Welcome back, everyone! Today, we’re here to refresh on a topic we’ve been covering since the start of the pandemic: working from home! Now that almost all of us, and if not us then likely a person we know, have transitioned their work to the virtual environment, it’s crucial to stay in tune with how to maintain motivation and engagement through your screen. If you’re still WFH full-time or in a hybrid format, this article is for you. Keep reading here to find out our best tips for staying engaged no matter where you work…

Stay Engaged: Working From Home Edition…

• Fitness: It’s no shock that those who work from home are less likely to be active during their day! Without being forced to commute or leave their four walls, it’s easy to fall into a pattern of sitting and not doing. However, as we’ve encouraged you in the past, being the caloric benefit, exercise helps to decrease stress, increase energy, and overall optimize your physical and emotional well-being! So, whether it looks like going to the gym, outside on a walk, engaging in an at-home video, lifting weights, working with a trainer, or anything else, stay moving! You might even work for a company that provides monetary incentives as a benefit for staying healthy – so make sure to look into how they are investing in your health starting today!
• Virtual team-building: While not always ideal (let’s be honest here!), it’s still key to relationship building to offer and participate in virtual team-building events. Whether this is a virtual happy hour, escape room, mystery game, scavenger hunt, mixology class, game night, or what have you, make sure to come with a positive attitude and a smile. Those of you who participate in these types of events undoubtedly retrieve the most value from WFH environments and build ever-lasting connections with coworkers and leadership alike.
• Optimize your WFH setup! Again, you may not know it, but many companies offer benefits in the form of compensation for at-home offices. So, look into how to derive the most value out of your benefits package by embedding some key attributes of a functional space into your home today:
  • Laptop or several monitors and keyboard
  • Quality headphones or earbuds
  • Adjustable standing desk or treadmill desk if people prefer to work standing up or want to work out a bit
  • An ergonomic and comfortable chair
  • Hardware accessories, such as webcam and wireless device charging station
  • Ring light to better show people’s faces on video calls
• Learning opportunities: Take advantage of online opportunities to increase your professional skills and competency! Many courses can be found on Udemy, Development internal websites, and more. Even LinkedIn, Amazon, and Google offer several free-to-access programs for you to enjoy and utilize!
• Prioritizing mental well-being: Finally, we all know that being isolated in a virtual format can be damaging to one’s mental well-being. So, always factor in times for breaks, outdoor walks, re-fueling with a full lunch, and other pockets of “you time.” While we all know the urgency of work obligations, at the end of the day, remind yourself that the world will go on without you meeting one deadline! And never be too hard on yourself, we’re all trying our best out here!