Enjoying the Outdoors When You Work from Home
Do you feel like you never leave the house—or is that just me? Working 40 hours a week, 20 steps from where I sleep and eat makes for some serious wishing that I had more of a reason to leave the house and be a human some days. (Though I’m grateful that I get to work from home. Namaste.)
If you want to take it to another level, I know that feeling connected to the Earth (#hippyshit) can be hard when your nose has to be in a screen 8 hours a day. And with Spring springing and birds a-singing, I know that I am being called to bask in the sunshine almost as fervently as #janetheboxer, who is a an avid sun-tanner, through and through.
Ever just wish you could be outside more?
I get lost in my little world of emails, checklists, and client meetings, often forgetting that one of the joys of working from home is being able to enjoy things like quick laps around the ‘hood when I’m feeling it, or taking a morning pause to tend to my herb garden.
Most of us just forget to be active participants of life outside of home and work, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose to get outside.
How disconnected we’d become from the natural world beyond our little computer-driven lives was one of the key take-aways we garnished from traveling the country last year with our 7-year old kid and our dog—it was 40 days of camping, hiking, and driving; see #indiegoeswest on my blog and instagram.
Does this new-found hippiness make us any less down with tech and the “real world”? Hell no. I’m hiking with my Apple Watch and up to it in emails, but I’m also taking some time to enjoy being an animal on planet Earth, too.
Since returning from our jaunt in the wilderness, we’ve incorporated a lot more outdoors-y activity into our daily lives, something I’m glad we have the ability to do as home-based business owners.
Here are some ways you can cultivate a happier outdoors-y lifestyle for yourself too, without drinking too much of the kool-aid:
1 – Go sit out on your porch/stoop/balcony to answer your emails.
As many as you can handle. Listen to the birds. Feel the breeze. Hit send. Repeat.
2 – Make some time in your morning routine for a porch-sit or a walk.
Kathleen likes to “walk to work” via her neighborhood coffee shop, while David and I like to enjoy our morning cup of beverage (he’s a coffee-drinker, I like hot tea) on the front porch. Regardless of how you do it, build a wee bit of outside time into that schedule that you get to plan for yourself.
3 – Start a container garden, and love your plants.
I used to think I had a black thumb, incapable of growing any plants. I’ve killed a cactus. But really, I just didn’t live at home enough to really get into it. Now that I work from home, it’s not so much of a thing. We have amassed a thriving container garden, but even just a kitchen-window succulent would also do.
And with all the software that makes my daily reminders so easy, setting a recurring task to help nudge you when you might forget to sprinkle on the water is one of the beauties of living so close to tech.
Go buy a cute plant. Name it Merve. Keep it happy.
4 – Put a bird feeder outside of your office window.
And soak in the nature while you type. A suction-cup one would even do. Also, try squirrel feeders if you’re down for a good laugh.
If you can’t do a feeder, just listen to the birds, as my grandmother always advises. She knows what’s up.
5 – Open all of your windows when it’s feelin’ good outside.
I love having my windows open to air out my house, listen to the… traffic, and feel like I’m out in it, even when I’m nose-deep in email funnels.
6 – End each work day with a walk around the block.
I don’t do this as consistently as I’d like, but I do know that I feel good when I do make it a priority and the weather allows it. Making a quick trip outside to decompress from work builds in a hard stop in my workday, allowing my brain to shut off so I can be away from work, and it reminds me that a whole world has been going on while I’ve been tucked away in my hole (that’s what I call my corner in our office).
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The more of these you can work into your daily routine, the more #hippyshit you are, and the more awesome, in my book. But also, high five to you for building an entrepreneur-life that’s just as much about the self-care that’s flying high when you’re taking time to be outdoors as it is reconnecting with the planet.
Have any other favorite ways you work outdoors-y #hippyshit into your daily life? Share you tips and tactics using #BeingBossGoesGreen on Twitter and Instagram.
Peace.
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BONUS: Find your nearest National Park, and go take a hike – it’s their centennial!
This year is the 100th birthday of the National Park System. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m pretty sure the NPS is at the top of Good Ideas of the American Government, and you better bet our family will be spending time this summer helping them celebrate the preservation of American lands for posterity, and to enjoy some outdoors fun, too!
Check out the #FINDYOURPARK hashtag, which we used lots during #indiegoeswest, and share that you’re supporting the cause along with us.
TASK: Schedule a hike.
Now, open your calendar, find a one-hour block on this upcoming Sunday afternoon (of the next, if you already have plans), commit. Go take a hike. You’ll thank me in the morning.
