Your couch becoming the office desk, your bed the lounge area, and your kitchen, the daily cafeteria. Our abodes have become working stations for quite a while now. Although the Work From Home culture has introduced us to new comforts, it has stripped away some of the benefits and has extensively amalgamated the professional and personal life. Without the workplace policies, managers and executives are finding it difficult to operate from distant places. It has become a tedious task to coordinate on various factors like time management, productivity, and performance.
Each employee coming from a distant background and circumstance connecting with every other through one single digital platform has resulted in a set of new worries and drawbacks. All of which has left the employees in a bothered state. The challenges include difficulty in staying organized, lack of social interaction, extended deadlines, distractions, communication gap, lack of structure, and the most tedious of all, the technological glitches. Keeping the professional difficulties aside, with the ongoing pandemic situation, tackling personal issues has also become a part of the daily crisis.
The employees have well adapted to this state, but the thought of “how long it will last” has left many insecure and anxious. Until all of us get that final call to join the workplace, here’s a guide to help you get your boat sailing in times of the high tides.
FORM A ROUTINE:
Time management and Prioritizing work are the two factors every employee is struggling to attain with the introduction of work from home culture. What can enable one to meet those deadlines in time and have a work-life balance? Is the most common question amongst them. One mantra, however, to attain this state is adopting a routine. Plan how you are willing to start and end your day. While framing one, keep in mind that the goal is to make the most of each day. Setting up a routine will help you define your day. Like previous times, define your working hours, your lunch break, and the signing off-hour. By doing this, you will be able to align yourself and take out a stipulated time for everything important.
DEDICATE A SPACE FOR YOUR WORK
The work-from-home culture in a way has fostered a laid-back attitude towards the way we work. And it is this approach that brings in the temptation to be working from anywhere and everywhere in the house. We need to put in mind that the goal isn’t comfort but productivity. Choose a corner of the house where you feel the most agile and prolific. It could be your former study table, reading corner, dining room, or anywhere you get enough space and time to be productive. Doing this will showcase a drastic change in your seriousness towards work.
YES TO PUNCTUAL BREAKS
Given to work from home culture, the standard 9 to 5 shifts get extended on a usual basis. The reason being the lack of supervision. As there is a lack of supervision, the deadlines of the work get extended. Therefore it is necessary to dedicate a specific time for the working hours. Once that is defined, take some time out for periodic breaks. Ones that can help you revive.
NO TO DISTRACTIONS
May it be the clamor from the neighborhood, the chit-chat of your family members in the living room, the constant notifications on your cell phone, or the kids taking their online lectures in the same room. One drawback of work from home is the constant urge to be involved in what is happening around us throughout the day. The more you are involved and affected by the surrounding activities, the more scattered your work is. Communicate the importance of your working to the ones around you and stay distant from every potential distraction. This will help you stick to the proper mindset for work.
TAKE THAT WALK
All credit to this work from culture, the screen time of the employees has nearly doubled. With all the collective meetings and individual work happening through digital mediums, it has become difficult to take time off the screen. Upon this, with the entire world compressed in our handset, in the mid breaks too the employees scroll through various apps on their mobile. And not to forget, all this happens, sitting in one single place. The ratio of physical activities has gone down tremendously. Given this, we urge you to take that walk amidst your break. It could be 10 rounds around the house or a quick stroll in the nearby lane. Make sure you give yourself that break.
AVOID MULTITASKING
It is a proven fact that multitasking isn’t ideal for productivity. Staying at home throughout, we are obliged to play our various roles. This in turn forces us to be present for everything but work. As a result, the deadline gets extended and one finds himself or herself in an agony. To avoid this, it is very important to bifurcate your tasks into what is important and what is not. This will refrain you from multi-tasking and help you prioritize work better. Lastly,
DO NOT FORGET TO PAT YOUR BACK.
Not to forget, for almost 1.5 years, we have been through turmoil. If you are reading this, it means that you have well adapted to the social isolation, have survived the threat to the wellbeing of near and dear ones, have held on to the smallest ounce of hope during the gut-wrenching times of this pandemic where we were surrounded by uncertainty throughout. If all this while, you could still be present for your share of work, you deserve to pat your back. Difficult times may come and go but you must reward yourself time and again for all the small tasks done. This will serve as a form of motivation for you and will encourage you to put your best foot forward.
