The Coronavirus Pandemic has affected our lives in more ways than we had thought of. From practising social distancing to working from home, the past few months have forced the entire world to repurpose the way we have been functioning.
Due to the outbreak of this deadly virus, most of us are now delivering our work-related duties from our homes. As opposed to what people assume, working from home can be more stressful. In an office, we have our dedicated space and our team to fall back on.
On the other hand, working from home entails juggling family, haphazard routine and lack of coordination between team members. Especially during this time, when we are dealing with anxieties and uncertainties about the future, working from home or remote work can pose many difficulties for anyone.
However, the show must go on. During these times, we need to give our best to our work and sail through this period of chaos. In this article, we will talk about various things you can do to improve your work-from-home experience.
Tips to Work-from-Home Effectively
- Follow a Routine: When you have nowhere to go, it becomes difficult to remain disciplined. This habit leads to less productivity and more delays. Thus, it becomes more important to stick to a schedule.
Even if you’re going to work from home, you must wake up on your usual time and start your work as per your office timings. You can also dress up well to motivate yourself for the day. Following a routine has a positive effect on your mindset and makes you start your day with energy.
- Create a Dedicated Workspace: The reason why we all prefer working from the office is our workstation and the dedication that comes with it. When you sit in your cubicle, you know your only task is to give your best to the company.
Because of this sudden outbreak of Coronavirus, we are left with no option but to work from home. Most of us were unprepared and do not have a work-friendly space in our homes. However, creating a space with a good vibe only takes your laptop, your necessary equipment and a good table.
Working from a fixed space away from distraction will help you immensely in gaining focus and bringing more efficiency. Thus, we strongly recommend working from a formal setup even if it’s inside your home.
- Communicate With Your Team: During office hours, our day is filled with chit-chat, healthy discusión and fun breaks. This banter helps break the monotony and bring energy back on a dull day.
As we all work from home now and are also isolated from any external contact, we tend to feel lonely, dull, and uninspired. The only way to perk yourself up again is by communicating constantly with your team via instant messages, conferencing, and calls. This will help keep your morale up and make coordination better.
- Keep Checking-in With Your Managers: It is easy to get distracted and lose the vision of your goals when surrounded with family, house chores, and an imminent health crisis like Covid-19. So, you need to keep in touch with your leads and managers to help you navigate through this time.
A quick meeting to decide every day’s task and check-in at the end of the day to discuss the status can work wonders to keep you on the right path. Today, we have many options like Google Meet, Zoom, and Skype for Business to even conduct video meetings well. We suggest using these technologies to help you work from home better.
- Ensure that You Have the Right Equipment: Most of us didn’t expect to be working from home at such short notice. It is quite possible that you may not have the right laptop, required software, good internet connection or a microphone to carry out your responsibilities properly.
If you face any such problem, then, you must communicate immediately to your team. Your communication will help them get you the right facilities and realign your work responsibilities to accommodate your problems.
- Save Your Data: As per reports, the use of the internet has gone up by 30% since the Coronavirus outbreak. Everyone is using their mobile data and wi-fi connection to work vigorously or watch Netflix to survive the lockdown.
Hence, you will notice that the internet speed has become slower than usual. At this point, it is your responsibility to reduce your data consumption to reduce the burden on network providers and ensure that the internet services continue smoothly.
Here’s how you can do your part. If you’re using your mobile data, you can go to connection > Data Usage > Data Saver. If you’re using a Windows PC, you can right-click on the wi-fi icon and click on “metered connection”. If it’s a Mac, then turn on the content caching option on the sharing setting.
Wrapping Up
This is a stressful time for everybody across the world. On top of that, we must help our organization excel and sail through this period with ease. Working from home can be taxing but it is the need of the hour. With a few tips and patience, you can give your best to your organization and even achieve personal goals.
Productivity and efficiency can be achieved at any place if you’re determined. All you need to do is stay focused and dedicated towards your work, and your goals will be accomplished as you had planned them before this lockdown hit us.
We must make every effort possible to remain indoors. This is the only plausible way to save humanity. And, if we have to shift our office and work from homes to do so, we must.
