This is for all those folks who are working from home like me and glued to the laptop for hours. We all know Covid-19 has forced us to experience the “work at home” lifestyle for the past few weeks. Though the work we do remains the same, let me admit that we need to stretch beyond our usual work timings. Do you all agree with me?
A sudden shift in the work environment from office to our living area has multiple repercussions like lack of communication, collaboration, lower productivity etc. Thanks to my team and the daily morning meetings, it has become a little easy for people like me to adapt to the remote work routine on a full-time basis.
Come to think of the face to face interactions, discussions, team lunch, Coffee/tea breaks that used to relax you while at work in office, these have been substituted by a video call, slack messages, family lunch and mom’s best ever coffee with no time limit to working hours. Remote working brings a lot of challenges that we need to overcome. As we work in flexible timings, it is difficult to manage meeting schedules, discussions and time with our colleagues.
Most of us feel that our working hours have now got extended. Our Toggle runs beyond the stipulated time. Remote working makes most of us glued to our laptops for hours. So, are we over working when we work remotely?
Working for long hours
Homes are typically not designed to create an office like work environment. But during work from home (WFH) we need to have an eco-system that supports and make us feel as if we are in office. There are many work from home secrets to convert our home environment to work environment quickly, so that we can continue to work and be productive.
Remote workers are likely to feel that they are working round the clock. They tend to lose track of when does the day start and when does it ends. As they work for long hours, they are not able to have a work life balance. The notification and mails keep them glued to their laptops. Even a well-planned day, may end up in to late-nights because of rush/unplanned assignments.
When you are working at the office, it is easy for you to stop at some stage and leave for the day. But now, since we are all working from home it becomes difficult to leave the work. half done. At times, even simple task can extend our working hours.
As we don’t stick to defined opening or closing timelines while working remotely, it is difficult to plan and restrict work to 8-9 hours.
So, the question which comes up is how do we manage time while working remotely? Below are few things that can help you in reducing the long hours of work.
Time management:
Remote workers should necessarily be good at time management. They should stick to proper work timings, preferably 9 am to 6 pm. Some may be more productive during morning. So, plan your important work and task to be done in those hours.
Keep your team posted with the assignments and have definitive closing hours. This will help your colleagues to plan their work with you should they need any assistance. There are many time tracking tools that can help you manage your working hours.
Prioritizing task:
Prepare the list of tasks for the day. Decide on what are the important tasks to be completed today and what can be moved to tomorrow. Focus on the important tasks and plan the timeline for their completion.
Interruptions:
You may have children at your home, who may want your time and attention. They may not understand that you are at work. Your family members too may need to have an important conversation with you. But you would need to inform them and let them know that you’re at work and would not like to disturbed between 9.00 am to 6.00 PM. Please do request your family members to take care of routine tasks while you are at work.
Do find a suitable place within your house where you could work without any interruption as you may have client calls and other important video conferences to attend.
Bad health habits:
Remote workers sometimes do not take adequate breaks for lunch, tea etc. Untimely eating habits would impact your health. After very long hours, you would feel tired and even stressed. It is better to have short breaks with some refreshing hot coffee/tea or some energy drink that rejuvenates you. Stick to defined lunch breaks and coffee breaks so that it won’t affect your health.
How to avoid long working hours
Long working hours can be avoided by planning the tasks for the day and utilizing the working hours properly. The following tips can help you to avoid long work hours.
(1) Plan your work:
Plan your work for the day and prioritize it. Avoid taking a frequent break while at work, so that you can complete a majority of the tasks planned. Plan low priority task for the next day or whenever you find time.
(2) Set reminders
Set regular reminders to take a break. Take a short walk within your room every 2 – 3 hours. It can make you feel fresh and you can continue to work with more energy.
(3) Stay away from interruptions
Your work place at home should be secluded enough so that you’re not frequently interrupted by your kids and your pets. This will help you to stay focused and complete all the tasks planned.
(4) Commit yourself to the task
As we are working remotely, we don’t assign a timeline that needs to be followed. Closing time extends beyond what is planned. Commit yourself to completing domestic/personal tasks as that would help you to complete the planned office tasks within defined working hours.
Remote working is always a challenge till master the art. Enjoying the experience of the new work style needs you to first overcome its challenges. You would need to stick to defined working hours, plan your tasks and enjoy working from home. Success while working from home depends on creating a healthy work life balance. You will need to draw a line between your personal life and professional life. As remote work style is going to be the new normal, let us do better time and calendar management to improve efficiency and enjoy our work.
Stay at home, stay safe and do enjoy this opportunity of working from home!
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