Date: 2nd May, 2021
Written By: Sneha Gupta – Community Leader and Senior Consultant, Auxano Consulting LLP
Working from home was only limited to my imagination in the ’90s, I always remember the cyber action-thriller starring Sandra Bullock, The Net. It amazed me to see a person doing her entire office work at home, all day. She spoke to her bosses and colleagues on phone, she ordered a pizza, and it looked as if it was so much fun.
But the truth is stranger than fiction.
As of today, in this Covid-19 lockdown, companies like Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Hitachi, Apple, Amazon, Chevron, Salesforce, Spotify (UK/US/Japan/South Korea) are all working from home.
The fantasy then has become a reality today and we too have been added to this unusual battle force. So before you gear up for your “home-work”, let’s check on which aspects we can take care of, to avoid job fatigue and anxiety.
Habits
Don’t change your work-life habit including your early morning routine. You can wake up and do light workouts at home, get ready in your office attire, have your breakfast and start working at the allocated or preferred time.
Wearing work clothes when you work from home is important not just because it helps put you in work mode, but because you can take them off at the end of the day, so you get out of work mode and into home mode. – Guy Winch Ph.D. (licensed psychologist, keynote speaker, and author)
Since remote work can birth unnecessary miscommunication, always begin your day by talking to your superiors, for 10 minutes on a call, to promote better clarity on daily work targets.
You can also mimic your work routine by taking mini coffee breaks or strolling around your apartment after every 30 minutes for better back health.
Create a space for work at home
Make sure you have:
A designated workspace from personal spaces like (bedroom, kitchen) close to the Wi-Fi router.
A decent background for conducting video calls.
A good and continuous internet connection.
Minimum distractions.
Right tools like laptops, network accesses, passwords, instructions on remote login.
Noise-canceling headphones.
Predownloaded Video conferencing suites, group chat accounts, and configured email.
A comfortable straight-backed chair and a back cushion for arch support.
It can be challenging if you are a parent of small children. Since children need constant monitoring, you will need to entrust them to someone’s care. If your spouse is working, a better solution is to work in predefined shifts.
For better communication always mute your microphone on conference calls, especially when you are silent.
Mental Health
There is a good amount of mental and emotional challenges when we are subjected to work from home. Loneliness has been the most reported symptom of this work culture (1 in 19 % of respondents feel less motivated and less productive)
To maintain good mental posture it is best to connect with colleagues on video conferencing, working out regularly, and attending online resilience courses offered by leading training solutions.
There is also a flip side to this, it has also been reported that 65% of people have reported being more productive since working remotely cuts daily travel, reduces unnecessary office interactions, politics, and interruptions from others, etc.
If you are heading your team as a manager you can always enhance your leadership experience by pepping your team up, by simply having a non-work-related conference call. You have a moment of sharing light-hearted talks or a time for fun.
Conclusion
Our ultimate aim is to keep a right mind while we invest the most productive hours of our working life in the given scenario. We don’t know, how long will it be for us to return to our previous life or maybe this could be our “new normal”. But this shouldn’t stop us from having a positive thought life. This kind of mind and situational conditioning will only lead to better physical and mental health.
Surely we will grow out of this and we will build better and long-lasting relationships because we now understand the value of our social circle.
But till then let’s stay home and stay safe.