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As I’m sure is the case for most of us this year, I have been a lot less productive than usual. Obviously, a lot of us have had to ‘teach’ our children at home, whilst trying to work and keep up with housework and all the other gubbins we have to do as adults. And all of this has had to happen in the same place, with very little time out of our houses or away from each other.
There hasn’t been that separation until very recently of the school/work day and the evening so I’ve found it so much harder to be productive and everything has felt very chaotic. So when I have had a chance to do some work I have struggled to concentrate and get much done.
It’s so frustrating when you have a short amount of time to get something done but then struggle to focus on that one thing and get it finished in time.
So I’ve recently tried to make a few changes to my routine to help me try to switch off more and take time to relax, so that I have more focus and energy when I am working and can actually get things done in the time I have.
I feel like my life is always a constant battle of trying to get stuff done and fitting everything in, and then taking no time to relax and then feeling crappy because I’m not taking any time out. It’s a vicious cycle and this year it is so much worse (I’m sure for all of us).
So here’s what I’ve been doing to be more productive.
Some evenings I am taking the time out to walk away from all of the chaos of downstairs – the child, the puppy, the washing up – to just sit or lie on my bed and chill for 20 minutes or so. I obviously don’t just abandon my husband at that busy time of night and say “I’m off!”, and I’ll check with him it’s okay, but he knows I need that bit of time away from everyone and everything, and he’ll try to keep the two little terrors downstairs for that time.
Just that little bit of time sat on my bed, just reading something on my phone, or closing my eyes or just sat thinking, but away from everything, really helps calm me and encourages me to take deep breaths and give me some energy back, especially on those fun nights where everyone’s knackered and the dog’s on one, and we’re all antsy and easily irritated.
Sometimes I’ll light a candle and let my chaotic mind wander, or listen to an audiobook whilst closing my eyes, but that little bit of time for myself has really been helping.
I know this isn’t something everyone likes to do, but with us both being at home working for most of this year, I have to go somewhere else to work and actually be able to concentrate sometimes. Plus it’s one of the advantages of working from home so why not. Sometimes it can be my most productive time – I’m comfy, cosy and a bit more chilled – and others I end up lying down and on social media for an hour, but it works, either way.
I’ve been working from my bed a lot more recently after getting the BenQ WiT LED Lamp and setting it up on my bedside table. I didn’t expect to love this lamp as much as I do, but it’s so brilliantly designed and clever, and allows me to create the lighting I need whether I’m working or relaxing in my room.
The BenQ WiT e-Reading Desk Lamp has some great features making it perfect as a bedside lamp, for working, reading or just for relaxing:
My bedroom is pretty dark at the best of times so the BenQ lamp has really made a difference. It allows me to effectively work from my laptop with the brightness, whilst being the right type of light for staring at a screen, so it’s better for my eyes too and keeps me alert and helps me to concentrate, which is something I’ve certainly struggled with this year.
It has brilliant flexibility with an adjustable angle and height due to it’s fully adjustable, articulated arm structures and ball joints so I can easily reach over and move the head of the lamp to where I need it to be which is really useful, and I move it about a lot depending on what I’m doing. It stays exactly where I’ve put it too.
I really like the wide base, especially with it on my bedside table, as I can put my little things I like to have on my nightstand on there, like a lip balm, pillow spray and hand cream and it looks nice and tidy. Getting the lamp has also made me redo my bedside table so it is less cluttered and I love it now. The sturdy, wide base is actually so that the lamp can be rotated and extended over a wide area without risk of it tipping over but it’s good for my stuff too!
It is made of eco-friendly materials too; using less than 6% plastics and over 90% recyclable metals and with a long-lasting LED and aluminium alloy. The LED’s it uses are rated at 50,000 hours of life (that’s 17 years!) and uses only 18 watts of power at its maximum brightness.
You just tap the round metal part gently to turn it on or off, which I love and I’ve started using it even more than the overhead light as it can be brighter and it is so easy to just tap on. The round knob on the top is twisted to change the colour of the light, so you can have it cool for working, or warm for before bedtime.
I’m not working from my actual desk at the moment, but it would be great to have on there too to illuminate my work area. The BenQ WiT lamp has been designed for our lives today so that it distributes light evenly when using monitors, kindles, tablets or other devices and correctly lights your work area without monitor glare, flickering, or other distractions that can be unhealthy for our eyes. The technology has been used for years by professional gamers, designers, and photographers on their monitors to minimize eye strain when working long hours, so it’s great to have that when I’m working too, especially as my eyes are something I do have issues with sometimes.
I have talked before about how much I love reading and how since becoming a mum (a while ago now, admittedly!) I have read so much less than I would like to. But I’m very slowly getting into it again this year and trying to take even just a little bit of time out for myself and go to another room alone (or more often than not with the dog now, too!) for fifteen minutes or so or going to bed a bit earlier to read and get off screens before I sleep. It shouldn’t be a thing that I have to make myself do, and I do absolutely adore reading, but forcing myself to go to bed a bit earlier and read at least a few pages just ends up not happening if I don’t make myself do it as a habit.
It’s not just about the reading, but just making a bit of time to take some time out, be by myself, and just switch off for a while, especially in the evenings. This kind of time has been even more important for me this year, with lockdown and us all being at home together so much. It’s good for my mental health and wellbeing and encourages me to take a deep breath and de-stress a bit when it’s all getting on top of me a bit too much, and at nighttime, it helps me sleep better too.
The BenQ lamp has also been great for this and I can keep the brightness down and the light soft and warm, whilst still allowing me to see and read clearly whether I’m reading an actual physical book, or my on my phone or Kindle, as glare is eliminated. A really cool feature is the lamp’s e-reading mode which reduces the contrast glare and the reflection on your screen. To enable it you just have to touch the metal ring for 2 seconds and the built-in sensor detects the ambient lighting, delivering brighter on the sides, darker in the middle illumination. It’s so clever. It means that everything is lit comfortably for you whatever time of day or night it is.
All of these things are helping me to switch off a bit more when I need to so that I can be mentally more stable all day long and be more productive and able to concentrate when I have to work. Have you done anything different this year or made time for things that make you feel better, which you didn’t do before? I’d love to hear about them.
I was gifted the BenQ WiT lamp to write this post but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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