As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grip the UK and the rest of the world, the odds are not yet in people’s favour. It may take a few more months before it completely disappears from the planet (hopefully). Until then, everyone has to deal with the new normal. That includes doing work from home.
How can employees who are used to seeing colleagues and spending time in boardrooms stay productive? How can they adjust to these changes? Here are three tips:
1. Make Sure All Types of Needed Tech Are Working
For those who have to work from home, they have two options. They can ask their company to let them borrow their PCs and laptops, or they can use theirs. If they prefer the latter, then it may be helpful if they can other types of tech as a backup. These include mobile phones and PDAs.
If they are not working correctly, now is the best time to call for a mobile or PDA repair ASAP. Fortunately, some shops can already do collection and return. Customers don’t need to worry too much about social distancing.
But what do employees need to have as many types of tech as possible? For one, when PCs malfunction, it may be challenging to get some help. Second, these devices will provide them more flexibility on when and where they prefer to work.
2. Explore Different Time Management Techniques
Many employees working from home may struggle with plenty of distractions. They need to take care of the kids, clean the house, or shop for groceries once in a while. The television and the tea may also be tempting.
One of the ways to keep themselves as productive as possible is to implement some of the effective time management techniques:
- Pareto Principle – The idea is that employees spend 20% of their time on tasks that produce 80% of their desired results. This strategy allows them to be highly efficient that they may not have to work hard for 8 hours a day.
- Pomodoro Technique – It is a time management tactic where people can break down their working schedules by 25-minute intervals. In between, they can take short breaks. The Pomodoro technique allows them to maximize their time without feeling burned out after.
- Eisenhower Matrix – The employees will need to define their tasks into four categories: urgent and important, urgent but not essential, important but not urgent, and not necessary and not urgent.
3. Stick to a Structure
To be working from home may already be a significant adjustment to their day-to-day activity. Employees are less likely to remain productive if the rest of their schedule becomes completely different. After all, they may have to deal with a steeper learning curve.
To help them cope better, experts suggest that they stick to a schedule or a structure. For example, they may still follow their regular working hours. They may also need to determine the best time to do the following:
-
- Exercise
- Cook meals
- Buy some groceries
- Teach the children
- Relax
If they’re isolating with their family, employees can ask support from them. One of the parents, for example, may attend to the kids while the other is still working. They may instruct the kids not to disturb them when they’re doing their job.
Nobody knows for sure when everything goes back to the way it was. For now, the best thing workers can do is to adapt to the new normal as soon as they can.
