No morning stopping by your colleague’s desk to say hello, the daily routine is feeling much different for many workers as the world works to contain COVID-19. With more than 1 million Nigerians told to stay at home, it has unavoidably changed the way many of us work, play, learn and socialize.
At the very least, technology has proved to be an extraordinary tool to help us adjust to this new normal. Especially for those mandated to work from home, there’s no shortage of ways to remain productive while self-isolated or quarantined, but as many have likely discovered, it can be challenging at times.
Working from home is hard in this country, Nigeria. This is because of the peculiar infrastructural, cultural, etc. challenges that we face. The reality though, is that people must work from home if we’re to tame this beast. This begs the question: how can one stay productive while working from home?
Even if the situation is short term, the following are some thoughts on “best practices” while working from home. And be sure to share your top tips on social media (Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn also and tag @talentsandskills
- CAVE OUT SPACE FOR AN OFFICE IN YOUR HOME
This is certainly the first step to working effectively from your home. You need to carve out a small space inside your inner room to be used as an office.
The living room or in bed might not be the best place to work if you want to be productive, that’s why creating your own workspace at home is very important as it will help you concentrate.
How do you do that? It is the easiest thing to do, a simple desk and a comfortable chair in one corner of your room or on the balcony will work just fine. The workspace doesn’t have to be out of this world! Be super sure the place you have carved out is quite so you can focus on your task. Be consistent to work from there every day.
- SET OUT A TO-DO LIST:
A To-do list is a list of tasks you’ll love to get done for the day. The essence of a to-do list is to help you keep track of all the tasks you intend to get done before the end of the day. You play your role in helping the company achieve its very ambitious goals by writing out your To-do on a daily basis.
When working from home, writing down little goals can be very daunting what with the newfound flexibility, little to no supervision, distractions, etc. This is where goal-tracking is important.
Tracking your goals helps you achieve them. It’s that simple!
HOW DO I USE A TO-DO LIST?
All you need to do is to get a piece of paper, write a to-do list as a heading and highlight the list of tasks you intend to get done for the day. When you are done with a task, mark a score on the task, submit a report and move on to the next task on the agenda till you’re done with the entire task of the day.This will help you to keep track and achieve all your task for the day.
- ENSURE YOU’RE AT WORK ON REGULAR WORK HOURS:
This is the most important step to ensure that you’re productive. When working from home, it’s always easy to make work flexible for yourself, you could give yourself some break, gist with family e.t.c. however, be sure you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. Setting yourself available helps you to be accountable to yourself and to your boss.
Because you work from home and can reach your workspace in seconds, you might be tempted to stay longer in bed or spend some extra minutes chatting with friends. You shouldn’t, though.
What you should do instead is prepare for work in almost the same way you would if you were going to the real office. Essentially, wake up early (you can extend the time you normally wake up for work…you deserve a little something), have your shower, get dressed (casual, of course) and then move to your workspace and fire up your work & comms tools before “resumption time”.
Whether you’re going to the office or working from home, proper preparation is one way to be productive at work.
Be there when your boss needs you and when your customers need you. At this moment in the world when everyone is self-isolating makes business and transactions more engaging. Hence, be there at your working hours, because an emergency may arise that needs your utmost attention.
- SET A TIME FRAME FOR EVERY PROJECT OR TASK:
Here is the idea, on every task on your To-do list, set a time frame for every project. You could set an hour, two, or three depending on how tough a particular task could be.
WHY DO YOU NEED TO SET A TIME FRAME
- Setting a time frame enables you to achieve a lot on your to-do list.
- It also helps you to be timely with every project.
- LET YOUR FAMILY KNOW YOU’RE WORKING -NOT ON VACATION.
The COVID-19 outbreak not only has employees working from home, but schools have also closed leaving entire family units quarantined at home together. This might be one of the hardest things to do, but you need to talk to your family and explain that you are home but you’re not available.
- TAKE A BREAK
Most companies allow employees to take coffee or lunch breaks. This allows employees to regain strength, engage in informal conversations and attend to personal needs like responding to a message from a family member or friend. You should do the same while working from home. If your company didn’t set a time for breaks, set one for yourself and stick to it.
Use that period to do things like eat, have a chat with your siblings, text a friend or run an errand. These breaks boost productivity and help fight isolation, a silent killer of productivity.
- COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR BOSS, AND COLLEAGUES:
The huge difference between working from home and office is that you will not be able to rub shoulders with your colleagues, no gist during breaks; you do not get to see that guy or chick you’ve got a crush on. But do not worry; different technologies will bring all these things to you. This leads us to relevant technologies or tools for effective communication.
6. USE ONLINE TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR BOSS AND COLLEAGUES:
We are no longer in the 90s! This is 2020; the world has advanced technologically bringing in several online communicating tools that help one to communicate effectively from any corner of the world. Just like you want to communicate effectively with your colleagues and boss.
HERE ARE THE LIST OF ONLINE TOOLS TO HELP YOU COMMUNICATE BETTER.
1. GOOGLE TALK / GMAIL:
As long as you receive emails on your Gmail, you’re good to use a Google talk, either for a video call or quick chat. This is one of the most effective tools for an online office. Google Talk is not a big deal for anyone, just add the people or colleagues on your Google talk list and you’re set for a chat or a video call.
2. ZOOM (VIDEO CONFERENCING ):
Zoom is a video conferencing tool that has direct screen sharing abilities. One of the unique characteristics of Zoom is that apart from the fact that it is a user-friendly tool, it is absolutely free. Zoom can record team meetings and screen-sharing sessions. There are several other online tools that could make work effective. All you need to do is to research the ones that suit your fancy.
You can contact workers or Colleagues individually, or you may add them into WhatsApp private groups and send group messages. They may send replies via the group messages too. WhatsApp notifications permeate the users’ phones to the point where they even show up when a user is playing a mobile game. The app is free to use.it.
7. AVOID DISTRACTIONS:
You really need to avoid distractions as much as possible. Distraction can slow down work. Hence, working hours should be your working hours.
