JoshNot all people are well adjusted to the new normal, especially when you talk about working from home. In this situation, a good balance between your work and your life at home is very important. Unfortunately, it is one of the things that the majority of us are having problems with. We cannot properly do things that we are required to do because there are so many things that are happening at once – you need to meet your deadline at work, your baby cries, and has spoiled his diapers and needs changing. Eventually, it can lead to a breakdown. And when it happens, you risk wasting all the effort for the important things you’re doing them for.
Here are ways on how you can cope with the struggle of working at home because of the coronavirus:
Designate a working space. You want to visualize your office in a room in your house. Make sure the physical boundaries of your room will shield you from the other rooms in your house that can distract you. You can set up a table for your computer, and binders and folders for paperwork.
Establish your schedule. You need to have a list of the things that you need to do. From your morning routine to doing the house chores and taking care of the kids, and finally for work. Your work should take the biggest chunk in your daily hours, but make sure that you are not going to neglect the other tasks. Time management and multitasking are very critical skills that you need to have when working at home.
Make it a habit to compartmentalize. This means you only need to focus on your work when it is work hours and be physically and mentally present when you are attending to your kids and other chores in the house. Imagine yourself putting specific tasks in their designated buckets or compartments. You only need to deal with each compartment at a time, or if you cannot avoid it, make sure that you are not putting an item that belongs to your work bucket and moving it to your work bucket.
Always watch the time. Working from home can get you carried away with work and spend more time on it, and no longer be able to be “at home”, or vice versa. Make it a point to separate and create your boundaries for these two. You can start with watching your time. Make it a point to log out of your work computer, stand up and go see your family and do some family stuff together. This will help you develop good time management.
At the same time, avoid distractions and other temptations for relaxation when you are in your working hours. Keep Netflix and other social media platforms away from your sight.
Remember that there is still the outside world. You might be too focused on balancing your work and your home and forget that there are still things outside your house that you can appreciate. If you can find the time, you can go outside and breathe some fresh air, or have a video conference with your friends and other family members who are away from you. Exercise. Get tips on weight loss and other DIY home workout routines at London X City.