Above: An illustration from the desk calendar.
These excerpts from Gail Perry Johnston’s 2022 Work from Home calendar offer tips for working from home more effectively.
- If you have kids, they probably want to spend more time with you than you can afford. Here’s a suggestion: Clear a surface in your office for a puzzle. Spread it out so anyone entering your space can’t help but sit down and put a few pieces in place. A good age-appropriate puzzle will engage your kids so they can be in your office for a while without saying much more than an occasional “found it!”
- No one has a perfectly balanced life, but when working from home, it may be a little easier to approximate. For example, the time you save from not being stuck in traffic can be spent hanging out with your loved ones, having coffee with a friend, or exercising. Throughout the day, when you need a break from work, you can do a quick chore to help keep your evenings free. Take advantage of these benefits to get closer to that blessed balance we all seek.
- There are days when interruptions on the home front are beyond manageable and you get nothing done. Other days, you impress the heck out of yourself with how much you can accomplish by noon. This happens no matter where you work, Don’t blame the fact that you’re working at home for all that goes wrong. We have good days and bad days. That’s just life.
- Research suggests that doodling does not detract from your attention, but actually enhances it, especially during long phone calls. Apparently, doodling helps you listen without losing interest, improving your ability to recall what was discussed.
- The eye is an amazing organ surrounded by the ciliary muscle, which enables the lens to change shape for focusing. But staring all day at a screen does not do it any favors. Just as standing for hours can cause legs to ache and cramp, focusing on a screen can do the same to our eyes. Ophthalmologist Dr. Paul Casey recommends the 20-20-20 exercise, which will effectively relax your eyes: Every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet away and let your eyes linger there for about 20 seconds.
The 2022 Working From Home Page-A-Day calendar is available from Workman publishing.
