The world is experiencing a catastrophic situation of inscrutable levels. There is confusion, chaos, anxiety around the global crisis surrounding the disease. The snowballing effects of the pandemic have made a grave impact on the economy, small and large businesses, working patterns of employees. There is going to be a new normal for all of us. While tackling the current situation and keeping our mental peace intact, work cannot stop. The show must go on.
2012 was the year when the thought ‘let’s create a braille magazine’ was born and come May 2013, the rollercoaster ride began. The paucity of funds never gave me an opportunity to set my desk, choose my outfit for the day or enjoy regular chai breaks with my colleagues. Work from home has been the norm. I see a lot of people struggling including myself. Sharing some tips and tricks I have followed for the past few years in working for home.
The first thing I do each day is entered into a list of tasks to achieve in my diary. It gives me a sense of direction and sets the tone for the rest of the day. Personally, I prefer the old school pen and diary approach to any e-lists/apps. Coloured pens, tick marks are my guilty pleasures. Checking off the tougher tasks in the first half leaves you with easier ones in the second half where your energy levels are taking a downward curve.
Working from home involves a lot of discipline, including designated break time. Indulge in making tea for yourself, taking a glimpse of the gorgeous sunset, getting up after every hour to fill your glass of water or just stretching your legs and hands.
For a lot of you living in larger families or homes with children or smaller homes, being distracted by the regular activities of other members in the house can be a situation to deal with. This is where discipline plays its part. Politely sharing your work schedule and requesting peace and quiet in the room can be an effective way of getting your work done. In the initial years of White Print, I struggled a lot with this, but I found my way through it. I took care of the easier tasks that didn’t need too much quiet in the noisy part of the day, while wrote articles, made marketing pitches either early in the morning or late at night. Find what works best for you and simply flow with it!
While wearing your pyjamas and working on your laptop might be the most convenient thing to do, when ‘work-from-home’ is your new normal, trust me this can let you slip into boredom. Once in a while, wearing your favourite outfit, putting on some makeup and then staring at your laptop can be a lot of fun. Add your own Excitement Quotient to your work schedule.
Being slightly flexible through the process of work while being at home is definitely going to make it simpler for you. The definite in and out time can take a pause for a bit. Taking a longer lunch break while you watch your favourite show on television or read a book is absolutely doable. In fact, I recommend even taking a quick power nap. It certainly helps me working through the second half of the day more enticing.
The absence of colleagues, friends in the same room can begin to feel eerie. The chirpy neighbour, the loud boss is something you might begin to miss. Music does the trick for me. If music doesn’t distract you, play your favourite playlist while you get through the day and for people like me who start singing along with the singer, White Noise and other tracks for concentration work like magic.
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