, it is hard to get away from the screen when focusing hard on a web issue or a new web component feature - it is never the right time to step away. All developers are different! There are early birds or night owls. We tend to start work early and finish early. We sometimes continue to work through in the evenings or over the weekends. It depends on what goes on in our daily lives. But it is essential to maintain a balanced work life.
I try to stay healthy by:
- Eating and drinking well
- Sleeping well
- Exercising well
- Socialising
- Taking breaks
I do focus harder and get more work done efficiently by getting up early, sleeping well, and eating and drinking well. However, work can sometimes take over my life, which is not great. I work too hard, which means I don’t have time to exercise much, and I can have sleepless nights. I focus on too many issues at once without taking breaks from the computer screen, which can cause eye strains and headaches.
During my time away from work, I love travelling, socialising with other people, and doing puzzles and quizzes.
2020 has been a different and challenging year for everyone due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has been overwhelming when working from home. I love working from home once a week as there are no distractions, but to work from home for nearly a year due to the pandemic has been extremely hard. The disadvantages of working from home are unmonitored performance, less frequent breaks, burnouts, distractions, weak wifi signals, etc. On top of that, it has not been easy to socialise with colleagues.
However, if we stay well and stay positive, we can achieve more.
How to plan and achieve well when working from home during the pandemic
During the last 11 months of working from home, I have been working out a plan of staying healthy and taking 5-10 minute breaks every hour by making a mug of tea, for example. I have created a list to make every day a success.
- Wake up early and have a 10-minute walk.
- Drink plenty and eat healthily
- Check emails at the start of the day and check email every 2-3 hours
- Taking 5 - 10 min breaks from the screen every hour
- Have calm music on in the background
- Tracking my time
- Have a workout session after work
- Half an hour reading
- Half an hour yoga/meditation
It is currently on trial, but it is slowly working. The next step is creating a spreadsheet to analyse my performance and which areas I need to improve.
Will anything change when returning to the office
Returning to the office will be different and weird after working from home for such a long time. However, they will not be any changes in my well being. I will continue to follow the list above and continue maintaining my well being.