Working from home is a normal day to day thing for most people, it’s been like that for years now. Say you’re on maternity leave or working from home because you’re sick, it is all been done before, however now, it is becoming a norm for a lot more people since we are in a pandemic now. In most situations, it is not even optional anymore. Most people are required to work from home, either because they are currently in quarantine or simply required for the purpose of keeping the workplace spacious so employees and the employer can keep their distances and maintain their SOPs that are now implemented in light of the pandemic.
You might think it’s easy since you only need a PC or laptop. It is not all that simple and easy though. Some people have even lost their jobs due to this pandemic because they are not able to work from home or their jobs can’t be done from home so they just get sacked to free up more space. Even though not everyone is going through this, the current state of the world has made it very difficult for a lot of people, including those who are working from home, and here’s why:
Internet Connection Problems
This would be one of the most annoying and stressful problems you can face while you’re working from home. Either your internet connection is doing fine or you can’t even load a website. It’s always one or the other and it is especially annoying when you’ve waited so long for something to be downloaded and it just restarts because of a bad connection. This can affect your work and workflow very badly since you will not be sure of when your work will be done with and it will delay other tasks you have as well.
How most people overcome this is by having a good internet connection like with Time Internet. Other than that, try to convince your employer how dire your situation is, hopefully, your employer will either understand your situation or help you fix it.
Time Management
Time management is more important when you’re working from home since you do not have other people watching over you or keeping you in check. You have to be able to keep yourself in check and this takes a lot of responsibility. Unless your employer has the time and energy to check up on every single one of their employees just to make sure they are not sleeping on the job, you would have to keep yourself in check and make sure that you are responsible with your time. Like waking up early or making sure you clock in and turn on your pc or laptop the same time you would go into work.
To make sure this stays constant, you can make reminders or alarms on your smartphone to keep you reminded of what you have to do on a day to day basis while working from home. This is much easier than making physical reminders like writing it down on a calendar since you might forget to or not even take a look at your calendar for the day. Thus, using your smartphone with help from Siri or Google Assistant is much more helpful. Try to create a daily routine for yourself to get yourself used to the new norm.
Staying Organized
Staying OrganizedWhen you work in an office, you’d most likely be more organized since it’s your workplace, but when you’re at home, it is totally different. This is all because you are not in a formal, professional, or simply a work setting and you are in the comfort of your own home. So, it is more likely that you remain comfortable. However, that might not always be a good thing. When you lose a sense of organization in your working area, you might get confused or tend to forget easily.
Thus, when you get disorganized or disoriented, it is best to just sit, take a minute to breathe then organize everything before resuming with your work. It’s fine to take a break, beneficial to your mental health as well. So take a break, keep things organized, and don’t dive into your work too deep too fast.
Switching Off: Figuratively And Literally
This might be one of the hardest for some people. Most of the time, when you’re working from home, you tend to lose track of time and forget your breaks or when you’re supposed to get off. What’s meant by that is just that people tend to get carried away when no one’s around to remind them. You might miss your lunch break or go over working hours.
Thus, once again set reminders or alarms to remind yourself of certain times of the day. Remember to take breaks and drink water or eat so you don’t get tired while working. Remind yourself that you can switch off your mind, body, and laptop or pc at times like when you’re having lunch or already going over working hours. Do not overwork yourself.
All in all, working from home while battling a pandemic is very difficult, especially if you have other people or family to care for. However, remember to give your mind and body enough rest because you need it. Don’t push yourself and keep yourself in check, and get yourself a good internet connection like Time fibre 100mbps home broadband in Malaysia and hopefully, you will be fine.
