THE JOYS OF WORKING FROM HOME WITH LENORMAND
Of the many facets that we’ve dealt with through the Covid pandemic, working from home has emerged as a key lifestyle change.
For those who aren’t used to it, it proved to be a challenge. But only at first, I think, as with the technologies of the day we can quickly adapt to online communication. And office-bound workers do most of their work on the computer anyway.
I’ve been working from home for years - well before the pandemic.
When I was employed and building the foundations of Lenormand Reader, I did most of it from home.
I want to share with you the amazing benefits of having this kind of flexibility in life, at work, and with an online business like Lenormand Reader. I also want to tell you about some challenges you might face and how to overcome them.
A GREAT TIME-SAVER
Let’s be honest. Commuting is miserable.I appreciate that not everyone commutes long distances or hours, but many of us do. And it’s gotten worse over the years.
Country averages of commuting time are not helpful in my opinion because they under-represent those who work in big cities. Toronto’s one-way average is 42 minutes. In New York, it’s 36 minutes. And that’s just one-way!
It’s twice as much in a day: 84 minutes or 1.4 hours in Toronto, and 72 minutes or 1.2 hours in New York City. That’s over 6 hours in a week - almost a whole work day!
And the truth is that we often end up spending a lot more time outside of home for any number of errands, which means that our work day can end up being a lot longer. Twelve-hour days are not uncommon.
When you work from home, you get all these hours back. And there’s no arguing that time is our most precious commodity.
What would you do with an extra 6 or 7 hours in your week?
When I first moved to Toronto, I was excited about the orderly system of public transportation. But soon enough, I saw how underserviced it is and how much pressure there is on it. And it doesn’t help that expansion projects are awfully slow (one such project has been in the works for over 10 years).
I quickly felt how much time and effort it takes to get basic things done around the city, like buying groceries and going to the bank. Getting involved in an afternoon activity - like exercise - easily takes a full 3 hours out of my evening.
From getting to the exercise studio from work (40 minutes at least), to prepping for the class, doing the class, showering or changing after the class, and then heading back home, you easily end up spending a full 3 hours
By the time I got home, I was exhausted and often couldn’t get myself to do things around the house.
And when I started building Lenormand Reader, I began to really appreciate how every minute counts. So I started to take more advantage of the work-from-home privilege at my job, and began removing all activities that I could do at home.
It changed my life: I now have a business.
A GREAT MONEY-SAVER
The cost of transportation is on the increase in just about every big city under the sun. And let’s not even get into the costs of owning a car. From insurance to gas, driving is a budget all on its own.
You’ll save most of your transportation costs when you work from home.
But it’s not the only way you’ll save. You’ll also save on food and clothes. Yes, you won’t be buying as many Starbucks coffees, and you won’t need as many formal clothes, shoes, and accessories.
Life becomes simpler.
The average cost of transportation in Toronto is close to $3,000 a year if using public transit, and close to $9,000 if using a car.
I’m not saying that you should sell your car, but imagine how much you’ll save when you stop taking 10 trips to and from work every week.
What would you do with that money?
My advice? Invest it in your side hustle!
Wouldn’t you have loved to have a side business during this pandemic?
I hope you weren’t negatively affected, but if you were, wouldn’t it have been great that you could still make an income from doing something you love - and while doing it online?
A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE
Reducing your commute won’t only save you money, it will also save you stress
It’s said that commuting causes high levels of stress due to the lack of control that we have over it. It also causes people to feel bored, isolated, angry, and frustrated.
I know what that feels like!
I got so tired of public transport - and driving a car in Toronto was never going to be something I care to spend on - that I stopped using it altogether except when absolutely necessary.
This meant that I cancelled my transit pass and started walking a whole lot more. Walking is awesome. It’s one of the most underrated forms of exercise.
Working from home will make you feel better in every way.
You can wake up in the morning, take a few moments to ground yourself, have a drink of something healthy (not a Starbucks latte), and begin your day on a peaceful note.
When it’s lunchtime, you can just head over to the kitchen and make something quick and healthy - hopefully you’re stocked up with the good stuff.
When I left my yoga studio and was working from home more, I started doing my practice over lunch break.
It’s wonderful to get to 5 or 6 pm and feel like you still have a few hours to take care of things around the house, run some errands, or just do your own thing. All while feeling calm and peaceful.
I would also go for a walk everyday after hours to get some fresh air.
There’s no two ways about it. You’ll feel like you have more of everything in life. Peace, wellness, and time.
MANAGING THE DOWNSIDE
It’s obvious, working from home day after day can get lonely.
The thing about going to work and back is that you get out of the house and interact with colleagues. You change the atmosphere around you.
Working from home, on the other hand, can feel monotonous. So you’ll need to put in some effort to prevent your energy from sagging.
Every so often, get up and stretch, refill your water bottle, and do something different to change your focus and refresh yourself.
It’s also easy to just sit at your desk for hours! At my previous job, it was known that working from home meant one can easily work longer hours.
Because there’s no train to catch or no congestion to avoid, people just stay at their desk and end up spending more hours doing emails and working away. Some would even go back to their desk after dinner!
So, it’s important to be aware of time passing by, and to treat our work-from-home hours like a real 9-to-5 day to prevent it from taking up more time just because we don’t have to get up and catch a train.
I always enjoyed getting up and going for a walk somewhere after hours, or doing my yoga practice if I didn’t manage it over lunch.
Most workplaces who offer the work-from-home option will probably require employees to show up at the office once or twice a week. But if this isn’t possible because of something like a pandemic, then see if you’ll enjoy doing virtual coffees with your colleagues to catch up.
Unless you genuinely enjoy extended periods of solitude and know for a fact that you aren’t negatively impacted by it, then pencil into your calendar some time with friends and family.
LENORMAND READERS WORKING FROM HOME
There are plenty of good things to be said about being a Lenormand Reader - I’ll cover them more deeply in a later post.
And if the covid pandemic taught us anything, it’s that it’s really valuable to have a side-hustle, or what I prefer to call a side-passion, to fall back on when times are tough.
Practicing Lenormand and reading for others is not only fun, light-hearted, and potentially deeply engaging, but it also keeps us centered and connected with ourselves and others through our readings.
When I started my YouTube channel, my Lenormand practice moved from being in person to online. Though I still offer some readings in person, the online experience has been very fulfilling.
Because the internet brings us closer to a much wider audience, I could morph my practice into something much bigger.
I started doing horoscope readings and set up my teaching practice.
Building Lenormand Reader took a lot of work, and it continues to. But it has been the most rewarding experience of my life so far. So much so, that I’ve almost completely detached myself from previous involvements and committed full time to building and enriching my business.
The Master Guides and the Master Courses alone took over two years to build and we’re talking about many hours every day. And in truth, the Card Combination Master took many years to complete because it’s the product of my two-decade long Lenormand studies and practice.
In addition to having something genuinely joyful to look forward to everyday, having Lenormand Reader gave me a lot of flexibility in life.
Throughout the lockdown, I kept working away and sharing all that I can despite a few technical challenges that I experienced.
I work everyday out of joy and I don’t feel like my life has been radically interrupted. I have an opportunity now to think more deeply about Lenormand Reader and think of all the good stuff I can share with my followers and other aspiring Lenormand Readers.
I sincerely wish for you to have this kind of independence and to have a passion that you can work on no matter what’s going on around you.
Lenormand Readers can work in person or online, and a combination of the two is always fun.
If you had an inspiring, income-generating side business like a Lenormand practice through this time, you would have been able to maintain your morale and groundedness better than if you didn’t.
You would have taken advantage of the time to get closer to your followers and customers. You would be able to think of creative ways to help others more and grow your Lenormand business.
If you feel like you would have liked to have a side-passion and feel like Lenormand could be it, then you might like to join Lenormand Reader’s Certification Program and be ready for if there’s another lockdown or other situations that shake your everyday world.
Want To Become A Lenormand Reader?
Lenormand Reader’s Certification Program is the only one of its kind in size and depth to help you master the amazing Lenormand deck. This Program is filled with knowledge and practice accumulated through 20 years of study and practice. It’s organized into a real body of knowledge and delivered with best in class online on-demand video. Join the waitlist so you secure your spot when registration opens.
