When you are used to working from the office, staying home and trying to meet deadlines can prove to be a challenge sometimes. Various industries have been affected by COVID-19 in different ways, some more detrimental than others. We at Optimus are lucky to have the luxury of mobility; we can work from home. But when sitting alone on the couch, with no coworkers in sight, how can we stay focussed? We have a simple, yet absurd solution. Play pretend.
Dress to Impress
Stay with us, we know how strange it may sound. But just as important as brushing your teeth and washing your face before working from home, we encourage you to get dressed up as if you were going into the office. Not only does it hit “refresh” in your mind for a new day, it puts you in the headspace of work, rather than lounging around. Dress as if you could be “Skyped by a potential client at any moment” says an article from The Guardian. It’s not just about having other people there to view you in professional attire, it is about taking the same time to respect yourself and get into the right frame of mind as you would on a regular workday. Keeping up your routine is key.
Working From Home ≠ Working In Bed
“Why does that cause an issue? I should be fine working from bed! Shouldn’t I be comfortable while working?” Firstly, agreed. Don’t set yourself up in a sharp nook of your home and expect your finest work. But do remember: you’re not at the office. That itself creates chaos in what would otherwise be a smooth sailing ship. It’s hard to feel like working when you are sprawled out in bed, or laying out on the sofa. Just a suggestion, but we’ve found it helps to sit up straight and reside at a desk during work hours to encourage the same routine you would have had at the office. And speaking of routine, it leads us to our next tip: keeping a scheduled day including breaks and team calls (to keep your sanity and stay connected).
Schedule Your Day
Not being in the office means a lack of people to bounce ideas off of, or grab a quick lunch with between meetings. But it doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice some of these privileges completely. Why not schedule your day around outcomes, coming up with a daily goal to hit? And by laying your day out, and scheduling in some breaks for yourself, shoot your coworkers a calendar invite for a 15-minute brainstorm session, or maybe even a working lunch. Just because you are at home, doesn’t mean you have to isolate yourself from the office community; stay connected! But while staying connected, remember to keep boundaries between your work and personal life. Getting stuck working all the time because you can’t “turn off” or not working at all because you are watching TV, is not productive either.
Be Careful of Isolation
When staying home, especially if you live by yourself, it can get lonely sometimes. Just as it’s important to stay connected and integrated with your office community, staying in touch with family and friends is a surefire way to keep yourself from feeling isolated. Text, video call, and email those who are1 near to your heart, or maybe reach out to some old friends.
Distractions
Finally, when working from home, it’s easier than ever to get distracted. Along with following the tips above, we encourage you not to get too caught up with the news. Staying informed is always important, don’t get us wrong. Listening to trusted resources and turning your TV on is good, but we would suggest not having the news channel on 24/7. Not only does it take away from your mindshare, it also may create a worrying atmosphere considering the state of the globe today: not conducive to a working environment.
This pandemic has affected everyone, and we hope that you are staying home and healthy. But while staying home, we hope that these tips will help keep your productivity levels on the rise, without compromising your working environment.