Announced earlier today, electronics retailer Best Buy has announced all customers will be required to wear face masks when shopping inside retail locations. This new requirement starts on July 15 at all locations in the United States.

If a customer doesn’t have a mask, a Best Buy employee will offer a mask at the front door. Small children unable to wear a mask for health reasons will be exempt from wearing one. Any customer that refuses to wear a mask will be directed to shop on Best Buy’s website for either home delivery or curbside pickup.

The full list of retailers that have issued a mandatory mask order for customers include:

• Best Buy (starts July 15)
• Starbucks (starts July 15)
• Walmart / Sam’s Club (starts July 20)
• CVS (starts July 20)
• Kohl’s (starts July 20)
• Kroger Grocery Stores (starts July 22)
• Target (starts August 1)
• Costco (started May 4)
• Apple Stores (started May 17)
• H-E-B (started June 30)
• Verizon
• AT&T
• Menards

Some of the major retailers that have yet to make a decision on mandatory mask usage include Walgreens, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Albertsons.

If you need to purchase a face mask, check the deal feed on Ben’s for the latest sales on both reusable and disposable face masks. -> LINK

Best Buy, Starbucks, Walmart and other stores make face masks mandatory for customers

Are you getting frustrated at having to stay at home all the time due to coronavirus? Are you trying to cut back on your spending this month? We can help on both of those fronts. Here’s all the free trials being offered this month for streaming movies, TV shows, and music as well as video game streaming services and book subscription services.

Remember, as long as you cancel before the end date, you won’t spend a dime. Check out the full list below.

Streaming Video

Apple TV+: 7-day trial, $5-a-month after

• Access to Apple original programming like The Morning Show, Ghostwriter, Defending Jacob and the Beastie Boys Story.  (If you recently bought an Apple device, you should get a year of Apple TV+ for free.)

CBS All-Access: 1-month trial, $6 to $10-a-month after

• Access to CBS original shows like Picard, Star Trek Discovery and The Good Fight. Includes access to 10,000 episodes of CBS shows, live sports broadcasts and 24/7 news.

DC Universe: 7-day trial, $8-a-month after

• Access to DC live-action shows like Doom Patrol & Swamp Thing as well as animated shows like Young Justice and Harley Quinn.

Disney+: 7-day trial, $7-a-month after

• Access to Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars & Nat Geo content. Combo subscription option to Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ for $13-a-month.

HBO Now: 7-day trial, $15-a-month after

• Access to tons of original shows as well as recently released movies. This trial can also be found within Amazon, Hulu, the Roku store, DirectTV Now and AT&T Watch TV.

Hulu: 30-day trial, $6 to $12-a-month after

• Access to tons of original shows as well as new episodes from major networks the following day.

Netflix: 30-day trial, $9 to $16-a-month after

• Access to tons of original movies / TV Shows as well as documentaries, true crime, & comedy specials.

Prime Video: 30-day trial, $10 to $13-a-month after

• Access to tons of original shows and movies. Included in Amazon Prime subscription.

Quibi: 90-day trial, $5 to $8-a-month after

• Only works on mobile devices, Original content, episodes are 10-minutes or less.

Sundance Now: 7-day trial, $5 to $7-a-month after

• Access to true crime series, original dramas and thrillers.

YouTube Premium: 1-month trial, $12-a-month after

• Offers access to original programming as well as advertisement free YouTube videos, offline viewing, background play and access to YouTube Music

Streaming Music

Amazon Music Unlimited: 3-month trial, $8-a-month after.

• 60 million song library, unlimited skips, ad free.

Amazon Music HD: 30-day trial, $13-a-month after

• 60 million songs, double the bitrate of other services, millions of songs in 10x the standard bitrate.

Apple Music: 90-day trial, $10-a-month after

• Offers access to 60 million songs, advertisement free, accessible on iOS and Android devices. Also includes local radio stations & offline listening.

Pandora Premium: 60-day trial, $10-a-month after

• 30+ million songs, ad-supported option also available for free.

Spotify Premium: 30-day-trial, $10-a-month after

• 50 million songs, ad-supported option also available for free.

YouTube Music: 30-day trial, $10-a-month after

• Listen to music on YouTube without advertisements, offline or with your smartphone screen off.

Video Games

Google Stadia Pro (PC): 2 free months, $10 a month after

• The free trial offers access to 9 games: Destiny 2, Grid, Gylt, Steamworld Dig 2, Steamworld Quest, Serious Sam, Spitlings, Stacks on Stacks and Thumper.

GeForce Now (PC): 90 day trial, $5-a-month after

• You can also get completely free access, but it’s limited to a single hour of playtime. The 90-day trial offer priority access, extended session length and RTX functionality.
• Ubisoft recently added their library of games to the service, like the Assassin’s Creed series and the Far Cry series.

PlayStation Now (PS4): 7-day trial, $5 to $10-a-month after

• Includes over 300 PS4 games as well as 500 PS3 and PS2 games.

Books / AudioBooks

Audible: 30-day trial, $15-a-month after

• Your choice of 1 audiobook + Audible originals. In addition, check out the free books for kids (like the Harry Potter books)

Kindle Unlimited: 2-month trial, new accounts only, $10-a-month after

• Offers access to over a million eBooks and thousands of audiobooks. Requires a Kindle (or the Kindle Cloud reader in a web browser).

Scribd: 30-day trial, $10-a-month after

• Includes access to books, magazines, audiobooks and documents. There’s also a NYT bundle, if you want to subscribe to the service and the newspaper.

Getting Bored? Here’s every free trial on entertainment available during April 2020

Are you tired of watching TV? Are you getting bored of the same, stay-at-home routine everyday? Have you lost track of what day is it? Break out of the cycle of coronavirus tedium and learn a new hobby! You just might find something you love to do.

Of course, why spend money on learning a new hobby when there are resources online that will help you for free? Check out seven hobbies that you can learn for free while in quarantine.

Learn Photography

If you have a DSLR or are simply looking to get better shots with your smartphone camera, check out Nikon’s online camera school. Nikon typically holds in-person classes, but during coronavirus, they have made a number of their classes free to watch. While some of the classes are specifically targeted at Nikon owners, check out topics like photographing kids / pets, macro photography, and landscape photography to step up your game.

Here are some more free resources to check out:

• Lifehacker: Basics of Photography: The Complete Guide
• Future Learn: Commercial Photography: Still and Moving Image
• BluePrint: Professional Family Portraits
• Alison: 7 Photography Courses
• YouTube: The Art of Photography

Learn Origami

Got a big stack of printer paper or construction paper nearby? Grab a sheet and check out the free, online tutorials for Origami folding at the Spruce Crafts. Great for party tricks and it’s also a fun activity to kill an afternoon with the kids.

Here are some additional resources on YouTube:

• Happy Folding
• Jeremy Shafer
• Tadashi Mori (Make an origami Darth Vader!)
• Kade Chan

Learn Cooking / Drink Mixing

Tired of eating cold sandwiches? Want to give your microwave a break from frozen meals? You really can’t go wrong with the Bon Appetit YouTube channel. There are hundreds of videos that walk you through the steps of making both simple and complex meals.

Regarding drink mixing, check out Steve the Bartender’s YouTube channel. His straightforward style walks you through making delicious cocktails with the most common household ingredients.

Here are some additional resources:

• Binging with Babish (awesome for creative recipe recreations)
• New York Times Cooking
• How to Cook That
• Tasty

Learn a new Language

Adding a second language to your skill set can be ideal in areas where bi-lingual speaking is an important job skill. Or it can just be fun to learn a new language before visiting another country.

We like Doulingo. The ad supported version of the software is completely free (ad-free is $7 a month) and it teaches you reading / writing and speaking the new language. The company estimates that 34 hours of using the app is the rough equivalent of taking a language course at college.

Here are some other resources:

• Open Culture (Great for popular languages)
• Learn a Language (Great for basic phrases)
• Surface Languages (Great for learning common phrases / pronunciation)

Learn Fitness / Yoga

While the stay-at-home exercise equipment market segments has exploded over the last couple years, there are plenty of ways to learn proper fitness techniques and stay active without spending a dime. Fitness trainers have flooded Youtube with free workouts, everything from pilates to boxing.

If you are just getting started, check out the videos at Fitness Blender. With workouts for both men and women, this channel really excels at walking you through the basics. There are tons of options, with varying levels of intensity. There’s even videos that require zero equipment.

Here are some other great channels:

• MadFit: Real-time workouts, all types
• Blogilates: Focuses on core, arms, legs.
• Tone it Up: Focuses on female fitness.
• Yoga with Adriene: Huge variety of Yoga tutorials.
• Walk at Home: Good for beginners, low intensity / no -equipment workouts.

Learn Gardening

Getting outside during quarantine is ideal, even if it’s just spending 20 to 30 minutes outside tending to a new garden. We like the MIgardener channel as they offer general tips videos as well as walkthroughs on what they are planting.

Here are some other great channels:

• California Gardening
• OYR Frugal Gardening: Good saving money tips.
• Urban Gardening: Great for gardening in small spaces.
• Growing Your Greens: Great for food growing tips.

Learn Knitting / Sewing

We were a bit shocked at how quickly sewing machines have sold out on Amazon, during the coronavirus pandemic. Perhaps a large number of people are taking up crafting during quarantine?

Anyway, you don’t need to pay for any courses when learning to knit or fix your own clothing via sewing. We recommend the Sheep & Stitch YouTube channel to get started. They offer videos with beginner tips as well as full tutorials on making things like hats and scarfs.  On the sewing side, check out Made to Sew. Excellent walkthroughs on specific types of stitches as well as different techniques.

Here are some other great channels:

• Professor Pincushion: Excellent sewing how-to video collection
• Naztazia: Excellent knitting how-to videos.

7 Hobbies you can learn for free while in quarantine

Launched this morning, the IRS has a new section of the IRS.gov site called Get My Payment that lets you check on the status of your stimulus payment as well as enter direct deposit banking info to receive your payment electronically rather than waiting until May (or possibly longer) for a physical check.

You will need your tax information from your most recent filing, either 2018 or 2019. To start, the site will need to verify your identity via your social security number, birth date, and current address.

After the initial verification, the secondary verification will require you to input your adjusted gross income (from your most recent tax return) as well as the amount of money you received as a refund or had to pay. Below that, you input your savings or checking routing / account number for direct deposit.

After that information has been processed (24 hours), you can log back into the site in order to check when payment will be issued into your account. If you did not file taxes in 2018 or 2019, you are still likely eligible for the stimulus payment. Just go to the Non-filers Payment Info page to enter your details.

Who is Eligible?

Payments of $1,200 will be issued to individuals or head of household tax filers; $2,400 for married filing jointly. This is limited to adjusted gross income up to:

• $75,000 for individuals
• $112,500 for head of household filers and
• $150,000 for married couples filing joint returns

If you make more than those limits, you may receive a reduced payment ($5 less for every $100 in AGI you are over the limit)

• $75,000 and $99,000 if their filing status was single or married filing separately
• 112,500 and $136,500 for head of household
• $150,000 and $198,000 if their filing status was married filing jointly

For instance, if you make $85,000 as an individual, you are $10,000 over the AGI limit. Your payment would be $1,200 – (10,000 / 100 * $5) = $700.

Who isn’t eligible?

If you income is above these limits, you won’t receive anything.

• $99,000 if your filing status was single or married filing separately
• $136,500 for head of household
• $198,000 if your filing status was married filing jointly

If you are claimed as a dependent on someone else’s taxes (college students, seniors living with their adult children), you won’t receive anything. If you don’t have a valid social security number, you won’t receive anything. If you are a nonresident alien, you won’t receive anything.

What about kids?

If you have children and you claimed them as dependents on your last tax filing, you will receive an additional $500 per child, assuming they are age 16 or younger. Payments for children are also subject to the same income level requirements as listed above.

If you are behind on child support payments, be aware that you either won’t receive a stimulus payment or it will be reduced in order to cover delinquent child support payments.

Do I have to pay this money back?

No. The stimulus payment will not be taxed (you won’t be claiming it on your 2020 tax return) and it does not need to be paid back to the federal government.

Want direct deposit of the coronavirus stimulus payment? Go here on the IRS site

Since a large portion of the U.S. workforce has shifted to working from home in the last few weeks, several auto insurance companies have decided to offer discounts on premiums or refunds in the form of checks / account credit. Here’s a full list of the auto insurance companies on this list and what they are offering.

Auto Insurance companies offering discounts:

• 21st Century Insurance: 25% reduction on April premiums (automatic, no customer action required). -> LINK
• Allstate: 15% refund of April & May premiums (automatic credit to user accounts or deposit in user accounts). -> LINK
• American Family: A $50 relief payment per insured vehicle (paper checks will be sent to insurer’s address). -> LINK
• Farmer’s Insurance: 25% reduction on April premiums (automatic, no customer action required). -> LINK
• Geico: 15% credit on all policies that come up for renewal now through October 7, 2020 (automatic reduction, estimates $150 per automobile policy) -> LINK
• Liberty Mutual: 15% refund of April & May premiums (automatic credit to user accounts or deposit in user accounts). -> LINK
• Nationwide: A $50 relief payment per policy that was active on or before March 31, 2020. -> LINK
• Progressive: 20% reduction on April & May premiums (automatic, no customer action required). -> LINK
• State Farm: 25% policy credit on premiums due from March 20 through May 31 (about $20 a month for each vehicle insured) -> LINK
• USAA: 20% reduction on April & May premiums (automatic, no customer action required). -> LINK

Here’s all the auto insurance companies offering discounts / refunds due to coronavirus

As reported by Reuters today, Amazon is considering delaying Prime Day by at least a month. Over the last five years, Prime Day has landed early to mid-July and extended from an original 24-hour up to about 48 hours as well as additional sales during the week.

According to the report, Amazon is eyeing an unspecified day in August at the moment. The company also expects to lose up to $100 million on excess devices as those devices will have to be sold at an additional discount.

It’s likely this decision is related to Amazon’s decision to shift logistical resources to supporting the shipment of consumable goods and medical supplies over nearly everything else. 3rd party sellers are currently locked out of replenishing shipments at Amazon warehouses, thus have had to shift to finding their own logistical solutions to shipping out products.

Prime Day is typically more popular than Black Friday and Cyber Monday for Amazon. Last year, Amazon sold more than 175 million items on Prime Day, many of which were Amazon branded items like Echo devices and Fire TV sticks.

Amazon is considering delaying Prime Day by a month or more

With the plethora of news stories about coronavirus contamination at Amazon warehouses (triggering walkouts by workers) and coronavirus staying alive on surfaces up to 96 hours, you need to be especially careful about what you bring inside your home when your online order is delivered.

Here are a few tips that will help you eliminate the possibility of getting the coronavirus from your deliveries.

Don’t interact with the delivery person

If you are outside in the yard when the delivery person arrives, simply ask them to drop it at a location at least six feet away from you. The same advice goes for anyone that’s delivering restaurant food or groceries to you. If inside, ask them to leave it at the front door rather than interacting with them, if at all possible. (Be sure to tip though! Or leave out a care package!)  Some online shoppers have put up a note on their front door with instructions.

Both UPS and Fedex have updated guidelines and eliminated the need for signatures at delivery. Many restaurants and other businesses are also offering a no contact option, assuming you pay in advance on a credit card. We wouldn’t be shocked if many online retailers add that as a simple, check-box option at checkout in the near future.

There is an area for special requests on Amazon. To change that for your future deliveries, simple go to Your Account -> click Your Addresses -> Find your Address -> click Add Delivery Instructions. (see below)

You can specify where to leave the packages, a lock box or security code, turn weekend delivery on / off and add additional written instructions. You can also save these options for any address, ideal when sending gifts to your friends or family.

Waiting to open is your best bet

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, COVID-19 typically dies off in 24 hours when on cardboard surfaces, 72 hours on plastic / steel, & 96 hours on glass. If you have a package drop off in a lock box, just leave it in the lock box for at least a day. If you live in a low crime area and the package is somewhat hidden, just leave it on the porch.

Of course, if you live in an apartment building or just want to keep new packages away from your kids, pop on some gloves (disposable nitrile gloves if available), bring it inside (touching only the cardboard, no labels / tape), drop it off in a low traffic area of your home (garage, shed, guest room) and go wash your hands immediately. Wait 24 hours, then open up the cardboard box.

If you know your package contains plastic surfaces (air bubble packaging, plastic wrappers, etc…), look at your online tracking data for the shipment. If the package shipped three or more days ago and appears to have been sealed only once, you are good to open it up and remove your purchase. Any portion of the virus on plastic would have died off during transit. If it’s something that shipped overnight, simply wait out the full 72 hours.

When all else fails, disinfect everything

If you need to get into the package immediately (perishable groceries, hot food, medicine, etc…), think about all the surfaces the package will touch and limit that overall impact. One good strategy is to set up a temporary table (like a card table) and unpack all orders there. Something that’s easy to sanitize after you are done and large enough to split up disinfected items from the rest. This way, you won’t contaminate commonly used surfaces like the kitchen counter.

Sanitize the temporary surface with a cleaner that contains at least 70 percent isopropyl alcohol. Blue painters tape / masking tape is useful if you have it (easy to remove), in order to create a dividing line down the middle of the table (but anything will work, I use a dog leash). Again, use gloves if you have them. Take everything out of the box and set it on one side of the temporary surface.

At this point, you can sanitize all your purchases one by one until everything is clean and on the opposite side of the table. The EPA has a long list of 350+ disinfectants to use against COVID-19, which contains common household cleaners from companies like Clorox. Keep in mind that you don’t have to sanitize anything that you can take out of disposable, sealed packaging.

When finished, dispose of all packaging. Think about all the surfaces / handles / light switches you touched along the way to dispose of the packaging. Disinfect all those surfaces, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, put away all your disinfected products and you are done.

Also, if you haven’t seen this already (21 million+ views!), here’s a fantastic video from a doctor in Grand Rapids, Michigan that details how to thoroughly disinfect all your groceries.

Getting an Amazon delivery? 3 Tips for Avoiding Coronavirus on your packages

At Ben’s Bargains, we’ve worked 24/7 for the last two decades to bring you the best deals on the Internet. But for the past two weeks, we’ve also been working to bring attention to items that aren’t necessarily on sale, but simply in-stock and selling out insanely fast due to coronavirus-related demand.

We know many people around the U.S. are having difficulty finding common items like toilet paper, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, hand soap, paper towels, tissues as well as medical supplies.  We want to lend you some of our expertise in how we hunt for in-stock home essentials, ideally to help you snag something you need without having to go to a grocery store, drugstore, warehouse club or any other public venue.

1. Look for the bulk options

We’ve discovered that bulk options are shifting in and out of stock more frequently than single-item options. Referencing some of our expired deal posts, this 10-pack of tissues would be a good example of that type of option. We’ve seen this trend occur at Amazon, Walmart, Target and other large retailers on items like 4-packs of hand sanitzer or 3-packs of disinfecting wipes.

On average, you will pay more for a bulk option, but less per item compared to the single-item option. If you won’t have enough space to store a bulk option, consider sharing with your friends or family. You could also take what you need and donate the rest to a charitable organization.

2. Check your local delivery services

One of our deal editors landed a great deal on toilet paper simply by checking to see if Amazon Fresh did delivery in their area. They scored a great price on 24 rolls of toilet paper and never had to leave the house. Amazon is currently working to expand the Amazon Fresh service area as well as increase capacity (currently available in over 2,000 cities, $35 minimum for free delivery).

Another option is Instacart (assuming workers aren’t on strike as of next week, currently available in 40 states, $4 delivery fee on $10+ orders), Walmart Grocery (available in 1,600 cities, $8 to $10 delivery fee) and FreshDirect (available in NY, NJ, CT, PN, DE and Washington D.C., $6 to $16 delivery fee).

It’s possible you may have to order additional products in order to qualify for free shipping minimums when placing these types of orders. Alternatively, we advise you also check through Prime Pantry (an Amazon service for bulk items) to see if Amazon has allotted any inventory specifically for Prime Pantry customers. It’s rumored that Subscribe & Save customers do receive inventory allotments ahead of other customers, assuming you can subscribe while an item is in stock.

3. Use In-Stock Alerts on Retailer Sites

Amazon doesn’t have these, but Walmart definitely does. When you visit a product page on Walmart, you will see a red “Out of Stock” label under the price if it’s sold out. Underneath that, you will find a big, blue “Get In-Stock Alert” button. Click it, enter your email address and you will get an alert when it comes back in-stock.

Target also has this option, but only on select items. Look for the “Notify me when it’s back” button. Target does exclude this option on high-demand items, so it may not appear on all pages for essential items.

4. Use 3rd Party Tracker Sites

There are a handful of in-stock, tracker sites that are useful to reference when trying to find in-demand electronics like the Nintendo Switch. As of a few weeks ago, many of those sites have shifted to tracking in-demand home essentials, everything from cleaning supplies to bulk food items.

Two helpful options are NowInStock and ZooLert. If you bring up one of the product category pages on those sites, you will notice the site tracker updates every minute. It’s literally scanning 20 to 40 product SKUs and updating inventory data as quickly as possible.

5. Simply Be Online

Just like so many of the best online deals, simply being online at the right time can be massively important when searching for deals and especially in-stock items. Over the past couple weeks, we’ve seen products stay in-stock as short as two minutes before selling out again!

If you have a job that allows you to work from home, dedicate an alternate screen (secondary laptop, second monitor, tablet, etc…) to monitoring email alerts as well as the Ben’s home page or any additional 3rd party tracker site. You can also sign up for deal alerts on Ben’s and we will fire off an automatic email as soon as a new post appears. We also have a specific category for household essentials.

Organization also helps. Open up an Excel sheet or Google doc and make a list of all the items you need. Add links to those items at your favorite retailers and simply click through the URL list a few times a day. You may get lucky. We advise you to focus on the larger retailers at this time (Amazon, Target, Walmart, etc…). We’ve had extremely limited success in finding in-stock items online at smaller retailers.

Good luck and stay safe!

5 Tips on finding in-stock toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other essentials while shopping online

If you are looking for part or full time temporary work due to layoffs in your industry during the coronavirus outbreak, here’s a list of national companies hiring at the moment (broken down by volume of hires). We will keep updating this list as more companies announce hiring pushes.

Hiring more than 100,000

• Instacart is hiring 300,000 employees for grocery deliveries (independent contractor position): LINK
• Walmart is hiring 150,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand: LINK

Hiring more than 50,000

• Amazon is hiring 100,000 employees for order fulfillment & deliveries: LINK
• CVS is hiring 50,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand: LINK

Hiring more than 10,000

• Dollar General is hiring up to 50,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand: LINK
• Albertson’s is hiring 30,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand: LINK
• Pizza Hut is hiring 30,000 employees for making pizzas, delivering: LINK
• Dollar Tree / Family Dollar is hiring 25,000 employees: LINK
• Papa John’s is hiring 20,000 employees for making pizzas, delivering: LINK
• 7-Eleven is hiring 20,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand:: LINK

Hiring more than 1,000

• Domino’s is hiring 10,000 employees for making pizzas, delivering: LINK
• Kroger is hiring 10,000 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand:: LINK
• Target is hiring 9,600 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand:: LINK
• Walgreens is hiring 9,500 employees for restocking shelves, keeping up with demand: LINK 
• PepsiCo is hiring 6,000 employees: LINK

Bonus Tip: Please check your local news for articles on what companies in your area are hiring as well. You may find several local companies (not national) that have staffing needs during this time period.

Need a temp job? Here’s everyone hiring during the coronavirus outbreak

I’ve been working from home for several years, long before the coronavirus came along. With so many people transitioning to work from home this past week, it can certainly be challenging to focus on work with all the bad news in the world. Here’s the five things I’ve found most important when working from home:

Find Your Routine

I’ve often read the best approach here is to keep your routine identical to your workday. I’ve found that’s good advice for the first couple weeks, but not as you get more comfortable with your own productivity working from home. Yes, it’s important to get into the mindset of working. If putting on dress clothes helps you with that, then fantastic.

Based on my own experience, my productivity skyrocketed when I incorporated the time I was saving on routines into my traditional 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. work schedule. For instance, without a commute, I use distraction-free early morning time to catch up on email, write blog posts, schedule up social posts, prep newsletters for the day before anyone comes into the office.

Setting up a task list for the day (Todoist) is tremendously helpful. Give yourself goals to hit at specific times. If you need even more structure, setup a shared doc between you and your manager with all the things you want to accomplish each day & update it as you complete things. RescueTime is also an awesome app, if you need to track your time throughout the day.

Just as important as starting out the day with a routine, it’s also important to end your work day with a routine. For me, I close out all my chat applications and shift away from my work area into a relaxed space. I will check my email again before bed, but I typically give myself an hour away from anything work related. Take your dog for a walk, get started on dinner, just find something that’s relaxing.

Isolate Your Work Space

Carve out a portion of your home that’s dedicated as a workspace. It doesn’t matter if you live in a giant house or a cozy apartment. Just pick one spot where you can focus. If you have a desk, great. If not, use your kitchen table. You can get a laptop table and sit on your couch. If you have a spare room to use, shut the door. Eliminate as much distraction as possible.

If you are in a public area of your home (with your spouse, kids or roommates roaming around), you also want to isolate your senses to improve focus. Noise cancelling headphones are ideal. Laptop or monitor sun shades focus your vision on the screen, similar to blinders on a horse; ideal for keeping focus off a nearby television (again, assuming you are in a shared space). You can always try asking your company for help before buying these products yourself.

If you have kids, I can completely understand why you can’t isolate yourself at the moment, with all the school closings. A few ideas:

• If you have a spouse also working from home & have a flexible schedule, create shifts. Swap off spending time with the kids and working throughout the day.
• Lean into meal planning. If you setup meals in the morning for everyone, you don’t have to thing about getting lunch ready in the middle of the workday.
• Set up tasks / activities for the kids when you have critical work needs; conference calls, busy work hours, etc…

Overcommunicate

One of the things I really missed when moving to WFH was the comradery among my co-workers. I missed chatting about their lives or making jokes or grabbing lunch together. There’s a real sense of loneliness that sets in when you realize you aren’t part of that world anymore, even if it’s a temporary period.

Digital communication certainly helps though. Look to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Discord and other chatting communication tools to keep in touch with your co-workers. This is a great time to invest in a digital webcam and headset, ideal for group meetings. (Also useful when keeping in touch with family during the coronavirus stay-at-home orders).

Be proactive about setting your status on your main chat client. If you are taking your scheduled lunch break or stepping away for 15 minutes for a walk outside, use the status to keep your co-workers informed. Also, be proactive about initiating chat with coworkers, setting new meetings for important projects. Be proactive about introducing yourself to new coworkers as well, perhaps someone that you haven’t even met in person yet.

If you are talking on the phone all the time for business, you may want to consider a dedicated line for business. It doesn’t even have to be a landline or a second mobile phone. You can use virtual number products like Google Voice or a Skype phone number without having to purchase additional hardware.

Reward Yourself

Think about how you spent time away from your desk when in the office and apply the same relative structure at home. Do you typically take an hour lunch break at work? Try to do the same at home. Or, more creatively, eat at your desk and split up that break into 20 minute periods you can use to talk a walk outside. There are numerous studies showing how short breaks throughout the world day can improve your creativity.

When you accomplish something on your To-do list, reward yourself with a snack or a quick fun activity. After I finish a long blog post or mail out the newsletter, I like to take 10 minutes and play through a couple songs in Beat Saber in VR. It’s fun, gets my heart rate up and alleviates stress. I feel refreshed and energized when I return to the computer, which helps with the rest of my tasks.

The same goes for improving your skill set. Be proactive about looking for training opportunities. When you are out of the office, you may miss out on opportunities offered to those in the office. Request online or in-person training courses that you think will help you do your job. Even better, seek out learning opportunities within your own company to get more one-on-one time with colleagues.

Understand your Limits

About six years ago, I came down with a cold. I thought “No problem. I’m at home, I can work through a cold.” Then it turned into the flu. I thought “No problem. I may need to take a nap during my lunch hour, but I’ve got this.” Then it turned into pneumonia in both lungs. The only sick time I took off was when I was admitted to the hospital to recover. That was stupid.

When you blend your workspace with the area you would use to recover from an illness, there’s a real inclination to take health issues somewhat less seriously; especially when the bed is only a room away. I would urge everyone to use sick time when you have it, PTO when you need it; especially as it relates to the coronavirus or any other serious illness. The same goes for setting ground rules if you have an ongoing medical issues that require consistent monitoring.

Here’s 5 tips for success when working from home