27 Apr 7 Tips for Keeping your Sanity while Teleworking
With recent stay-home orders, teleworking has become the new normal for most offices in the United States. While there is no real upside to the current health crisis, the silver lining is that it comes during a time when cloud computing has reached full maturity. With cloud, telework is now exceedingly achievable.
While the technical side of remote working is more possible than ever, those of us who are accustomed to the routine of going into an office everyday might be in a slight state of shock. For some people, their work performance might suffer as it can be difficult to focus in the new telework environment. With that I mind, here are…
7 Tips for Keeping your Sanity and Staying on Task while Teleworking
1. Give yourself at least an hour between waking up and logging on
Traffic is horrible, but let’s face it, that daily drive has been the perfect space between the pillow and the desk to think about the day to come. Give yourself this time, preferably alone, as you mentally shift from home life to work life.
2. Stick to your ordinary morning routine
This is a big part of the previous tip. It’s important to do your best to keep your normal routine in trying times. Typical things include coffee, breakfast and preparing children for their day. If you have a favorite radio show you normally listen to on your commute, don’t let the lack of commute keep you from tuning in. If you had a workout routine before work, stick to it.
3. Create a break schedule for yourself
It’s easy to get chair-lock in your home office. Or take breaks haphazardly when mood strikes. It’s better for you to set a schedule that allows you to unplug on two 10-minute breaks and at least a thirty-minute lunch. This schedule will not only give you something to look forward too, it will help you stay on task by keeping your mind on completing work between breaks.
4. Compartmentalize your workstation from your home
This one might not be possible for everyone, but do your best, even if that means hanging a sheet as a divider in a loft or studio apartment. Keeping your work life separate from your home life will help stave off the sense that the hours and days are just running together in one long stream. This separation is critical to making it possible to unwind in your home when the workday is over.
5. Invest in your usual office supplies
Whiteboards, good monitors, comfy chairs and even your favorite office snacks are not only critical to your work performance, investing in these for your home office is critical to establishing a sense of normalcy in your workday. Other items include ergonomic keyboard and a drawer full of post-its, pens, paper clips etc.
6. Exercise
Even if you didn’t exercise before the stay home order, you might be underestimating how much you had been getting up and moving. This includes walking to and from your vehicle, walking to the kitchen on the other side of the suite for coffee and water, taking the stairs and even walking from one cubicle or office to another. Even if you weren’t a health-nut before now, don’t let your physical activity drop to zero. A quick online search will produce some simple exercises you can do at home that are easy for anyone. Even if all you’re doing is breathing exercises and lite stretching for 20 minutes this is very important.
7. Stay Social
This one is easier said than done, but maybe now is the time to ramp up your social media presence like you’ve been meaning to do. More so, we’ve all quickly adapted to using remote collaboration platforms. Organize virtual happy hours, and stay in touch with co-workers, even the ones you don’t typically work with directly but may have seen passing in the halls.
We hope these tips help you stay happy, healthy and productive while teleworking through quarantine.
If you are in need of a cloud hosting solutions to enable telework for your office contact us today.