Today I’m sharing 4 great ways to stay focused and energised when working from home in Winter. If you follow me on instagram, you’ll likely know how much I struggle to remain focused when working from home. ADHD means I struggle to remain on task at the best of times, but I’ve found some great ways to help in the 15+ years I’ve been working from home.

**This post is made in collaboration with Very**

I’m no stranger to home-working. I was working from home long before lockdown meant so many of my friends joined the ranks. So it was inevitable really that I’ve shared my tips and tricks with loved ones over the past 4 years. When Very asked me to share how I stay on task when working from home during Winter, I knew exactly what to do!

How I Stay Focused and Energised When Working From Home in Winter

Being a single parent to a child who isn’t a great sleeper means I’m well versed in trying to remain productive and energised after a rubbish night’s sleep. One thing which I’ve found works really well is:

Lumie Bodyclock Wake-Up Light

It’s fairly well known that it’s easier to wake up when the sun’s out, so it’s easy to understand how the Lumie Bodyclock wake-up light works. If you set the alarm for 7am, the light gradually increases over the 30 minutes leading up to 7am, similar to how the sun rises. Then at 7am, the alarm sound gradually increases to wake you up without a jump-start.

You don’t get that horrible feeling when you first turn the light on, as you’ve been subconsciously acclimatising to “daylight”, thanks to the wake-up light. This lamp is the difference between me waking up and getting up straight away, and me hitting snooze 3 times, and wasting 30 minutes of my morning. When using the Lumie Bodyclock, I wake up feeling well rested, and ready for the day. 

The sunset feature also helps me fall asleep faster when I go to bed. It helps your body produce melatonin, which helps ease you to sleep naturally. No more doom scrolling until 1am for me!

Noise Cancelling Headphones

Once I’ve got Sam off to school and walked the dogs, it’s time for me to work. An essential tool for me during this time is noise cancelling headphones. They are a game-changing piece of kit, which helps me to stay focused and remain on task, when working from home.

The JLab JBuds Lux ANC Hybrid Noise Cancelling Headphones boast up to 70 hours of standard battery life, and are super comfy. I love that they block out background noise from barking dogs, traffic and roadworks, without me missing important calls in the process. I find that one charge per week means I can work uninterrupted for 40 hours.

They are easy to pair with your phone, or your laptop if you’re editing audio as part of your working day. I tend to have an audio book playing on my phone as I write and create social media images, but I can quickly connect the JLab JBuds to my MacBook Pro, when I’m working with audio. These headphones are a game changer when it comes to helping me stay focused and energised when working from home.

Apple Pencil

I used to use a pen and paper to jot down ideas, but this often lead to me losing notes, or wasting time typing them up, when converting them to posts. My iPad Pro and Apple Pencil changed that for me. Now I can quickly jot down notes using those, and they are converted to text automatically.

This process alone has saved me hours in my working week, and that’s before I mention how it’s made editing images and scheduling social media posts easier on my iPad. When meeting business clients previously, I’d have to take my MacBook Pro to edit on, my iPad Pro to view how the post will look, a pen and paper for notes, but now I can do everything from my iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.

It’s essential you make sure you buy the correct Apple Pencil for your iPad though, as they don’t all work with each device. The Apple Pencil I have is compatible with:

• iPad Pro 13-inch (M4)
• iPad Pro 11-inch (M4)
• iPad Air 13-inch (M2)
• iPad Air 11-inch (M2)
• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th generation) – I have the 5th version.
• iPad Pro 11-inch (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation)
• iPad (10th generation)
• iPad Air (4th and 5th generation)
• iPad mini (6th generation)
• iPad mini (A17 Pro)

Downtime is Essential

I personally feel it’s essential to switch off and enjoy some downtime each day. For me, this is the biggest factor when you want to stay focused and energised, at any time. Without it, you burn out and it can feel impossible to be productive. One thing I enjoy doing during downtime is gaming. The Nintendo Switch game, Luigi’s Mansion 3 is a great way to do that. 

This game is suitable for those aged 7+ so it’s perfect for geeky parents like me to play with the kids. Up to 8 people can play together, although each player will need their own controller.

If you’re a lifelong Nintendo fan like me, this is sure to make you feel nostalgic, and reminisce back to those days in the ’90s. I spent many hours playing Super Mario 3 in my bedroom, when it was too cold to play outside.

This game can be played for short bursts too, as it auto saves every time you leave a room and enter a different one. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a game this much, and I am finding I’m focusing more during working hours, so I get everything done faster, and have more free time to play!

Final Thoughts on How I Stay Focused and Energised When Working From Home in Winter

While these 4 items have definitely helped to increase my productivity, I can’t sign off without giving a huge shout out to caffeine and fresh air. Both of these feature heavily in my working days, year round too.

I would highly recommend getting outside for at least 30 minutes every single day, if you’re able. No matter what the weather is doing. I love nothing more than wrapping up warm for a Winter dog walk.

I think we can all agree that Very have some brilliant items to help improve work productivity. 

Finally, let me know in the comments if you have any other ways to remain on task when working from home – I’d love to hear them! Especially if they are tech and gaming related too!