The Easter weekend has come and gone, most countries are now adjusting to lockdowns across the globe, and I thought that this is as good a time as any to create a post about working from home. It is clear that the impact of Covid-19 to the global economy is going to be significant and it is going to impact all industries in different ways. For most (as with my company), it is likely that sales will go down, there will be less work, and projects will be put on hold.
Businesses are working and analysing scenarios and financial structures to understand the impact that this is going to have on their cash flow models. This isn’t an easy undertaking and it’s almost impossible to predict the impact that Covid-19 is going to have. When will things go back to normal? Will it be a few weeks, a few, months, longer? At this point no-one knows, and the uncertainty is terrifying.
Countries have taken strong measures in order to combat the virus, e.g. schools, shops, theatres, restaurants, businesses are all closed. Sporting events and mass gatherings are cancelled, and governments are imposing restrictions on travel within and abroad. In South Africa, we have been in lockdown and ordered to stay at home - even the sale of alcohol and cigarettes has been put on hold.
While this situation is not normal, across the globe physical offices have closed and, where possible, organisations have moved to remote work. While this is all a nice preamble, my goal with this post was to provide some insight into how I have been coping while working from home and the steps that I’ve taken in order to separate work and personal life.
Home Office
Even though remote work allows a large number of businesses to continue almost normally, there are challenges with working from home. Businesses need to understand that during these times, work contribution may vary and be impacted. People have children that they need to look after, motivation could drop, and the day to day that nearly everyone is used to is just not there anymore. Work will be impacted because simple things now take a significant amount of time, meetings are more difficult to schedule, and communication is not always as effective as it would be. How should this be handled? What should you do if you are struggling? That would depend on the business, but in my opinion if you are struggling with your working environment, reach out to your teamlead or manager. You are not the only person going through this change and hopefully they are able to provide guidance during these times.
From my side, I have been enjoying working from home. It is definitely more difficult organising meetings since everyone is always busy, but I have found it easier to eat healthier meals, sit down and focus on work, and actually get things done. During this time, it’s easy to get sucked into working extra hours and I’ve needed to make an effort to separate my working life from my personal life, i.e. creating a routine. Although the area that I have isn’t very large, I’ve tried to separate my work and personal environments as much as possible. I put my laptop away every day, and I make sure to switch off all work communication after working hours. Obviously this won’t work for everyone, but try and find what works for your specific situation.
Working from home full time can be challenging. Separating work from life is not always as easy as it sounds, and it is important to remember to take breaks during your working hours. Additionally, use your off time (evenings and weekends) to focus on yourself, your family, and the items you’ve been putting off within your life because you’ve been “too busy”.
Taking care of your health!
Taking care of your mental and physical health during this time will help you think clearly and enable you care for yourself and your loved ones. There are numerous ways to take care of your mental health during periods of self-isolation, and I’m sure there are some terrific blog posts covering that exact topic.
From a physical health perspective, unless your extremely fortunate you won’t have access to a gym at the moment but that doesn’t mean that you can’t keep active. I’m fortunate enough to have a balcony which I am using when I exercise (assuming it’s not raining). I have two 5l water bottles that I’m currently using as weights, alongside some calisthenics routines that only requires body weight. The issue that I’ve had is motivation. When it comes to exercise, it’s a lot easier to stay focused and motivate yourself when you’re not at home. This is something that I haven’t been able to figure out 100% just yet, but the times that I do exercise definitely improve my mood and my ability to think clearly.
It’s in the small things!
Obviously at this stage it’s not always possible to keep up with all your hobbies, but you can still see friends and family (virtually). Informal chats with friends and colleagues over WhatsApp, Skype, Teams, Zoom, whatever your choice of communication medium is, will be really important during times like these. Maintaining some form of normality during this time will help keep your spirits up and hopefully the human interaction will remind you to take some time for yourself.
Remember, not everything is or should be about work. Take some time for yourself, read a book, paint, do some exercise, enjoy your life! We are not machines, we cannot just eat-sleep-work-repeat and expect to be happy. Take evenings and weekends as you normally would, and spend time doing things that you enjoy. This post isn’t anything new, but hopefully it reminds someone to take a break, take care of yourself, and remember the positive aspects of your life.
Stay Safe Everybody!