When the pandemic started in the Spring of 2020, we realized that life was not as disruptive in our household as it was appearing to many other families and communities across the globe! We already homeschooled and also worked remotely for many years. Our daily routines and rhythms mostly had already revolved around work, school, and every day is centered in our home. However, we were far from being immunized to the ever-changing societal norms over the last 18 months. Like the rest of the world, we had to adapt to online church, ordering groceries online, outdoor meet-ups with friends, and canceling vacations. But we remained resilient and continued to work, educate our kids from home, and started to realize the blessings that were being provided during these changing times.
As most of society can understand, the patterns of everyday life have now shifted and the identity of work is now a blurry line with the rest of life. It is easy to look at the last 18 months with resentment to the disruptions, distractions, and lock-downs, and look for the normal to come back. However, I would argue and hope that there is a growing majority out there, especially those that are part of the Great Resignation, that are now experiencing the secret freedoms of having a remote life that is now the core of your identity.
This is the life…the Remote Life!
The freedoms, the choices, the opportunity to evaluate what’s important in life and go after it. If you are in a conundrum of a pending or upcoming life decision such as returning to the office, returning to long commutes, returning to frequent in-person meetings, returning to frequent business travel, or keeping your kids in school; I would challenge you to rethink the return to normal and find the blessings of the last two years and double down. Why not, we only have one life to live on this earth.
There are infinite possibilities to optimize a remote life, but I am attempting narrow down this list to the top 6 areas that can unlock your ball & chain of the old norms to the freedoms of the new world we’re living in.
Consider Homeschooling
We have homeschooled for the last 7 years and it’s been one of the best experiences and decisions we’ve ever decided to make. This isn’t for everyone, but if you have become frustrated with your educational institution, or have had a burning desire to take education into your own hands, do your research and try it out. I highly recommend the 90-Minute School Day and that’s because this was founded by my amazing wife who is a gifted educator, and business owner, and has a love for children.
Get Outdoors and Enjoy Nature
Working from home does not permit you to turn your commute into more computer time. Get outside year-round no matter the temperature! Make it a habit and get your vitamin D, movement, and enjoy the community around you. Put in your earbuds to listen to your music, podcast, or radio show just as you would have been doing during your commute. Getting movement in the outdoors first thing in the morning will help reset you. Throw away the gym membership, especially if you are a runner and a moderate strength trainer. Again, this may not be for everyone as there is power in group workouts and having personal trainers, but that choice is yours. Getting outdoors is FREE and saves time!
Create an Edible Landscape
Research has shown that there has been what I would like to coin as the “Great Escape” from the metropolis! With that comes smaller communities, typically more land, a lower cost of living, and a slower pace of life. Escaping to the suburbs and urban metropolis has its bonuses that I could write a full column on by itself, but the benefit I will spotlight here is being able to create your own green space and eat off the land. Gardening and caring for your land doesn’t only have edible benefits, it is healthier, cheaper, and quite therapeutic! Our family isn’t expert gardeners, but we have thrived over the years making various beds on our property.
Family Business Trip
The pandemic definitely slowed down business travel across the globe. This may have been my personal biggest silver lining of the entire pandemic as I stopped missing major milestones for my kids and I started to bring a balance to the everyday rhythms of our household. But as society has been slowly opening back up, there have been some trips that have started to hit my calendar again. With that, we have maximized being able to make these trips into family business trips. This isn’t new for us, but knowing that travel has subsided slightly for me, it has allowed us to be more intentional and thoughtful on how we can school our kids at the end destination or even in route to that destination. Knowing we are also trying to save money, this becomes a mini-vacation allowing all of us to rejuvenate, rest, and recharge. My kids are also exposed to what daddy does for a living which presents opportunities for them to be future entrepreneurs and professionals.
Deconstruct Your Work Day
Working from home no longer means that you’re constricted to the 9-5 if you’re an entrepreneur or in a workforce that endorses schedule flexibility. If you have this flexibility and freedom, take it and make it unique for you. Deconstruct anything that you’ve ever known about the 8-hour work day or the 40-hour work week and create a schedule that works for your energy levels, the needs of your children, the odd jobs around your home, or other expectations that you have in your community or home. I personally am more productive before 9 AM in our current infrastructure. I also make it a point to never do meetings on Friday unless it’s networking or communing with a friend…no agenda! To learn more about how to supercharge and analyze your work style and your optimal performance, I recommend reading or listening to Daniel Pink’s book called, “WHEN“.
Lose the Alarm Clock
Yes, you read that correctly. Losing the alarm clock is not code for sleeping all day or being lazy. Losing the alarm clock is code for resetting your rhythms that still allows for adequate sleep (at least 7 hours) and up and at it before the kids wake up. Losing the alarm clock is code for losing the first input of the day which creates anxiety. Losing the alarm clock is code for letting your body naturally wake you when you’re ready. There will always be exceptions to this rule, but make it second nature to reset your body’s circadian rhythm to going to bed at a very reasonable hour, optimizing your sleep environment, and pacing yourself…not your watch. For more information on getting better sleep and working remotely, check out this article by the Sleep Foundation.
The list goes on for the many ways to optimize a remote lifestyle! But if you are looking for a slower pace of life and more balance for you and your kids, this list is the ideal place to start. I challenge everyone to not look at the last 2 years as a curse or inconvenience, but look at it as a blessing and opportunity to leverage the bag of lemons this pandemic has thrown our way! This season is an opportunity to change your life into a lifestyle that is permanent and works for you.