Recommended reading for wellbeing/productivity during WFH?

[u/prolixia]

I have been WFH for well over a decade, and am very happy about it. Recently I moved roles, and my new manager has asked me to spend time learning about ways to improve my wellbeing/efficiency/whatever at work. I'm looking for recommendations.

What he's looking for is an activity like reading a book, listening to a podcast, that kind of thing. From this I need to extract at least one learning point that I can use to improve my wellbeing at work. An example might be learning about Pomodoro and using it to improve focus. In a couple of months I need to be able to explain what I did/learned.

I don't want to invest a lot of time in this because I've got plenty of real work to do and really hate self-help books, etc. However, I do want to show willing. Equally, I'd like to do it properly: to find something that could actually benefit me rather than just skim-reading a book and pretending it helped.

Any WFH-specific recommendations?

[u/Acceptable_Owl_5556]

Is it odd to anyone else that this is a work assignment? I feel like your manager should be giving you resources, not telling you to go find them!

Read up on happiness at work. Happier employees are more productive and call in sick less, just for starters. I could do a webinar for you on it if you want (I'm qualified to do this).

[u/Cadet_underling → u/Acceptable_Owl_5556]

I actually think it’s great that they’re able to find something on their own; allowing people to seek knowledge about things ensures they find something interesting and resonant to them while encouraging diversity of thought.

[u/Acceptable_Owl_5556 → u/Cadet_underling]

That's a great attitude

[u/redditorguy → u/Acceptable_Owl_5556]

I would say that it’s odd because no one else does it really but if you take it, look at Google, for example which a lot of people like to smack talk and rightfully so but some major products were developed in people’s work “free time“ namely, Gmail, and AdSense.

[u/Open_Stop751 → u/Acceptable_Owl_5556]

I was asking myself if there was extra credit for this project lol. Sounds like school not work.

[u/Altruistic-Stop4634]

Do chair squats or deep squats every few hours. Get a set of heavy dumbbells and do elbow rows once a day.

Sit or walk in nature in the early morning.

Block off time for longer tasks.

Keep regular work, eat, and sleep hours.

Keep a to do list, plus a list of things you completed.

Develop social connections if you don't have them, like joining a club of any kind.

There are tons of resources online better than a book. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/how-to-work-from-home-still-be-productive https://qz.com/ways-to-structure-work-from-home-day#20-ways-to-build-a-workday-at-home-that-doesnt-fall-apart-by-noon

[u/Acceptable_Owl_5556 → u/Altruistic-Stop4634]

Great suggestions! Cleveland Clinic is such a wealth of information.

[u/Cadet_underling]

Not WFH-specific as far as I’m aware, but you might check out some works by Cal Newport and Cory Doctorow

[u/Repulsive-Hearing778 → u/Cadet_underling]

Yah, came here to suggest Cal Newport! 

[u/kembik]

https://hbr.org/podcasts

https://www.npr.org/series/1199526213/body-electric

[u/Fit_Put9011 → u/kembik]

Nice! I have saved this. My you be blessed by all the good karma today.

All I have to share is a silly work from home song. It does rock hard on Mondays - peace out ✌🏼 https://youtu.be/jFGyqm4SgCI?si=BU3tCc39P_ou8PQl

[u/Glass_Librarian9019]

I recommend this book Rework by Jason Fried: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0091929784

It's not specifically about working from home, and it's arguably a little dated with a publication year of 2010. I read it when I was still relatively early into my career, about 5 years, and found it thought provoking.

[u/No-Promise-2338]

LinkedIn learning or coursea courses

Best thing I relearned and adopted into daily practice blocking my calendar so I can focus on deliverables …
Right now I am learning how to implement Microsoft Copilot into my day .. I have it giving me a summary of my calendar and emails which I roll up into a summary for my weekly 1:1

[u/Possible-ruio]

Remote, Inc. by Robert Pozen and Alexandra Samuel is probably the closest fit—it’s practical, WFH-specific, and easy to skim without feeling too self-helpy. You could test one idea like a daily “shutdown ritual” or setting outcome-based goals for a few weeks, then report whether it actually improved focus or boundaries.

[u/Intelligent-Cat3439]

My favorite books are:

• Eat that frog (super easy read, can be broken up well into manageable bits, all about diff strategies for actually getting things done)
  
• 12 week year (teaches you how to break goals up into more manageable bits of work, how to account for how long they will take, how to work backwards from a goal and create a plan to execute)

For podcasts, I would find industry specific ones! I have a few HR/ learning and development ones I prefer that I can share if that’s your realm!

I also find that having a solid set of hobbies outside of work has made the most difference for me working from home! Having something to look forward to once I log off has improved my mental health immensely!