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Top tips for staying engaged and well when working from home

Given the current situation with COVID-19, your life has likely been disrupted on many levels - from transitioning to an all-remote work situation to having daily routines interrupted to experiencing heightened feelings of fear. All of these changes can be jarring and take a serious toll on your mental, emotional, and physical health. 

While challenging, we want to encourage you to use this time to explore ways to take care of yourself and make the most of your time indoors. There are still tons of activities you can do within the comfort of your home to stay well and inspired. We’ve collected a few creative ideas to help: 

Get cultured

Love going to the theatre and going to museums? You don’t have to forgo these pleasures during this time. Thanks to technology, there are ways to access these cultural events from your own couch. 

Sit in on a free show

If you’re a fan of Broadway, there are several musicals you can watch online! Some are free to stream while others you have to pay for. You can check out all the options available to you and pick whichever one you’re in the mood for. Also, there’s a good chance that one of your favorite artists or groups - regardless of whether your musical preference leans more classical or pop - is hosting a free concert over the next few weeks.

Museums

If you find comfort in art, there are many high-profile museums that have an online presence and offer virtual tours. You can admire the Louvre’s most iconic room, Galerie d’Apollon, from your home office. Or browse through the collections of Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum while cooking your next meal. Studies have shown that art can make us happier, so fire up your laptop and start exploring!

Catch up on classics

This is also a great time to catch up on classics in the form of both movies and books. If you have a Kindle, Amazon offers a huge list of free or low-priced classics - from “A Tale Of Two Cities” to “Les Misérables.” Scribd is also offering 30 days of free access to its library - which includes millions of ebooks, audiobooks, magazine articles, and more. You can also use this time to stream those classic shows and movies you’ve been meaning to watch for ages. Want to make it more social? There’s a Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party that lets you and a group of friends get together virtually and watch movies and shows at the same time!

Relax

If you’re feeling anxious or stressed about the current situation, that’s completely normal and to be expected. Thankfully, there are many activities that can help you unwind and provide moments of relaxation.  

Meditate

Meditation is an incredibly useful tool to take care of your mind during these uncertain times. Thankfully, many mindfulness companies are offering free resources to help people stay grounded. Calm is offering several free guided meditation sessions and other useful content to the general public. Headspace is also offering its premium tier plan for free to all U.S. healthcare professionals who work in public health settings, who are the most heavily impacted by the current situation. 

Learn something new 

One way to stay inspired is to use your time at home to learn something new. Blueboard has been doing this by hosting virtual experiences to teach each other new things. One of our Account Executives, Lindsay, recently hosted a tour of her incredible home greenhouse along with a Q&A so our team could ask her any plant-related questions!

This is a great way to keep yourself mentally stimulated while also maintaining a sense of social connectedness and community with your team. Blueboard also offers many experiences that allow you to find ways to continue your personal and professional development, from online courses to leadership coaching sessions. 

Find creative outlets

This is also a great time to find a new creative outlet. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to learn photography or how to paint. Now is your chance! There are companies like Let’s Make Art  that send you all the supplies and information you need to create beautiful watercolor art. Or Paint Plot for those who are more looking for a relaxing activity. You can also learn virtually any skill - such as knitting - through the many tutorials that are available on online learning platforms like Skillshare or Udemy.  

Our community shared some fun ideas when we asked them: How are you staying creative while being at home? (below)


Stay active

With local fitness studios and gyms closing their doors, you may be feeling demotivated about your workout routine. However, it’s more important than ever to make sure you stay active as possible for the sake of your mental and physical health. 

Exercise with your team

At Blueboard, we’ve also been hosting exercise sessions for our team members to keep everyone accountable and active. Our Senior Director of Marketing, Morgan, regularly hosts yoga sessions to keep people moving. The sessions are also recorded and shared with the company so they can always return to it if they want to stretch it out at a later time!

Take advantage of workouts from home

While it can be difficult to find the motivation to work out at home, there are many types of workouts for you to choose from to help get your heart rate up! Peloton is even offering new subscribers a free 90-day trial to its app, which has everything from yoga, HIIT, stretching, strength training, and other classes available to those who don’t have bikes. 

Give back

One of the best things we can do under the current circumstances is to help each other out, to the extent that we’re able to. Not only will you make an impact on someone’s life, but research has also confirmed that giving back is good not only for your mental health, but also for your physical health. If you’re looking for ideas on how you can help out your community, check out these ideas. 

Help those in need

While this is a scary time for all, it’s especially hard for a few specific demographics. This includes the elderly, those with compromised immune systems, and healthcare workers. To see how you can provide assistance to these communities, try posting on your community boards or through apps like Nextdoor to see if any of your neighbors need help with running errands like going to the grocery store. Blueboard also offers our reward recipients the option to give to a charity of their choice - another way you can give back!

Check in on the people you love

Remember that there are likely many people who will experience increased loneliness and feelings of isolation during this time. So if you have the means to do so, try to reach out to your friends and family members to check in on them and let them know you’re there if they need someone to talk to. This small gesture can make a huge difference in someone’s life - especially now. 

Support your local businesses

Businesses - especially smaller and local ones - are being hit hard because of COVID-19. But there’s a lot you can do from your own home to support them during these difficult times. Go online and purchase gift cards from your favorite restaurants and shops or explore Blueboard's local reward options. This will help them stay in business - and it gives you something to look forward to when they re-open. Also, if you’re able to, keep your memberships active (even if you can’t access the services) so that businesses still have a source of income while they’re closed.



In these uncertain and stressful times, the best thing you can do is to find ways to take care of your mind and body. Hopefully this blog post inspired some ideas for how you can use your time at home to find new ways to learn, move, and engage in your favorite hobbies. We promise this investment in your well-being will pay off!

If you'd like to learn more about the hundreds of employee rewards we offer as part of company wellbeing programs, then explore Blueboard experiences and schedule time to connect with our team today.

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As of March 12, 2024, Blueboard has ceased its operations. To everyone that supported us over the years, thank you. 🙏