7 Energetic Support Suggestions for the "Suddenly Working From Home"
Photo by Agnieszka Boeske on Unsplash
If you have been sent home from the #office to #workfromhome there are some things you might want to know from someone who has been doing it since 2003! Here are my 7 Energetic Support Suggestions for setting up your schedule, your setting and your systems for staying connected so you can stay energized and capitalize on the new openings that have been created for you as a result of this shift in circumstances!
I’m mapping these according to the 7 major Chakras that many people may have familiarity with – if you don’t there are a wide variety of resources about chakras out there – Wheels Of Life by Anodea Judith and Anatomy of the Spirit by Carolyn Myss
1. ROOT Chakra – Start your day by getting connected deeply with your physical body. Do a movement practice of some sort whether it is yoga, tai chi, taking a walk or working out. Feed yourself with nourishing healthy natural unprocessed food. Listen to your body – let yourself learn your own natural rhythms – are you actually a “night person” but have been programmed to get up early for the commute that you don’t have now? If so, reset your waking time to be more in alignment with what is most natural to you. Set yourself up with a ritual/routine to preserve and enhance feeling fit, healthy and attuned to your own timing. Connect with nature daily.
2. SACRAL Chakra – This is the center of all your creative energy – now that you are working from home time has been liberated from the daily commute. Use some or all of this newly freed up time to engage and experiment with your own unique creative power. Sexual connection with your partner is included! Experiment with making things with your hands, paint, write a song, play an instrument, build birdhouses or experiment with new sex toys or positions. Let your imagination take you places and play with childlike abandon – what you are creating is for your own pleasure and joy.
3. SOLAR PLEXUS Chakra – Your power center has likely been ‘upset’ a little bit in the sudden change. Your identity may have been tied to your position, or your location in the office more than you realized. You may be feeling a bit out of the loop in terms of the “pecking order” you are used to navigating. This is a most excellent time to RECLAIM your personal power and to get exquisitely clear on exactly how and with whom you want to interact. Be mindful that you don’t permit “Scope Creep” from your employer. Get clear with your employer on what their expectations are for you in terms of “facetime” as well as what the structures are for tracking how and when you are “working”. Discern how much time you used to use for commuting, lunch appointments, conference attendance etc. is now open for you and KEEP IT OPEN – you are the one who will need to set and maintain those boundaries. It’s also a great time to take a long hard look at your industry – is this a time for you to double down in your commitment to this career or is this a time for you to explore other options? Make sure to empower your team, company and strategic collaborators in ways that also empower you. This is a potent time for aligning with your true power now that you are outside of the physical and psychological structures that you have been working with up until now.
4. HEART Chakra – Be sure to maintain those highly important collegial connections. Reach out regularly in all directions to people who you have been working with to tend to the relationships that you will no longer have in person face to face meetings with on the daily. Be sure to keep or build further connection with those who are above you in your company as well as those who are lateral and below your position. Be the “Heart” center that shows up with a mindset of service for the good of all yourself included. When people are suddenly working from home there may be emotional stress that is revealed that was formerly hidden. Be kind, gentle and compassionate with yourself and your co-workers. Also remember that this is your HOME. Your family is not used to the “Work” you being around and may need extra care and tending as well as boundary setting in order to maintain and enhance loving connection at the same time allowing for maximum efficiency and productivity.
5. THROAT Chakra - Take PLENTY of time to talk to everyone in the family and draw up agreements around how things are going to be working – be willing to test things out for a few days or weeks – be willing to communicate even more than you ever have before. Practice Non-violent communication – get the book here: Non-Violent Communication A Language of Life. Be sensitive with the tone of your voice, the choice of your words and the timing of your communications. Intend peace and harmony with all that you express especially to your loved ones. Initially you may all be feeling a lot of stress. Select specific times of the day to sit down with each other and connect lovingly whether it’s a shared meal or a walk in the park. Speak your truth with kindness. You are also going to be communicating in a different way with your teammates, bosses and staff. Ask for help more from everyone around you and offer help too.
6. THIRD Eye Chakra – Now that you are suddenly working from home you may be bombarded with fresh ideas for your work! This is a time of great innovation, invention, and creativity. Be sure to have a special notebook on hand where you can capture your ideas. Changes in environment inevitably lead to openings that were previously unimagined. Definitely spend more time outdoors since you have more freedom – nature loves to support us with clearing our minds and depositing vision. Fresh air is excellent for the imagination. Share your visions with your team – set up times for brainstorming sessions where you can collaborate and exchange insight about how you are all adapting to the new circumstances and configurations. You may have inspirations to start or grow a side gig or possibly leave your career or industry all together. Give yourself permission to daydream and to manifest your visions.
7. CROWN Chakra – This center is related to your personal sovereignty and like the saying goes “A Man’s (or a Woman’s) Home is His/Her Castle. Your home is the place where you find sanctuary from the rest of the world. It’s the place where you kick back, relax, take off your game face and get to give and receive love. Now that you are suddenly working from home if you have been unhappy with your employment you are the one who must reconcile that unhappiness and make the changes necessary so that you don’t poison your home environment with stress and discord. Even if you have been very happy at work – things may change in that department and drastically so now that you are no longer in the “business” environment. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself suddenly disillusioned with what you once thought was a “damn good job”. Be willing to explore your own dreams, desires and visions and to take some of the time you have now freed up from company outings, conferences, working lunches and commuting to discern if there is something else you’d like to be doing – some other company you would like to check out working for – maybe some other industry that you’d like to explore – even the possibility of self-employment. The time is ripe for you to step into full sovereignty and start serving your purpose in an even greater and more aligned way than you have in the past. Take your crown and turn how you work around! Seek mentorship and support as you navigate all these changes – no one is an island and it’s important not to isolate yourself and shut down. Help, advice and guidance and investing in yourself are the key to successfully stepping more fully and powerfully into your destiny.
Anjel B Hartwell is an internationally known speaker, mentor and Top 50 ranked Podcast Host of the Men On Purpose Podcast & the Top 75 Ranked Wickedly Smart Women Podcast. She quit the corner office and has been a “Work From Home” entrepreneur for almost 20 years. She cashes in from her couch primarily using Virtual Speaking to spread her message, make money & mentor her clients worldwide who have collectively generated in excess of $55,000,000 in revenues. Discover your Speaker MAGIC Archetype and apply to get a free download of her new book Be Heard By Millions & Live Your Destiny – A Creative Age Leader’s Guide to Speak, Sell, Serve & Succeed by taking her new quiz at quiz.beheardbymillions.com