How to Keep Warm in a Chilly Office

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Thanks to everyone who helped me pick kitchen cabinets on Instastories! I can’t wait to show you guys the finished product. Hopefully by October?

I’m kind of bummed about this week, to be honest. First of all, my graduate school classes start back up this week. This past month off has been the most relaxed I’ve been since last summer! (And the best I’ve slept in soooooo long!) And this time, I’m taking two classes a week instead of one…wish me luck. At work, I’m in a training session from 9-5 for the entire week. It’s going to be a lot of learning, that’s for sure.

But anyways, I wanted to talk to you guys about a problem I face all summer. It’s hot outside, but it’s FREEZING at my office! What’s a girl to do?

I sometimes see coworkers wearing long sleeves and pants, but I walk almost 2 miles to work, so I typically dress for the 80-90 degree weather outside. And then I’m cold indoors. Is anyone else in the same boat? You’ve all seen the articles about how office temperatures are set to keep men comfortable, right? So if you’re not a dude (or just get cold easily), here’s how to keep warm in a chilly office.

How to keep warm in a chilly office

Convince your office to adjust the thermostat. This is probably easier said that done, especially in large offices with lots of red tape. Although I strongly encourage women to advocate for themselves! A few years ago, I tried to get vaping banned in my office…I was working on it until the City of Chicago actually banned it first. Can we just say I played a part? 😉
Drink hot coffee/tea all day long. I’m all for this option, except I can’t handle THAT much caffeine. My office has a pretty good latte maker (my go-to is a decaf whole milk latte) but doesn’t offer decaf, so I mostly stick to tea that I bring from home. My current favorites are decaf Irish Breakfast Tea, Trader Joe’s Watermelon Mint Black Tea, Chai Rooibos, and spearmint tea (it’s anti-acne!) Haha, you know I have a problem when I start to list my “favorite” tea and I immediately list four. That reminds me, I need to make another appointment for a dental cleaning. Tea staining is real y’all. That’s definite downside.
Take the stairs. Seriously, go up a few flights, get your heart rate up, and you’ll be warm! But unless you have meetings on different floors all day, this method isn’t sustainable
Wear a cute wrap. I have a blanket with the Twitter logo that I keep in my desk drawer (that I got at a social media event). And I’m not ashamed when I have to pull it out and cocoon myself in it. (This happens more than I’d like). But while I’m fine doing this in my cube, I’m don’t feel comfortable bringing a blanket with me to a meeting. Not to mention that it’s just too unwieldy. This is why I keep a sweater/poncho/cardigan on the back of my chair at all times.

I like the idea of having a poncho on hand because regardless of what you’re wearing underneath, it’ll fit. (If you have a dress with poofy sleeves, a cardigan might not work). This one is from Indigenous, and is made from 100% organic cotton and low impact dyes by artisans in Peru with fair trade practices. You can read more about the company here – what they’re doing sounds pretty cool (this is not sponsored). If you’d like to order, use code WorthWearing to get 20% off.

Or if you have a lot of old scarves lying around, a poncho is actually pretty easy to make! And it’s easier than a scarf to wear while typing!

Take a wide scarf. Fold it in half. Lie it on a flat surface, with the ends of the scarf on the left, and the fold on the right. Starting at the top left, start stitching across toward the right until you hit the midway point. The gap you leave from the midway point to the fold is for your head! And that’s it! Let me know if that wasn’t clear, and I’ll do a tutorial!