The new Coronavirus has made governments across Europe and the rest of the world take some pretty extreme measures in order to handle the spread of the virus. Regardless of whether you support your government’s decisions or not, if you are one of the more fortunate people who can still continue working from home, you will be most likely required to do so.
In London, which is where I’m based, things are about to get even tougher and we should really be responsible and take matters seriously.
This blog post is very different from the rest of the topics I write about. I would like to share some of my personal experiences which can hopefully make your life easier and more enjoyable. Some of the ideas would hopefully make your work more rewarding and will keep you sane for longer. Having everything written down will also help me stick to it.
Get Dressed for Work
Many will be tempted to sit in their underwear or pyjamas all day long. While this could be fine for 1-2 days every month, I feel like it messes up my mind and somehow makes the time pass slower. It’s also a good idea if you’re planning on having video calls. Making your bed and getting dressed as if you are about to go to work (I hope you don’t have to wear a suit to work) separates your sleeping time from your working time and somehow sets your brain for some more serious thinking.
Expert Tip: Take a shower before you get dressed.
Don’t Start Working Immediately
Ideally, you should try and split your sleeping time from your working time. Don’t sleep until 5 minutes before you’re supposed to start doing work. After you get dressed, have a breakfast, go for a run or an exercise or read some news. If you commute to work, maybe go out for a walk or use the time to do some of the activities above.
Sit on a Chair Behind a Desk
Don’t lie in your bed or sofa. Sit on a desk, table or something that will make you feel a bit more like you are at work. This way you can change the environment and have a break on the sofa every now and again. I find that lying on the sofa too much gets me sleepy and more distracted.
Say Hello to Your Colleagues
If you work in tech, you will already be used to some of the ceremonies that you do every day – these will be the stand ups. Don’t skip them! They are important for staying up to date with what everyone else is doing. Communication is key during prolonged periods of working from home.
Expert Tip: Get to know your colleagues better during your morning stand ups. Some of my colleagues have pets at home and they show them during meetings and stand ups. This could be funny and relaxes everyone. Things like this make the team even closer and open with each other.
Overcommunicate
This follows from my previous point. It’s much better to spend this extra time making sure everyone is on the same page before things diverge and you end up with a bigger problem to solve.
Expert Tip: Be mindful! It’s not always the loudest person who has the best idea. Give everyone a chance to say what they’re thinking and wait for your turn. Take notes if you need.
Make Sure People Have a Good Set Up
This one is for those of you who are managers. Have a call with people individually and try to assess their situation. Don’t forget that everyone has different circumstances – some people live with flatmates, some live with partners and so on. You need to be supportive and understanding – it might take some time to reach full productivity. Does everyone have a comfortable desk and a chair (or a setup they are comfortable with)? Are they in a bright place? Is there someone else around while they work? How is their internet connection?
Depending on the issues you discover, it might be wise to try and rectify some of them. Get the company to pay for higher speed internet or buy them a 5G dongle. Allow them to bring their monitors home, buy them a keyboard and a mouse or just give an advice. This will pay off in the long run!
Make Your Meetings Face to Face
It could be easy to decide to carry all communications via email or some chat software. This could quickly get annoying, you could easily misunderstand each other and it will take you too much time. Instead, just get on a video call and talk to your colleagues. This is even more important if you have group meetings. There is lots of free software out there, so just choose whatever you prefer. I like Google Hangouts.
Have a Lunch Together
Wait… What? Yes, my team has lunch together nowadays. We have a Google Hangouts meeting during lunch time and people can come in and out while having their lunch. It lets us chat and have a laugh, it relaxes everyone and splits our day. It also introduces some healthy food envy and makes people with unhealthier diets behave a little bit – positive peer pressure.
Eat Healthy
Working from home could make you lazy. It is really important to have a healthy diet during prolonged times of working from home. Otherwise you will start getting tired and sleepy in the future and your brain will stop working well. Drink water and try not to have too much junk snacks. If you can, try and get some natural light as much as you can.
Expert Tip: Pretend you are a house plant – you need food, water and sunlight in order to live.
Clean Your Working Space at the End of the Day
Don’t just leave your stuff overnight. Clean up and make sure your place doesn’t look like an office. This way you won’t feel like you live in one and your brain will get some exposure to different environments.
Expert Tip: Once you clean up your working space, get off your computer and let your eyes relax. You can have an exercise or another walk to simulate your commute back home.
Be Positive
This is probably the most important one! You have to think positive – lots of good things can come when you work from home. Imagine the amazing things you can come up with when you have the ability to focus. Having this in your head could allow you to produce some very high quality work.
Conclusion
The above is a list of things that I try doing nowadays while many of us are forced to work from home. I’m sure some of those won’t work for everyone, but this makes me remain positive and not loose my mind. Doing the above keeps me motivated and productive, I’ve managed to come up with some really cool stuff and I can see some good progress at work.
If there is something missing above that you feel it could be useful, feel free to post a comment. I’ll be happy to see what makes others cope in these tough times.
