On March 11th, 2020, the WHO has officially declared the Novel Corona a pandemic. Thousands of companies have been forced to close and millions have been asked to work from home. While some may find delight in the idea of working from home in their pyjamas all day…let’s face it, we still have deadlines to meet and everyone has to play a part to help their companies stay afloat or risk losing their jobs.
So, whether you are on self quarantine situation or an employee who has been asked to work from home, we’ve come up with a few tips on how to stay productive.
Wake Up Early
Alright, so maybe you get to sleep in a little but the general rule to is try to start work the same time as you would at the office. So if work at the office starts at 9am, then try to stick to the same time. Sticking to this habit will minimise a disrupt in your usual routine. Plus it helps you start your day right!
Dress Up
I get it. Who doesn’t like the idea of working in your pyjamas all day? But personally, if I really want to be productive I wouldn’t be in my pyjamas. It’s distracting enough to have your bedroom and couch just around corner, so you’d want to avoid anymore temptations. Instead office wear, I would put on some comfortable going out clothes. At least I make “some” effort to dress up and that little effort helps with my productivity and focus.
Schedule / To Do List
If you are a parent with kids at home, you’ll probably understand the importance of following a schedule if you even dream of getting any work done at all. I am a Mum of two and on days when I need to work from home, I definitely need to draft out a schedule and try my level best to follow it. Its not easy trying to strike a balance between parenting and work.
The schedule that I have when my kids are at home is to break up my time slot for work but make it short and productive. Give a 100% in everything. If you’re gonna work, give it 100% if you’re gonna spend time with your kids give it 100% as well. If you don’t have kids, I strongly recommend to create a schedule as well. A schedule helps you to stay focused and its goal driven as well.
Order In
I would say don’t get tempted to whip a storm since you are working from home. If you are relatively free with not much work to catch up on then great….cook away! But if you have deadlines to meet….ORDER IN. Grab Food, Food Panda…whatever!
I love cooking too but its the cleaning up that I absolutely hate. So if I have deadlines to meet, I recommend just ordering in. It’ll save you the hassle of cleaning up and you can focus more on being productive.
Take Breaks
The beauty about getting to work from home is being able to take breaks in front of the TV and no one calling you out on it! Whip up some coffee/tea, catch a short episode of LOVE IS BLIND and head back to work. Whether its morning tea, lunch or afternoon tea, enjoy your breaks after all, you deserved them for being super productive.
In light of the current situation, we are all in this together. Besides taking necessary precautions like washing our hands and staying away from crowds, we should also use this time to work on our health – our last line of defence. Stop snacking on junk food and stock up on healthy foods.
Lastly, I’m sending out love and prayers to everyone in the world. We are in this together. Please take care.
Bagsology 