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A woman in a seated twist on a green mat in a sunlit room, an olive tree and the sea behind her

Move · 10 min

A walk before the home working day

When home is also the office, a short walk before you start, and one real voice each day, can keep the days from blurring.

10 minutesFrom the library, free to readFour steps
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Working from home saves travel, but it can take away the edges of the day and the people in it. Without a journey to work, work can start before breakfast and run on late into the evening, and some weeks pass with very little real conversation. Two small habits can put some of that back.

The steps

Four small steps,in your own time.

  1. Before you start work, go out for a ten-minute walk, even around the block, and come back in as if arriving at work.

  2. Work in one spot, if you can, that you can leave at the end of the day, even a particular chair at the table.

  3. Each day, have at least one conversation by voice or video, not only by message, about work or about anything.

  4. At the end of the day, take the same short walk again, as your journey home.

The reason

Why it helps

The walk brings morning daylight and a little movement, and gives the mind a clear start. Using one spot for work helps keep the rest of the home for the rest of life. Hearing a voice each day can ease the loneliness that working alone sometimes brings.

A gentle variation

If you cannot leave the home, step outside the front door for a few minutes, or stand by an open window before you start. If calls are not part of your job, make the daily voice a friend or family member at lunchtime.

Friends resting after a game, the sea behind them

WE · TRIBE

Try itwith someone.

If you share the home with someone else who works there, walk together in the morning, and agree the hours when each of you is working and when you are free.

Make it a plan in HIVELIVE, with WE

Try it today

Tomorrow, before you start work, walk outside for ten minutes and come back in as if arriving.

Add it to your day

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