The coronavirus outbreak and isolation measures are taken in most countries, in order to discourage social interactions, are causing more and more companies to encourage their employees to work from a new type of office: the one at home.
With the surging unemployment levels that many deem to be a glimpse of the upcoming global economic depression, the work-from-home-jobs are the ever-so-growing sensation. At first glance, this kind of work seems like a dream come true: the employee no longer loses time (and money) with transportation to work and is exempt from interaction with potential annoying office colleagues. The reverse of the medal may represent the acute feeling of loneliness, but also the fact that working from home requires more discipline, from the employee, is shown in a CNBC analysis.
Organizations require employers, as well as employees, to demonstrate flexibility and openness in establishing individualized work schedules and maintaining healthy and fair working relationships.
"I think most underestimate the psychological impact of being alone," said David Hassel, CEO of an American company providing software services, where 40% of employees work from home.
Besides, "some employees may feel guilty about working from home and tend to work even more than when they would be in the office," said David Rabin, vice president of the global marketing department at Lenovo.
Thus, those who are already accustomed to working from home have some tips for those who are experimenting, for the first time this type of activity.
Tip 1: Take a break
Let's face it: no one works eight hours a day, non-stop, at the office. There are coffee breaks, leisurely strolls to the canteen where lunch is served or times when you simply talk to other office colleagues.
And the fact that you work from home does not mean that you cannot afford such breaks or moments of breath.
If you press the "Pause" button from time to time, this may even increase your productivity.
"Taking a break helps you see things from a different perspective and find possible answers to your problems," Julie Morgenstern, author of several books on productivity and time-efficient organization, told CNN.
Tip 2: Choose a place in the house to work from. No, the bed in the bedroom is not suitable for this
Strange as it may seem, working from home is a "different work environment". An important tip is for employees who work from home to find a space that they can associate strictly with work: a separate room, a specific office. Working on a laptop lying on the bed in the bedroom is not indicated.
"Keep some spaces in the house for activities that have nothing to do with work." "It is difficult to relax by lying on the bed or the couch if you associate such places with the job," warned Morgenstern, who added that some areas of the house must be delimited for work and recreation or relaxation, respectively.
Tip 3: You will not waste time going to work and returning home. Take advantage of this to stay longer with your loved ones
Much of the time spent in office work is the time lost in traffic, when you go to work in the morning and when you return home at night. But, if your schedule starts at 9 a.m. and you're working from home, it doesn't mean you can wake up at 8:45.
"Use the time you usually spend in the morning to work, to stay with you and your family," said Morgenstern.
And when you leave the tour, the specialist consulted by CNN thinks that it is useful if you also change the clothes that you wore with other, more comfortable "to signal to your mind that you have finished the work that day".
Obviously, working from a distance is not without challenges, the biggest ones being related to the need for relationship, communication, and belonging to a group. Sorin Faur recalled that going to the office, among other things, puts people together and creates communities, disciplines and energizes the overall environment. "Say that at 09:00 you still have no job, and neither at 09:30 and maybe not at 10:00 am But being there in the community, after the morning coffee, with or without heartbreak, you sit down and do your job, the activities come over you, you ask your colleagues to help them etc. And you mobilize. to be more difficult, not many have the discipline and the rigor to get to work at 09:00 and to be efficient. " Work from home: How to avoid these pitfalls
The recommendation that employers allow their employees to work from home, as much as possible, to limit the spread of the coronavirus does not put too much pressure on companies that already had work-from-home systems developed, said Sorin Faur. This is because they already have specialized software and integrated platforms adapted to their specific needs, they have the remote disciplined work exercise, and they control the process in all its stages without errors. On the other hand, companies that did not have such systems and procedures until now were forced to improvise on the fly, to adapt quickly. "Of course, this creates stress and creates room for error," Sorin Faur said. If you are working for the first time at home or if you are working remotely for several days in a row, here are some tips from specialists compiled by the BBC :
communication is the key: establish a telephone or video call with your direct manager, at the beginning of each day, to clarify your tasks; keep in touch with colleagues: talk on the phone or through messaging applications, create discussion groups and organize video conferences;
work from home is all work and treat it as such: yes, it is more comfortable to sit in your pajamas, in bed, with your laptop in your arms, but all this can damage your productivity; arrange a workspace and dress in the clothes you usually go to work with, in order to separate work from leisure and in these ways;
what do you do when you are with the whole family at home: establish some clear rules; for example, if the door of the room you are working from is closed, then it means that you should not be disturbed;
how not to stay busy at work all day: through activities that separate the free time of work, such as coffee in the morning or exercise in the evening;
how to automate yourself and maintain relationships with others: spend more quality time with your family, do housework, play, read, learn new things, make video conferences with your loved ones, etc.
We must also take care of our mind. Psychologist Daniel David, Rector of the UBB, writes on his blog about adaptive psychological responses, which help us to better confront the practical problem and its inherent effects.
Also, psychotherapist Razvan-Gabriel Zaharia gives us some useful tips about the importance of our mental hygiene in these times.
Sorin Faur recommended respecting the norms because the law is correlated with the situation at European level). "Now, surely, in the context of the coronavirus crisis, many have arisen unprepared, making it a more stressful situation. You have to move the system forward quickly and comply with the legal provisions.
It is important that one problem does not generate others as people are threatened in various ways, or the company is affected by breaches of information security, for example. It is a delicate balance that every company must take, "he said. "Working at home is normal and healthy if appropriately done if there is discipline, responsibility and conscience of everyone to do their job. In these circumstances, we have no reason to oppose, "concluded Sorin Faur.
One of the main reasons why people decide to work from home is the ability to focus better and increase productivity. Modern offices generate a lot of "distractions" such as (not always necessary) meetings, tasks that appear entirely out of nowhere during a short conversation at a coffee machine, company rumors or simply ubiquitous background noise.
All this means that employees are not able to be as efficient as they could be in the right conditions for themselves. Away from the hustle and bustle of the office, we are able to create our own productivity zone, in which we can easily perform the most important tasks.
Perhaps you are already working or intending to work from home, or the current situation related to COVID-19 forced you to work in this mode? Are you wondering how to organize a workday to be as productive as possible, to devote an afternoon to your passions and activities with a calm conscience? A universal instruction on productivity does not exist, but there are effective techniques used by employees for whom work from home is the daily bread. Below are a few of them:
Stand up and set your own morning routine
Some are the most creative and work efficiently in the early morning, while others definitely prefer the evening. And that's alright. It's no secret; however, successful people tend to get up before dawn to start the day with a routine that helps them spend the day more efficiently. Do you know which of the most powerful CEOs starts the day at 13.00? Well, neither are we.
It is worth getting up at least an hour before the planned start of work. If you are not in favor of morning stretching and other physical activities, just sit back and make yourself a good coffee. Take your breakfast without a hurry, take a shower and ... get dressed. You can actually treat your morning as if you were about to leave the office in a moment. Such preparation helps to create a healthy distance between home time and work time.
Prepare your workplace
Even if you are an opponent of minimalism and the things around stimulate your creativity, you should embrace your workplace. The point is not to get rid of everything and leave only the monitor on the desk. Just get rid of clutter and anything that can distract you while you are performing tasks. If you don't need any of these items today, put it away. If you do not intend to use it at all - throw it directly in the trash.
Plan your day and set priorities
Turning on your computer and landing on Facebook is a very short way. It is difficult to start the day effectively when you have no idea what to put your hands into, but it is very easy to get lost in the depths of the Internet during the morning "press". Planning comes in handy. You can use tools such as Trello, Asana or Nozbe or do your own "to-do list" on a notebook sheet. No matter what tactic you use, remember to set priorities.
Eat this frog! Complete the most difficult tasks first
Tasks extremely uncomfortable, time-consuming, difficult but important. It frogs that extend for us and not allow themselves to be forgotten, but we are still in the habit of delaying them.
Starting work by swallowing a terrible frog guarantees a sense of contentment and peace - after all, the worst is behind us! Other tasks become little frogs and the motivation and concentration that we can invest in other tasks increases.
Do it in two minutes
The second group of tasks, often the leaning for later (which in many cases never comes) are small tasks, e-mails, and so on. If you get the impression that your to-do list is constantly growing and you are stuck at the very beginning, the 2 minutes rule will help you deal with it. Look at your list again. If you notice things on it that will take no more than 2 minutes - do them right away. These are usually replies to e-mails, short instructions or telephone calls to the client. Deal with them, cross out with satisfaction and smoothly go to the others with a calm head.
Don't be a multi-tasker
Multitasking sounds like a great strategy. Unfortunately, many people fall victim to the trap of doing several things at once, reducing their productivity. This approach requires the division of attention between tasks, which is why it often leads to mistakes or a stack of started and unfinished tasks.
Well, a lot of research has been done on this topic. It has been proven in them, among others, that: multitasking negatively affects productivity, reduces brain performance and even IQ!
Don't risk skup and focus on one thing - uncheck tasks according to the "to do" list. Before you start the next one, make sure you have finished the previous one completely. Also, do not let other small, current issues interrupt you in the implementation of the larger ones. Use the 2 minutes rule between them.
Get rid of the false job
Endless conversations, statements, reporting too many people, researches and the mistaken belief that the best employees are those who work long and hard - all this contributes to spreading the culture of falsework. Falsework is the one that only gives the impression of being valuable, but in reality, it is not.
It's also not that people doing false jobs are not very busy. They often drown in tasks! The problem is that they do many things without any result. They can work hard every day without achieving any results. Identify and, if possible, get rid of tasks that do not affect the development of the company or your personal.
And if you just realized that the concept of falsework perfectly describes a significant part of your tasks from last week, you may be interested in the book by Brent Peterson and Gaylan Nielson, which breaks this topic into prime factors.
Insert headphones
Maybe while reading this post you are listening to your favorite Spotify playlist? If you can't imagine working in silence, I have positive news. Music undoubtedly affects the way we perform tasks, including significantly increases productivity. As much as 90% of the respondents worked better while listening to music.
A few musical fun facts:
Listening to the genre of experimental ambient electronic music improved the accuracy of the data entered in 97% of respondents.
Dance music improves the writing rate by 20%
Pop reduces the likelihood of making a mistake by 14% and works great as a background for entering data.
If your work requires deep concentration, listen to similar songs
These are just a few tips to help you become productive from home. As I mentioned at the very beginning - there is no universal instruction. The productivity zone of each of us can vary, so it is important to adapt the selected techniques to your lifestyle.
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