In the last month and a half, COVID-19 has caused intense panic all around the world. With physical distancing protocols in place in nearly all the affected countries, many employees have suddenly been forced to work from home.
Some of us have never worked from home before and are used to the set schedules of working in an office environment. Some of us have no idea what works best when you are working from home and have to conduct all our meetings online. Some of us also deal with mental health conditions like depression and anxiety and often take solace in the schedule that going out into the world every day brings. With that not being a possibility, it’s normal for us to feel a sense of loss and ensuing confusion.Remember, we are not all ‘working from home.’ We are trying to work from home without knowing how to at a time when the world is dealing with a pandemic. At Heart It Out, we have put together a list of things you can do every day to regain that sense of normalcy even though you’re in a lockdown and are working from home.
Don’t change your existing work timingsWhen you are working from home, it feels like there is all the time in the world for you to finish your tasks. Therefore, we start our day late, have a slow breakfast, and get to work later than we would. With that, the whole day’s work is already an hour or two behind schedule. Therefore, the best thing to do is to wake up at the same time as you would every day and get showered and ready. If you change your routine timings, you’re likely to mess up your sleep cycle, and consequently, your work cycle. It’s better, therefore, to continue as you would if you had to go to work.
Get up and get ready every dayIt’s hard to remember to shower every day when you’re cooped at home, working, cooking, eating, and finishing up chores. It’s all endless days and nights, plastered with work and stress. Wake up every morning and finish showering; else, that’s a chore that’ll be endlessly dragged. Change into new clothes, even if it’s a new set of pyjamas. Doing this will help you distinguish one day from the next and give you a sense of normalcy. Also, feeling clean and ready before you sit down to work is a great mood lifter
Create a work desk for yourself, which is not your bedIt’s very tempting for us all to work from the bed, lying around in comfort. However, this is a bad idea both for your work and for your posture. You ideally want to set up a clean and functioning desk work for all your work-related needs. Keep your workspace separate from your sleeping space. Don’t use them interchangeably.
Be presentable even if you are working from homeGetting ready in the morning also makes you prepared to take any video calls that you may have to during the day. You won’t be caught in a situation where you don’t have 5 minutes to even make yourself look presentable on the call.
Make a schedule for work from homeWe know that working from home during this pandemic also comes with its own extra work – cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and dishes, and household chores. These chores can interrupt your work day and your work day can interrupt these chores. Therefore, make a schedule about when you’ll be working and when you can take some time to finish your chores. This will help you distinguish between the time to work and the time that you put aside for other domestic things.
Draw a line between work time and family timeOnce you start working and are in the groove of it, it’s possible to forget that you haven’t spent any time with your family and that your work time is eating into other aspects of your life. You may be working from home and maybe around your family the whole day, but that’s not quality time. It’s necessary to still spend some focused time with your family.
Hope these tips help you cope with your new working routine! Happy working!