Abi's Work From Home Lockdown Routine (Of Sorts...)

I’m not as rigid in my work from home routine as some of peeps I’ve seen on Instagram with scheduled water and snack breaks, that’s impossible and improbable with a run year old running around who literally thinks I’m her climbing frame!

In hopes of keeping her entertained I literally have become the mega craft lady… I’ve made play dough out of flour and water, cut up milk cartoons into elephant shape and painted it - attempted to play bottle top hunt in a bucket of soapy water… epic fail never try and do anything with a bucket full of water in your front room with a toddler… let’s say it’s not good for the carpet! Anyway, I digress. We are now in Day 14 (a whole two weeks) of self-isolation and I’ve definitely fallen in and out of a routine, but I would say I’ve been more in than out which really just revolves around the kid.

So, here we go

Developed a morning routine - I write this title with an eye roll, this literally should become a Instagram caption!

The kid always wakes me up, her favourite time at the moment is 6am, I ignore her for a while but I’m pretty much up at 6.30am. I get the best cuddles then. I sit her down in her high chair for breakfast… side barring but high chairs aka baby prison hands down the best invention - you can strap them down in front of the TV or get them doing some activity (the kid favourite activity is smashing and banging any object on the high chair table) knowing they aren’t eating wires or putting their hands in live sockets!!

Get some exercise in or just move

While the kid is in baby prison, I get my whatever I feel like morning routine going (I was really on it last week but my motivation has waned this week) but morning routine loosely  consists of a cup of tea, 10 mins guided meditation (I’ve done it twice so far and it’s Thursday) on something I fancy on YouTube.

Followed by 30mins of exercise – last week I switched days between Yoga/Pilates, @misssanchialege offering some free yoga classes via insta live  and some kind of HIIT circuit – check out @barrysuk, @thirdspacelondon and my friend (based in LA) @louisehazel has a schedule of classes all on insta live. I’ve done one and half a class so far compared to 4 last week… I’m actually just rolling with it at this point.

Routines/ Rituals
I’m finding some routines like making my bed, which I NEVER did before weirdly satisfying… my sister got me to buy a day duvet and some feathered pillows, it’s totally transformed my bed.
She started a whatsapp group of our daily bed making to ensure I’m doing it… who knew a day duvet could change my whole bed game up!

I was also trying to get into the habit of getting dressed into my routine -  I’m failing miserably, there’s nothing more comfortable than staying in my fluffy soft dressing gown but I am washing my face and keeping my skincare routine up… that’s something… no?

 Anyway, back to working from home.
Once all the above is done, I play with the kid - this has consisted of me trying to be crafty but ends up usually me playing horsey and dancing to some epic playlists I’ve been finding on Spotify! That goes on until just before 11am and then get her ready for her 2 hour nap… hooray… this when working from home begins!

Remove all distractions
Last week I switched off all my notifications, I tend to prefer to work in silence, so no tv, music etc…  I already know what I need to get done for the day - I’m a list freak, I write down everything - I try and tick off as I go. Just before 1pm, I start to finish up whatever I’m doing and think of some kind of concoction to make for lunch, I’m not a cook but as it’s only the kid and I, we aren’t fussy! Actually I have made the obligatory insta worthy banana bread, who else has seen non-stop banana bread making on Instagram? It’s actually super easy, a non-cook like me, even without weighing scales - I guesstimated weight of ingredients - couldn’t go far wrong. My kid loved it, really that’s all that matters.

Then the next 5 hours literally consists of cartoons, playing, me sneaking off to reply to an email.

Then 7pm the kid goes to bed, I’m pretty lucky I’ve got a bed time routine down (‘m about to jinx it) - she rarely ever fights the sleep. I tidy up - this kid is soooo messy! I have dinner and try and do a 1 hour or so of more work. I try and stop working at 9pm. I watch TV, I just finished watching the new series of Star Trek Picard,  it was OK but not as good as Star Trek, The Next Generation. I recently watched Unorthodox, a series on Netflix that’s about Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn… fascinating!

Last week I was engrossed in the book Killing Giants by Stephen Denny – I was feverishly writing notes, but this week I’ve only picked it up once… again motivation waning. I did get my subscription of Courier magazine delivered, it’s a magazine that shines a light on small businesses and the start-up world in different sectors. This edition is about what’s happening in the start-up world of the food sector, it’s interesting although it was probably published before the Corona so tad bit outdated. Like all sectors the landscape of all industries will have changed significantly when we get to the other side of this. Anyway, Courier are offering a free digital version of their latest issues.

Bed time for me is usually around 10.30pm and I do the same thing all over again… a la Groundhog Day! To be honest, I’ve loved spending time doing nothing as I was always doing something even when I’m doing nothing!

I hope you’ve enjoyed a glimpse of what’s going down at one half of LIHA Beauty, any parents out there hit me up on how you are keeping your little ones occupied and managing working from home?

Until next time, keep it one hundred!

Abi x