Working at home TIPS

I am fully aware that some of you are now working from home which is new to you – also new to you is the fact that you may be working at home with your partner too!! (and kids)

As someone who has worked from home since 2011 with my husband, I reckon I know a thing or too so wanted to share some tips.

In keeping with my 7 Steps;

CLEAN – It’s important that you have a designated space for working and that it is workable. Hunched over a laptop on the couch or in bed is never going to be productive or good for your posture. Believe me I tried…… Now you may not have the luxury of an office or two offices if two of you are working from home, so you need to be a little creative. Can one of you use the kitchen bench? One of you use the lounge or is there is a little space or nook somewhere in the house? The main thing here is that you have separate spaces. That you have it set up with the right chair etc. You still have to go to work each day and have a space, whether its in a big corporate office or the nook under the stairs. Make it happy and enjoyable. Have a candle in the space, a radio, if like me you like to have some music in the background when you aren’t on calls. NOW….this is very important. I talk about having a clean house in my book and online course, but I want you to make sure you aren’t PROCRASTA – CLEANING!!! Using cleaning as an excuse not to work. Use your weekends to sort the house. If you need to do something daily that is fine but allocate the time – e.g I stop at 4pm to prep dinner and sort anything I need to. This is because its a down time for me and I work really well in the morning.

MONKEY MIND – Now more than ever you may get stuck in your head as you aren’t commuting or having chats around the coffee or water machine at work. No more board room meetings. DOWN TIME galore. So, start journaling and unleashing what’s running through your head. I also suggest setting up calls with people at certain points of the day to keep connection. Maybe have a morning meeting call to get your day started and this gives you something to wake up for. Make sure in the morning you get your mind in the right frame and think of what you are grateful for – I mean really think a bout it and feel it.

FOOD – Just because you now have a cupboard full of pasta and tins doesn’t mean you need to start eating them. Yes you – I know it’s happening 🙂 Keep eating the fresh greens and fruit while you can as you need to stay strong and healthy with a good immune system. Try and stick to eating times and avoid snacking out of boredom. Snacks can be almonds or carrot sticks. Again, you can plan this into your day. Cooking can be something takes your mind off things and you can make it fun with the kids. Playing some music and pouring over cookbooks together can be something the family can do together to pass some time and also educate the children. 

EXERCISE – So the local gym is closed, and you can’t get to your Kundalini yoga or F45 session. Thats ok. Take long walks (or a run) in the early morning to get the energy flowing around the body – do you have some weights at home? You can get some fairly cheaply at somewhere like K Mart so that you can keep up with your strength (or use those tins of beans). Or even do a little bootcamp with the family together. Its amazing how you may feel a little low but then exercise truly moves your energy and releases endorphins which can make you feel happier. 

 

BEAUTY – At home it can be so easy to forget ourselves. I mean I always do my morning routine, but I think sometimes I forget to look in the mirror!! The other day I went to the shop and when I came home, I realised I had toothpaste on my arm…. yes my arm and my hair looked like it was a nest. I re checked myself. The reality is, its so refreshing not to have to wear make up or blow dry and curl your hair everyday! However, we also don’t need to go to the other extreme of looking like a zombie. Taking a little time to feel nice and fresh and not be in the crustiest sweatpants can make you feel more energetic and dynamic. You can still be comfortable but just take a little time to FEEL GOOD. Still wear a t shirt and comfortable pants – just change them once in while 🙂

WELLNESS – What a great time to start implementing some wellness everyday. Teach mindfulness to the kids – do some meditation. Why not break up your day so that you have little tasks to do throughout to keep you all healthy, happy and energetic. Make sure your posture is ok at your desk, how are you sleeping? Keep stretching and are you breathing? Have you caught yourself holding your breath?

VISION – So you can’t do much right now but it’s not forever. Let’s face it – isn’t it a bit of a relief? Not having to plan, pack, book travel, run around? When was the last time you had this time to really sit and think about where you want to be, what your values are in life? What makes you happy? As a family you can have some real fun with this. I recommend laying out your vision board in a certain way to cover all aspects of your life- I have a post coming soon on this so check it out. Cut out pictures and create a vision fo how you want life to be together, really dream. BIG. Once you have a vision you will all unconsciously together work towards it. Its a bit like setting a budget at work….

 

OK So an additional topic here – working with your partner

 

I laugh when I think of this because I have lost count of how many times I have laughed over the years with situations. 

Toilet etiquette – If someone is on a phone call and happens to be near the toilet. No toilet flushing of loud farting…or electric toothbrushes or fans. This can be very distracting.

Phone etiquette – You simply CAN NOT both have phone conversations at the same time in the same room. I mean you think this would be obvious but well it isn’t! You both need dedicated spaces as I discussed earlier.

Boundaries – So you both have a space. Now you can’t just barge into that space and start ranting and raving.  Your partner might be in FLOW, creating something magic or they may be stressed in the middle of a really important email. You wouldn’t barge into a colleagues office and just start rambling so be mindful of each other. A knock on the door and maybe asking if now a good time is to talk is a really good idea. We tend to not see each other that much in the day and then can talk properly at dinner at nighttime. Finally, there needs to be a place in the home that is a sanctuary where there is no work done. No phone calls, or emails or complaining.

Webinars/ Conferences – Now this happened to me the other day. I announced I was having a video call and that I was not to be disturbed as people would see my other half. Now he either didn’t quite listen or got confused…. I had my headphones on and the other people were chatting – when I suddenly started talking (I obviously had my loud headphone voice on) my husband thought I  was talking to him and starting shouting ‘what? down the hall and then pops up in the office in the background like where’s Wally asking what I wanted. Make sure if it’s important you look your partner in the eye and ask them if they have heard you.

Dress etiquette – As discussed in Beauty you need to feel fresh and energetic. I mean these could be testing times on your relationship as it is if you have never spent this much time together. I’m not saying get dressed up with make-up etc. I am just saying both of you need to make some effort not to look like you just walked off the set of Walking Dead.

Food – Just because you are both now home it’s not each other’s’ jobs to make lunch for each other. Plan the food for the week so you are not constantly asking each other what’s for lunch or dinner.

Final Topic – Planning

I truly believe in setting a schedule for your week in advance. This includes when you wake up, your exercise, food, new wellness activities, your meetings. If you plan it out in sections, it doesn’t take long for the time to be filled and planned. If you don’t do this, you go into the DANGER ZONE of not waking up for something and feeling lazy. Wandering around cleaning and doing washing and doing anything to avoid doing something. Plan and kick-off as you go, and you will feel a sense of achievement!

Good Luck everyone xxx

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Privacy Policy

Version 1.0, 14 June 2019

 

1.             About this Policy

1.1.         The Privacy Act 1988 (the Act) requires certain entities to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles and to have a privacy policy. The privacy policy outlines the personal information handling practices of Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katies Lowndes Wellness

1.2.         This policy is written in language which is simple and accessible. The particular legal obligations which Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katies Lowndes Wellness has when handling your personal information can be found in the Act. Whenever we update our practices with respect to information handling, we will update this policy accordingly.

2.             Overview

2.1.         As part of our ordinary business operations we often hold, use and disclose personal information. These operations and activities include;

(a)            Collecting and maintaining supplier and customer information necessary to provide or optimize our service;

(b)            Providing online coaching

(c)            Creating and managing processes of salons and skincare distributors to increase their sales, customer acquisitions or retentions

(d)            Developing and providing sales training

(e)            Providing DISC assessment reports and one on one coaching sessions to discuss the reports to apply the findings to personal situations

(f)              Provide tips and ideas for a healthy life

(g)            Provide health and wellness products online.

3.             Collection of your personal information

3.1.         We may collect information as part of our business activities. The usual way we obtain personal information is when you provide that information to us. 

3.2.         For example, we may collect personal information such as your contact details and payment information when you:

(a)            contact us to request a quote or make a general enquiry;

(b)            enter into an agreement with us for the provision of goods services; or

(c)            pay an invoice.

3.3.         We may also collect your personal information if you are a business associate or partner and have made such information available to us.

Sensitive Information

3.4.         We almost never collect sensitive information about you such as your health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, association memberships, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, criminal history, genetic or biometric data.

3.5.         The only reason we would collect sensitive information of this type is if it is reasonably necessary to the provision of our services and if the information is volunteered by you. An example would be if you have a health issue or disability which may require special consideration in the way we deliver our service.

Indirect Collection

3.6.         There may also be occasions on which we collect personal information about you indirectly from other sources such as:

(a)            publicly available information; and

(b)            your agents or authorised representatives.

3.7.         We may obtain information from a credit reporting body (CRB) with contained personal credit information about you including your credit history. We do this to assess enquires and to make a credit risk assessment in relation to you before undertaking work and services.

Anonymity

3.8.         Where it is practical to do so, you may be able to interact with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. For example, if you contact us with a general question or enquiry about our services, we will not usually need to collect your personal information at that stage.

3.9.         Notwithstanding this, for legal contractual reasons we will require your identity and details in order to carry out services for you or to provide a formal quote.

3.10.       You may also make complaints or feedback anonymously or under a pseudonym however, in some cases this may limit our ability to investigate a complaint. For example, we may be unable to investigate a complaint if we do not know which job it relates to.

Collecting through our websites

3.11.    Katherine Lowndes operating under business name  Katie Lowndes Wellness has a website https://www.katielowndeswellness.com/. There are a number of ways that we may collect information through the website from time to time:

 

(a)            Cookies are data files transferred onto user devices by websites as a record and also to increase the functionality of the website. If you do not want to accept cookies, you should set your browser preference to reject all cookies before accessing the website.

(b)            Analytics tools such as Google Analytics collect information about your visit and interaction with our website. The type of data that can be collected this way includes:

i.                the IP address of your device;

ii.               your device screen size;

iii.              country of access;

iv.             the referring domain or hyperlink (if applicable);

v.              your device operating system, browser and type; and

vi.             date and time when website pages were accessed.

(c)            Email Lists including collection of personal information when you sign up for mailing lists, newsletters or when providing feedback.

(d)            Social Media including information you volunteer when interacting with our social media accounts such as Facebook.

4.             Disclosure

4.1.         There are few situations where it is reasonably necessary to disclose your information to parties who are external to Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katie Lowndes Wellness. For example:

(a)            we may disclose your information to agents or subcontractors where we are engaging a third party on our behalf to carry out the agreed work;

(b)            in some circumstances, we may also disclose your information to business partners, professionals or tradesmen where you are in need of a referral in respect of services which Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katies Beauty Kitchen does not offer;

(c)            if you are a contractor, we may disclose your information and identity to Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katies Beauty Kitchen customers; and

(d)            we may disclose your credit information to a CRB in order to obtain a credit report, or in severe cases, to report a substantial credit default.

4.2.         We may also make disclosure of your personal information where we are compelled by law to do so. For example, if we are served with a court-issued subpoena to produce documents or information.

Overseas Disclosure

4.3.         We are unlikely to disclose your personal information to overseas recipients. Our information and records are stored on a local server.

5.             Quality of personal information

5.1.         To ensure that the personal information we collect is updated and accurate we record information consistently, promptly update our records where updated information is available and regularly audit our contact lists to check accuracy.

6.             Storage and security of personal information

6.1.         We protect the storage and security of your personal information by:

(a)            Periodically assessing the risk of misuse, loss, unauthorised access or modification of the information; and

(b)            Taking measures to address those risks, for example, by educating staff about the importance of your privacy and the risks of mishandling of that information.

6.2.         We may destroy personal information if it is no longer needed for our records or delivery of our services.

7.             Accessing and correcting your personal information

7.1.         Australian Privacy Principles 12 and 13 state that you have the right to request access to all personal information we hold about you and that we correct that information if it is false or incurred. You can do this by contacting us and we will respond within 30 days.

7.2.         Before providing access to your personal information or correcting our records we will ask you to verify your identity.

8.             How to make a complaint

8.1.         If you are not satisfied with our handling of your personal information, we recommend you first contact us and complain to us directly. We will respond to the complaint within 7 days and attempted to resolve the complaint within 30 days of the date of the complaint.

8.2.         If you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you should contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and complete a privacy complaint form.

9.             How to contact us

9.1.         You can contact us by:

Details:

Katherine Lowndes operating under business name Katie Lowndes Wellness

Email:

hello@katielowndeswellness.com

Telephone:

0405 954 843

 

Post:

 

264 Young Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065

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