We all thought working from home would be a joy but in reality, it’s not at all what anyone predicted. There are several perks from working from home including an extremely less commute time from your bedroom to wherever your office is, saving money by not driving anywhere or taking the subway, and trying to be as productive as you were in your cubicle but in a different environment. Let’s face it, remote work does take adjustment periods.
Below are a few habits and strategies to help you during this time.
- Keep Regular Hours - While it can be extremely tempting to sleep in or stay up really late getting work done, try as best you can to keep your regular hours while working from home. If you need to set a timer that goes off every hour to help you focus, do so and in those few minutes, take a step back from your computer like you normally would, and rest your eyes.
- Create Lists - Now is the time t really discipline yourself while you work from home. Every Monday is the time where I make of lists of projects on what I want to work on, pitches, and ideas that have kept been on the back burner and I don’t want to forget about. Each day, I made am ental list of projects that I’ll be working on such as sending ut interview requests, writing a rough draft for project B or reading and researching about project C. This helps break up my day on what needs to get done as well as crossing off things on my to-do list. The best part about creating these lists is crossing tasks off as you go.
- Be Present- Not only is working from home a challenge but also if you’re a Mom of a school-aged child, you also have to attempt to home school them as well. Still, the usual advice probably is essential. When you’re with your kids, be with them. This means sharing activities, coloring, or playing with them. Being present is key. When you are working, ask your kids to be patient. Many people will try to do as much as they can but in reality, it’s not going to work. If you hope to be productive, give them tasks or chores to help out around the home to earn money or screen time. In all fairness, do the best you can as I’m sure your co-workers and boss know how difficult this time is for everyone.
- Assisted Income - Here comes the scary idea. Not all of us who are at home are working! Now is the time if you got laid off to search for potential other jobs that offer this type of service and keep you safe at the same time. One of these potential positions not only allows you to work from home but is also an incredibly rewarding and beneficial job, especially during COVID 19. If you are tech-savvy, understand medical terminology and a fast typer, then becoming a medical technician might just be your new calling. iMedX is a company that can assist you in this as well because it helps integrate medical document management and health information. They also offer a full suite of high-value cycle management solutions including education, training opportunities, and medical coding services for hospitals, businesses, and more.
Image: iMedX
- Work Hard- Turn It Off- While the challenges from home are never-ending for some, we are all in this together. It can be more difficult to ‘leave it at the office’ when the office has now become only a few feet away from where we eat, sleep and work. Ther are few interruptions. It can be really simple to go from writing, to just one more email or trying to complete one more task that you remembered before cooking dinner or spending time with your family The work-a-holics are really at an all-time high right now and I’m one of them. However, while we’re at this moment, learn to cut it of. If you started at a regular time, end at a regular time. If you need to keep working, that is ok but then once you stop, try to be done for a few hours or for the remainder of the time you have left. Treat yourself to something to help you look forward to the end of the day. Some will end up working through dinner but appreciate the time that you have now with your family. Work hard but learn to turn it off and relax harder. Believe me, you’ll wish you had it back once we get back into a regular routine again.
