COVID-19: Staying Sane and Savvy While Working At Home
With much of the globe in some form of lockdown or quarantine, few people outside of the group that has been deemed "essential employees" are working in their own office, if they're able to be working at all. The majority of salaried employees are now confined to their home offices and limited in the resources they have at their fingertips. Companies of all sizes are being forced to rely on alternative methods of communication and collaboration in order to accomplish their objectives, and these changes are having adverse effects on the efficiency of employees and industry as a whole.
For those at home, the communication obstacles are not the only limiting factor to productivity. Those with a spouse, or a spouse and children, are faced every day with the difficult decision of spending those extra minutes in the morning or at lunch with the people they love and the work that needs to be done in order to have a successful and productive day. Thankfully, in the digital age, solutions are far more readily available when it comes to being efficient in any location, but the difficulty of blocking yourself off in an office or closet or bedroom within your loved ones just a few feet away is not one that can be solved by technology, nor is it something that can be easily ignored.
So, with offices standing empty around the world, how does one stay sane and productive in an environment that is purpose-built to be a place of comfort, relaxation, and togetherness?
The primary issue to address is productivity in a space where you are surrounded by loved ones and distractions of emotional importance. This is, of course, meant as affectionately as possible, and the Businessman Basics Blog fully supports the idea of taking advantage of quarantine to spend as much time with family as is possible. But, when work does need to be done, it can be difficult to separate yourself and get back into "job mode" as needed. Frankly, it shouldn't be easy. But, when duty calls, it is necessary, so here are a few tips to getting into your working mindset while you're quarantined at home.
Switch Up Your Day-to-Day Routine
While maintaining a schedule is important to keeping productive and enforcing good work habits, it is equally critical to vary your day-to-day activities. Boredom is a killer of mental agility, and to keep yourself from falling into the trap of boredom, it's necessary to introduce some unique activities to your schedule each day. This may be as simple as checking your email after lunch instead of before, or you may feel the need to spend one of your "family breaks" writing, playing a game, or otherwise occupying your mind to give yourself a moment away from work. No matter what activity you decide to partake in, a brief distraction from the routine of the office will restore your mental state and improve your overall performance.
Working at home during this crisis can be difficult and mentally exhausting and, in the end, it is critical to preserve your own health and stay as safe as possible. To those working during the crisis, we at Businessman Basics thank all the essential employees, nurses, doctors, and sanitation workers who are risking their lives every day to help our world continue to function. Thank you for your service; we are all greatly indebted to you.
For those at home, the communication obstacles are not the only limiting factor to productivity. Those with a spouse, or a spouse and children, are faced every day with the difficult decision of spending those extra minutes in the morning or at lunch with the people they love and the work that needs to be done in order to have a successful and productive day. Thankfully, in the digital age, solutions are far more readily available when it comes to being efficient in any location, but the difficulty of blocking yourself off in an office or closet or bedroom within your loved ones just a few feet away is not one that can be solved by technology, nor is it something that can be easily ignored.
So, with offices standing empty around the world, how does one stay sane and productive in an environment that is purpose-built to be a place of comfort, relaxation, and togetherness?
The primary issue to address is productivity in a space where you are surrounded by loved ones and distractions of emotional importance. This is, of course, meant as affectionately as possible, and the Businessman Basics Blog fully supports the idea of taking advantage of quarantine to spend as much time with family as is possible. But, when work does need to be done, it can be difficult to separate yourself and get back into "job mode" as needed. Frankly, it shouldn't be easy. But, when duty calls, it is necessary, so here are a few tips to getting into your working mindset while you're quarantined at home.
Be Conscious of The Clock
We live our work lives by a relatively strict routine, for the most part. Wake up, eat breakfast, depart, work for a few hours, break for lunch, work for more hours, go home, eat dinner, spend a few hours entertaining ourselves, and then go to bed in order to repeat the cycle the next day. That schedule, while perhaps not very fulfilling or entertaining, is necessary to enforce while working from home so that you can create a semblance of a working environment. However, this schedule, unlike that of an actual office, has no real oversight. So, if you choose to add in twenty-minute breaks every hour and a half to spend time with your loved ones, or even just take a mental health break, you won't lose any real productivity or efficiency, but you will feel rejuvenated and happy to have spent time with those around you. Better yet, you've also given yourself a schedule that doesn't let you work past when you normally would in the office. If everything needs to be finished by five o'clock, your new schedule gives you time with the people you care about and the structure that allows you to finish everything you need to complete by the time it needs to be completed.Get Creative With Software
Most likely, a good portion of your work will be done online and over collaborative workspaces rather than in person or on paper. While many businesses will have solutions to overarching technical problems, there are always gaps that can be filled in by your own personal software and technology. One of the most crippling limitations on work from home is collaboration with colleagues. Collaborative workspaces will only get projects so far, so it is recommended that you take advantage of the numerous free "group call" softwares available in order to improve communication and work rate. Another significant hinderance is file storage and organization. Most home computers will be able to handle the storage capacity of the tasks and files needed for work, but as quarantine continues to extend in length, it may be worth the time and/or money to invest in a cloud storage service. A good one will allow you to store and organize your files as well as provide some sort of document-sharing system. There are plenty of options that offer these services, so shopping around and exploring each of these options is something we strongly implore you to do. Experiment with all the top-reviewed softwares you can get your hands on and see which fits your needs best.Switch Up Your Day-to-Day Routine
While maintaining a schedule is important to keeping productive and enforcing good work habits, it is equally critical to vary your day-to-day activities. Boredom is a killer of mental agility, and to keep yourself from falling into the trap of boredom, it's necessary to introduce some unique activities to your schedule each day. This may be as simple as checking your email after lunch instead of before, or you may feel the need to spend one of your "family breaks" writing, playing a game, or otherwise occupying your mind to give yourself a moment away from work. No matter what activity you decide to partake in, a brief distraction from the routine of the office will restore your mental state and improve your overall performance.
Working at home during this crisis can be difficult and mentally exhausting and, in the end, it is critical to preserve your own health and stay as safe as possible. To those working during the crisis, we at Businessman Basics thank all the essential employees, nurses, doctors, and sanitation workers who are risking their lives every day to help our world continue to function. Thank you for your service; we are all greatly indebted to you.
