The pandemic of COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our lifestyles, social connections, jobs and the world economy in general. Millions of people are losing their jobs and most of those who have not are moving to the remote work model. While many people wanted to work from home and not have to go to a stuffy office every day, now that this dream has come true, many realize that it is not all fun and games. For the first time in their lives, they understand that while comfortable and convenient, working from home is in many respects harder and more stressful than from a cubicle.
Working from home requires tremendous self-discipline, especially if, like now, the rest of your family is also at home. In an office, there is a clear distinction between working and non-working hours: you work, you have lunch at regular times, you follow an externally enforced schedule. At home, nobody is looking over your shoulder, and it is very easy to get relaxed and distracted.
How do you stay productive? Let us share some tips with you.
Eliminate Distractions
Recent studies on the nature of willpower show that it is not a static quality, but something more akin to a finite resource. In other words, every day you have only so much willpower to use. You may heroically resist the temptation of reading the latest COVID-19 news in the morning, but when it is just a click away, by noon you will probably give up.
Here’s the tip — most people who are known as strong-willed are not those who stoically resist temptations, but are those who eliminate temptations so that they are not available in the first place. In other words, if you know that you are prone to a particular type of distraction, make it hard, inconvenient or outright impossible to fall victim to it. Use software like Leechblock to block your most distracting websites. Or use an app like Freedom to block not just websites, but applications (browsers, messengers, email — depending on what you need for your work). Turn off your smartphone and keep it in another room so that you have to stand up to turn it on. Create separate “work” and “leisure” accounts on your PC and keep the bare minimum of what you need for work and for the latter. Wear noise-cancelling headphones to filter out distracting sounds.
Establish Work Time
The most difficult thing when working from home is creating strict delineation between work and leisure time, for both you and your family members. You should establish periods when you do not allow yourself to do anything but work (even a one-minute visit to the kitchen can devolve into a half-an-hour talk with your spouse). At the same time, you should make it clear to your family members that you are not to be bothered during these hours unless something extraordinary happens.
Schedule Breaks
Working from home does not mean all your time at home is now work time. You should take regular breaks. The secret to efficiency is scheduling everything, both work and breaks. Establish a schedule you and your family members are comfortable with, and fully dedicate yourself to what you are doing. Fully work when you work; fully rest when you rest. If you know you have a rest period coming and will be able to completely dedicate yourself to leisurely activities, you will be more motivated to give everything to the task you are doing right then.
Establish a Dedicated Workplace
How effective we are at what we do heavily depends on how we perceive the place where we do it. One of the reasons why people working from an office often report being unable to focus on work anywhere else is that they come to firmly associate work with a specific physical location. In other words, if you type on your laptop while sitting on the same couch you watch TV on, you will have a hard time concentrating, because your subconscious associates your location with leisure, not work. If you have a separate room, make it your home office and ask your family members not to enter while you work. Some people even find it useful to wear office clothes even when working at home, because it makes it easier to focus on the job.
Delegate
In a sense, working remotely makes it easier to delegate those portions of your work somebody else may be better suited to do. Whether it is to members of your team or to a writing service like DoMyPapers.com it does not matter — if everybody is working from home, it means that they are constantly in touch.
Maintain Communication
Finally, do not forget about the rest of your team. Being physically isolated from your colleagues should not prevent you from communicating and sharing useful information. Establish a unified approach to communication and make sure to keep regular contact with all the members of your team. Screen sharing, videoconferencing, instant messenger and regular reports will help you stay in touch.
The coronavirus pandemic will come and go; meanwhile, it is your job to stay both productive and sane!
