It has been said many times that the outbreak of the corona pandemic has influenced many aspects of your daily lives. For instance, it has changed – at least for many of us – the way we work.
Before the corona outbreak, working from home was an exception to the rule. It was usually reserved for small business owners or bloggers who are able to generate passive income from the contents of their blogs, while the rest of us who have more traditional income, we have to actually leave our house and go to work.
Now, working from home is the new norm. In the photograph above, you see my working station at home. Aesthetically speaking, my working station is not one of the best. It is very ordinary and basic as a matter of fact. But it does not matter for as long as it serves its purpose well. Besides when I am immersed at my work and has reached the state of flow, the whole world around me just disappears.
I have been so much inspired by the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi on ‘Flow’. Csikszentmihalyi demonstrates that the key to a fulfilling and happy life is not success, money, or power, but being able to achieve the state of flow.
And that is what I would like to talk about in this post. How to achieve the state of flow while working from home?
Don’t multitask: Multi tasking never work. Give your 100% focus on one task and complete one task at a time. We cannot save time from doing two or more things at the same time, on the contrary, we end up wasting more time when we are multitasking.
Focus on what you can control: it is very important to recognise aspects of our work in which we have control from those we have not. For instance, if the systems are down or your equipments are not working and you cannot do anything about it, then there is no use to obsess and stress about it.
Take a break regularly: We cannot only focus for a while and it is therefore imperative to take a break from time to time. But when we do take a break, we must really take a break. Do something else. Get away from the computer. I play the piano for 5 minutes when I take a break or play with my dog.
Away with your (private) phone: When I work, my phone is not on the desk where I work, so that I cannot be distracted by its notification sounds. And even my phone is on silent mode, I am still distracted by the sheer sight of it, because I am more inclined my to check my social media accounts.
You are not perfect, but you strive for perfection: Of course you will be distracted from time to time. You are not perfect and that ok. Nonetheless you strive for perfection and that is beautiful. When you get distracted, recognise that you are distracted and direct your focus on the task in front of you.
On Being Stoic 