Note to self: Wake up about the same time every day. Say a morning offering upon rising. Do not go straight to your phone or computer. Dress for work, just like you would when you had to go into the office. Smile at the child of God in the mirror who has been given another day to know, love and serve him — and your loved ones.
Invest the time you saved not commuting into strengthening your rule of life: your morning ritual, prioritizing prayer and spiritual reading. Don’t begin personal or work emails until you’ve finished your devotional time. Listen for the small still voice of God. Intercede for those entrusted to you. Pray as if your life depended on it. Sing a new song to him. Journal … whatever gets you in the zone: the zone of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Eat regular, healthy meals. Thank God for your food, even when no one is looking. Don’t eat meals at your work desk. Practice moderation. Establish lots of friction between you and junk food. Care for your own meals the way you would care for your best friend. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. Don’t trash it.
Begin your work in a designated space. Keep your world of work and your world of family separate. Or try to, one hour at a time. Do not work in your bedroom. Do not work in bed. Remember: your wife and kids need their space as well. Don’t work in their space.
Make your work an offering to the most holy Trinity. Honor the Lord with your focus. Look to St. Joseph and ask for his intercession. No matter how mundane your work may be, try to approach it like Johann Sebastian Bach, who signed his cantatas S.D.G. (soli Deo gloria, “to God alone be the glory”). Like St. Joseph in the carpenter’s shop, pick up the board that you need to work on today, and remember that Jesus is holding the other end of it. You are not alone. Trust God to provide for you, and then do your best. Vent to him. Attribute your wins to him.
When your better half is also working from home, put her needs first. Make her lunch. Take a break together. Pray together. Encourage one another. Be a cheerful and patient person, not a jerk. Cherish and respect her. Do not tank her day with your complaining and irritability.
Get better and better at your work boundaries. Use little alarms. Have a transparent calendar for the family to easily understand work vs. nonwork times. Manage the expectations. Bleed the system of ambiguity. Tell others exactly when you’re available and not available. Practice saying no. Remember that saints had boundaries, and you’re a saint-in-the-making. Remember that God the Father has boundaries, and he rested on the Sabbath: And you are to do likewise.
Take breaks. Go for a walk. Pray the rosary on your walk, or call mom and tell her you love her. Be a blessing to someone else. Get out of your head. Step into the wonder of nature, even for a minute.
Pursue an active life. Resist the home office’s siren call to the sedentary life. Use a standing desk occasionally. Exercise at a strategic moment in the day that offers a triple-win: for you personally, for your effectiveness at work and your family’s togetherness.
Don’t do work communications when you’re in a family setting. Put the phone and laptop away. Go into your office cone of silence or your virtual telephone booth, if you must. Avoid the futile attempt to weave the two worlds together. If you do attempt this, brace for failure. Don’t be a weaver. Be a man with healthy boundaries who is focused on creating the conditions for your marriage, family and work to flourish.
Don’t beat yourself up. No one gets this right very often, especially in a pandemic. Go to confession regularly, schedule a nearby daily Mass at times throughout the week, find your source in the Eucharist. Be a servant.
Lastly, remember what a wise friend told you: “For those mind-numbing conference calls or Zoom calls in which you have no speaking role, use a good pair of headphones, put yourself on mute, turn off the video, and go pull some weeds.”
Johnson and his wife, Ever, are co-founders of trinityhouseCommunity.org.
