How to beat the heat while working at home

DAMN it’s getting hot in here. And by that, I really mean, holy crap summer’s here to toast us all.

Maybe it’s because we went to Boracay island early in March that I feel like summer has been going on forever. I’ve forgotten that the season of beaches and bikinis only “officially” starts around this time. Luckily, the maddening heat reminded me that school’s out and it’s time to bask (or burn) in the scorching heat and revel in the “YAY no more school therefore there are less cars on the road YAY” traffic. I don’t drive, but, hey, I’m a passenger and sucky traffic gets to me, too.

So, yes, the hot and dry season is here and it’s great, but it can be a real challenge to work at home with the summer heat. For me, anyway. We live in a high-rise and our apartment has a floor to ceiling window facing the afternoon sun, so more often than not it’s a sauna every afternoon. We have blinds but they don’t completely black out the window. I could hide out in the bedroom where it’s cooler, but I find it hard to work there (hello, bed?). So I’m stuck in the living room slash sauna. I could go out and work at a coffee shop, but I’m too lazy and I hate spending unnecessarily.

Okay, so for those who are in a similar boat as me, what can you do to beat the summer heat while working at home?  Here are a few simple things I can think of. Yeah, this is not really an expert how-to list. This is more like a “come see what I do” type of list. Humor me.

1. Pretend you’re at the beach and hang around the house in shorts and a bikini top

Men walk around shirtless every day so why not do it, too, right? Now this would work fine if you are mostly alone at home during the day like I am. I understand strutting around in a bikini while your roommates or kids are around is a little awkward. I have the house to myself when the hubby’s at work, so I like to whip out that favorite top that I like to wear. Sometimes I wear one of my sports tops and tell myself it’s perfectly reasonable to be using them because I might work out later. Sometimes I do end up working out and that’s cool.

2. Make something nice and iced to drink

One of the best ways to cool down on a hot day is to have an ice cold drink, right? I’m not talking about frozen margaritas or what not, though that would be fine if you can afford to get sloshed during the day. That’s not really an option for me because I have work to do, so I go for the next best thing – iced coffee. Nothing like a cold caffeine fix to help me get through the day. It also helps counter the sleepiness that the afternoon heat seems to bring on.

3. Turn the fan on full blast

When it’s just too hot, I sit in front of our electric fan and turn it on on full blast. We do have airconditioning in the apartment, but I don’t like having it on the whole day. Save energy and all that, you know. What I do is turn the AC on and set it to shut down after an hour or two. We have a small apartment so it doesn’t take long for it too cool, especially with the fan helping spread the cool air. Two hours last long enough to keep the place comfortably cool until the afternoon sun is down.

4. Take a cold shower

Yeah, hide out in the shower for five minutes. Well, obviously this is a short-term solution because when you step out of the shower it’s back to the sauna you go! A cold shower feels really really nice though.

Aaaand that is it. Blah. OMG it’s so hot right now.

So, fellow work-at-home freelancers, what do YOU do to deal with the summer heat?