Tips for Working from Home during COVID19 Pandemic

Corona virus has bought everything to stand still. It is global health crises we are facing this time. Due to which, many companies are forced to give work from home option to their employees. This is the new challenge for everyone, working full time from home and that too for the first time. Many of us will face new challenges on daily basis, but this is the new normal now. It is not for a day or for a week or for a month, but for unexpected time duration.

Professional life has changed from professional attire to pajamas and boardroom meetings to zoom calls now. It seems very easy and comfortable about working from home at your own comfort, but it is not. Working remotely is two-edged-sword, you will stay at home, but is will be difficult to focus on your work. Kids, pets, house hold chores may disturb you and distract you. Therefore, it is equally important to stay efficient while staying at home.

These tips will help you to be more productive when you are working from home-

• Practice Yoga or do some Exercise – Take this opportunity to improve your mental and physical health and stay fit. You can easily make best use of your morning time that you spend in getting ready to the office and do some exercise or walk or yoga that time. A morning workout is very important even it is for only 20 minutes. It will keep you fresh whole day.

• Get Dressed – It might sound little funny, why we need to get dressed up while staying at home all day. But, it is important to take a shower, dress up nicely, comb your hair, and put some makeup as if you are going to office. Yes! Taking care of your appearance will make you feel fresh otherwise you will be sleepy whole day. Perhaps, this is one of the best tip to look presentable while attending video calls.

• Create a dedicated Work Space– Make your room, your office. Separating work and home is crucial for working from home successfully. As it is not few hours or few days job, it is 8 hour job and may continue for more coming months. Try to create a dedicated workspace where you can sit comfortably and do work without distractions. Pretend you are going to office with entering your workspace and similarly in evening leave your laptop, headphones etc and leave for the day.

• Stay Organized– Once you have created a dedicated work space for yourself, now its time to stay organized and productive. Set your working hours, your lunch break, avoid watching TV or doing any household work. Plan out your day. Set some rules or boundaries for your family while you are working. Make your space neat and clean, decorate it like you do in your office.

• Plan your Day– As you are not in office where you can discuss things with your co-workers or can call frequent meetings for discussions. Here you are the boss, when working from home. Therefore, make sure that you prepare a checklist of all to dos in morning and keep it updating. So, that you will not leave any task unaccomplished.

• Mark Deadlines– Set your goals, set your time limits and mark deadlines for yourself. This will help you in timely completion of your work that too in an efficient manner. Give yourself achievable and realistic time frames to get specific tasks done.

• Take Breaks– Boost your productivity and stay motivated by taking healthy breaks. Remember how often you take breaks during your workday in office. Follow same pattern at home too. Everyone is facing challenges in maintaining a balance between work and life. Either we come up with half done tasks or wrongly done tasks which ultimately give stress. Therefore, it is more important to take a break and distress and breath fresh air in.

•Stay Connected– In times of self isolation it is essential to stay connected with your colleagues and boss. We don’t have cafeteria or meeting room to hang out. You can have happy hours meeting or coffee chats with your team, may be every week or in every ten days. Do celebrations online. Plan for virtual lunches.

•Check for Distractions– Make sure that your mind does not get diverted due to noises coming from your background. It may be your kids shouting and yelling, your parents coming into tour room, outsiders making noise. It will be tough to stay focused especially you have more video calls. Therefore, it is important to keep distractions away and keep noise levels low.