Six Tips to Energize Yourself Whilst Telecommuting

Stella goes to work early. Okay, it's not early by Real Office standards -- I show up at the same time as everyone else. But remember, too, the Real Office for me is two time zones away from where I'm actually temporally located. And while I love this schedule round about 3:45 in the afternoon (my time, aka 5:45 Real Office time) there are two dark moments in my day: The first happens at 5:00 in the morning when I get up and go to work. And the second happens at 10:00 at night when I go to bed in the mountain time zone and it's late, Real Office time-wise.


By the end of the week, I'm getting ragged. So I actively seek out ways to stay energized in the office:

1. Good smells: I find that lavender and rosemary are particularly energizing and refreshing, so I create opportunities for me to smell these good smells throughout the day. A little lotion here and there just goes a long way, I find. I also like minty stuff, so sometimes I'll brush my teeth several times a day to wake up, freshen up, and straighten up and fly right.

2. Music: I've written about the music I listen to throughout the day, and it's really essential to keeping my focus and my energy up, even when I'm beat.

3. Fresh air: I guess this is a form of good smell (at least here in the 'Burque it is) but just opening a window as soon as it is climatically practical to do so is fantastic. Lots of oxygen, natural sounds of birds singing and dogs barking. It helps me feel connected to the world around me and a little more oriented in the actual time zone where I'm physically located.

4. Drop and give me twenty: I do push ups. I roll around on my office ball. I flex my feet. I get up and dance around like an idiot. Whatever. I move.

5. Reach out and touch someone: When I'm feeling sluggish, I call some poor colleague to shoot the breeze, follow up on some long term project, or some such. I figure I'm probably helping that person refocus too, but interrupting them. Right?

6. Nature's perfect food: I know the health people out there will say, "Watch out for too much caffiene," but to them I say, "Fie!" I make a cup of green tea. Or I make an(other) espresso. Or I drink a Diet Dr. Pepper. Or if it's the day after pub quiz, I do allllllll threeeeeeee...

Maybe you do these things, too?