Many people have been working from home for the last few weeks now, and while some might have already worked from home before and find it easy to adjust, others are struggling with this new normal. Add on top that you should stay at home not just for work but all the time, some might just start to go stiry crazy after a while. But this situation is still hugely unpredictable and it’s impossible to know for sure how long it’s going to be this way, so adjusting to home office is a necessity. While in our Blogpost “How the corona crisis is reshaping remote work for cesonia” we described our experience with some basic rules on how to manage remote projects, in this Blog we want to share a few tips and tricks that we at Cesonia find very helpful to keep you sane when you’re working from home throughout this period.
Keep a Routine
The first and, in our opinion, the most important advice we give our employees is to try and keep their routine as close to normal as possible. Being in this situation is different for everyone, but sticking to a certain routine can help many. That entails, just as any work situation would, to set your work hours and to stick to them. It’s easy to work more when you’re at home since you don’t have a commute and you might as well keep going. But while that might start out with a half-hour here and there, it can escalate quickly. Just because you’re working from home, doesn’t mean you should be working all the time! Instead, set your work hours and stick to them as strictly as possible.
Similarly, it is easy to forget taking breaks when you’re working from home. But taking breaks is incredibly important, not just to give your brain a moment of calm, but to also move your body. This means you should definitely take your lunch break around the same time as usual, but also go for walks if you can or do a quick exercise when you’re starting to feel antsy. Being stuck inside all day can be hard, and getting some fresh air can be incredibly helpful to get your brain juices flowing again.
Furthermore, to give yourself some routine, it helps to set yourself a clear agenda of what you need to do within the day or week. When you’re home alone, it might be harder to remember everything that needs to be done, since you’re mostly working on your own and don’t have anyone else to rely on. By writing down an agenda, you won’t forget anything so easily, and you’ll be able to keep yourself busy. This doesn’t just apply to work tasks, but also anything else you need to do outside of work.
Your Office
Depending on your living quarters, this one is a bit harder, but we recommend to find a space to work that is separate from your relaxation space. Working in a space that you would normally relax in will make it harder for you to do so later on as unconsciously it will register more as a place of work. This, of course, includes your bed, your couch, and so on. Working in bed could drastically diminish your quality of sleep as it’ll be harder for your mind to drift into a deep sleep phase and fully refresh your mind.
Furthermore, you should also try to find a place with enough natural light. Sitting in a place all day without natural light will affect your mood negatively, as you will be missing that extra-necessary Vitamin D you get from direct sunlight.
How to Deal with Procrastination
Procrastination is an issue that almost all of us deal with every now and then; some days it’s just harder to concentrate than others. But when you’re working from home, you can’t just pop over to your colleague to have a quick chat to give your brain some time to relax. This is why breaks are so important! Whenever you feel like you keep drifting off, it’s time to take some time for yourself. Get yourself a coffee and enjoy with colleagues during a quick virtual chat, do a quick yoga exercise or even fifty jumping jacks, so you can overcome that block.
However, if that still doesn’t help, this is where your agenda will be helpful. Pick another task to move on and just come back later with a fresh mind. Most likely, your procrastination will have been overcome by then.
Meetings
Though not every team or department has regularly scheduled meetings with everyone, this might be the time to start doing so if you haven’t already! It’ll be much harder to be up to date on how things are going for your colleagues and getting a quick update from them in these regular meetings can bring back that same work atmosphere you usually get in office settings.
Team Spirit
Lastly, it’s no surprise that team spirit and a sense of community is much harder to create when you’re not actually together. While everyone has different tastes, maybe try to find something you can do together over video calls! This might be cooking the same dish, playing video games or having a book club – whatever floats your boat. Nonetheless, connecting to your colleagues and teammates this way will keep up the sense of camaraderie and help you to not dread work, but be glad for it.
Thank you for reading and don’t miss out on our blog post about How the corona crisis is reshaping remote work for Cesonia.
Let us invest together in secure and trusting cooperation.