Covid 19 coronavirus: Lizzie Marvelly - Tips for working from home in a Covid world from an old-hand

If you can, set up an area that will be your regular work area. Photo / Getty Images

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There are all kinds of stereotypes about people who work from home. That we work from our beds in our pyjamas. That we don't shower for days. That we haul our bums off the couch only for a few hours to do the minimum amount of work and then return to our natural habitats – in front of the television.

Over the next four weeks, depending on the culture of each individual household, those tropes will be variously reinforced and disproven. Whichever end of the spectrum you naturally gravitate towards (a four-week prolonged blob-out weekend or a four-week opportunity to knuckle down and work on new projects), I have a few suggestions that might make the lockdown a bit easier.

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I've worked from home for many years; first as a musician who wrote songs for a living and more recently as a writer/producer/editor and festival director. While I spend some of my working hours on set, on location, at meetings, and at event venues, the vast majority of my time is spent working from home. I also completed my degree via distance learning during my years as a musician (which involved a lot of travel), so I've had more than a decade to hone my distance working routine.

Which is fitting, as the first piece of advice I'd give is that some kind of structure or routine is a godsend. By all means, spend the first week or so doing what you want when you want, but you'll likely find that by the time next weekend rolls around, you'll be craving some kind of framework. Despite what stereotypes might say, I don't recommend working from your bed, or not showering for days. You don't have to run your house like a drill sergeant (and if you have children, you will likely already have abandoned that idea), but you want to give yourself a few concrete things that will happen each day that you can rely on.

For example, try to get up at roughly the same time on weekdays, shower, make the bed, eat breakfast, and put clean clothes on. Simple moments of normality can help you to stay sane. Don't think that you're going to work solidly from 9am until 5pm. There will be distractions, you'll find your attention drifting, and you might struggle with loneliness. It can be easier to work in smaller chunks. You may be more productive if you work for two to three hours at a time. You could fit three solid two-hour chunks of work in during a day if you really wanted to, but make sure to take breaks to eat, exercise, talk to the people in your household, and play in between.

If you can, set up an area that will be your regular work area (that's not the couch or your bed – trust me on that one). It might be one end of the kitchen/dining room table. It might be a desk that you borrow from a child's room. Ideally, you want a hard surface (and a decent chair with a back and a cushion) with enough space for you to set up a laptop and have your office things beside you. Get your work tools set up in your workspace before you start working. There are few things more annoying than having to search through three laptop bags and a box of random stuff you threw together on your last day in the office for a highlighter or a stapler.

Get outside and breathe in some fresh air. I know that walking around the block doesn't sound like the most exciting pastime, but doing so will reduce the chance of you getting cabin fever. If you're feeling fed up with work, family, flatmates or the whole situation, pop some headphones in your ears and go for a 20 to 30-minute walk or run. It'll act as a refresh button.

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Play. Write a list of all of the things that you enjoy doing (that can be done during lockdown) and put it on the fridge or somewhere else where you'll have it handy in times of need. I'll offer a geeky confession: I like playing computer games. The Sims, Cities: Skylines… if it's some kind of simulated creating-and-building game, I'll probably be into it. You can download games very cheaply online and use them as boredom busters in times of need. Similarly, if you enjoyed drawing as a kid, give it a go now. If there's an old, out-of-tune guitar hanging around that you used to love playing, download a tuning app and give it a strum. Read. Write. Be creative.

Crack out the board games, being on lockdown doesn't mean you can't have fun. Photo / Melissa Nightingale

If you're into fashion, delve deep into your wardrobe and rediscover gems you'd forgotten. Stage a family fashion show. Crack out the board games. Search online for instructions on how to play old card games like gin rummy, five hundred and euchre. If there's an old backyard cricket set languishing in the garage, break it out for an afternoon tournament. Throw a ball around. Being on lockdown doesn't mean you can't have fun.

Learn. Have you been thinking of learning te reo Māori but never had time? Stacey and Scotty Morrison are offering a free introductory online course through Massey University. Sign up. If you've always wanted to learn how to code, French braid, or grow plants from cuttings, there are lots of online tools and tutorials. Indeed, there are online tutorials for pretty much everything you could think of.

Be prepared for your emotions to be a bit all over the place. These are strange times we're living in, and you're adjusting to a totally new and extremely unusual way of life. Stay connected to friends and family outside your four walls. Pick up the phone and talk to colleagues rather than relying solely on emails. Be kind to yourself, and don't expect to be the perfect worker over the next four weeks. Do the best you can, but give yourself a break.

Take care. I'm sending you all a socially-distanced hug.

• Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website