COVID-19 has been wreaking havoc across the world, affecting everyone in some way or the other. Amidst the coronavirus outbreak, many businesses have started implementing the work-from-home options to whatever extent possible. The sudden change in the environment makes one feel that the whole world has changed. Indeed, it has changed!
Employers have used it to their advantage to reduce overhead and operating costs. Employees have immense benefits such as increased productivity levels, fewer distractions, no commuting time, and most importantly reduced stress levels. But it might be a little difficult for people to get accustomed to this new system if they are experiencing work-from-home for the first time. Here we bring to you 3 essential tips to improve your efficiency while you work-from-home.
- Assign a dedicated workspace
The first thing when it comes to work-from-home is to have a dedicated workspace. The separation between office and home is physical. Hence, you need to recreate that boundary as much as possible. It need not be an entire room, your spouse and children are locked down as well, they need their space too! But find a corner which distracts you the least.
Ensure you have a comfortable chair, and try to infuse some natural lighting. An organized table helps you turn ‘on’ while you sit down for work. And likewise, it will also help you turn ‘off’ while you want to disengage yourself from your work.
2. Get organized
Use a table and chair, get your utilities, announce your routine and plan your day. In case you are expecting video calls, be well dressed and ensure you have a plain wall as a background.
Defining your work timings and planning your day will bring in a lot of clarity. Rules and routines establish boundaries, cut down the distractions, and make you accountable for your time. If you are in a collaborative role, this routine makes your colleague’s life easier as well. Most importantly, it will help you transition to your regular office timings when things get back to normalcy.
3.Communicate
You might face a lot of hurdles when you go remote completely. Overcoming them requires a lot of communication. Communication becomes important not only to remove redundancy in work but also to convey changes or assigning new tasks.
Don’t hesitate to reach out to people and check on them as this is new for most of you. You don’t have to stick to text-based communication alone. Calling your co-workers or having a video chat cuts down the miscommunication and also it will break some ice while you are isolated.
Communication has to be established with your family and other people like maids to keep your work routine disturbance-free.
Final Thoughts
With all this talk about the coronavirus, it is important to not get distracted by social media and news while you work-from-home. At the same time, don’t get sucked in by your work. Utilize this time to discover the smaller and unnoticeable joys of life. Ensure you have a proper work-life balance and take breaks. Stick to progressive, positive and constructive discussion while you spend your time in isolation. Let’s hope and pray that we overcome this pandemic, which has befallen this world, at the earliest.
Hope we all will overcome the COVID-19 virus as soon as possible, wash hands, little out of the door, wear a mask?
Don’t lose hope.
All will be well soon!
