['Infectious Diseases', 'Employee Relations']
['Home workers', 'COVID-19']
01/03/2024
Copyright 2024 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.
...
Employers are asking many of their employees to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, many states have enacted “Safer at Home” orders which require nonessential businesses to close, which increases the number of people that must stay at home and practice social distancing.
Maybe you’re already an experienced remote worker. If so, the transition may not be as jarring as going cold turkey. Either way, there are three things you need to understand.
1. Interaction will decline, stress will increase
Working at home is going to put a big crimp in your social life. Yes, you might have a significant other that’s stuck at home with you. And, your children might also be confined there. But that is going to be about it for direct interaction with others. Staying connected via social networks will become even more important than ever.
Being in the same home with the same people for an extended time can be very stressful. Search out ways to decrease that stress, for example, by:
- Exercising (while practicing social distancing),
- Doing mediation,
- Listening to music with headphones/earbuds so as not to disturb others, and
- Watching television and movies.
After your workday is done you can interact with your housemates by making dinner together, playing a board or video game, or binging on content from a streaming service.
2. Create a routine
If you’re an experienced remote worker this stay at home ordeal my not be has severe for your psyche. However, even if you were already working from home you still had an active social life. You left the house to go to the gym, out for dinner, to the movies or mall, to the hairdresser or barber, and unfortunately…to the dentist. You can’t do that now.
So, what should you do? Create a daily routine that you follow each workday. Get up at the same time, practice proper hygiene (shower, brush your teeth, put on make-up and dress as if you were going into work). It’s easy to “let yourself go” but fight that urge. It’s necessary to keep this routine to maintain a sense of normalcy during the pandemic and required social distancing.
3. Set your hours
When working remote establish, your work hours and stick to them. (That is, unless you’re in a management position where you’re expected to be available around the clock. In that case good luck maintaining your sanity.)
So, say your eight-hour workday starts at 8:00am. With 30 minutes for lunch (and a short break outdoors in the fresh air) your day ends at 4:30pm. The key is to truly end it at that time. Screen your phones calls and don’t take any from co-workers. Don’t answer company emails. The only way to do that is to logoff from your company’s server and don’t logon until 8:00am the next workday. Make sure you keep a proper work-life balance.
Take-away
It’s not easy working remotely at this time in history. But, by understanding this is just a temporary situation, following a set routine, and setting and following work boundaries, you’ll get through this.
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['Infectious Diseases', 'Employee Relations']
['Home workers', 'COVID-19']
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Copyright 2024 J. J. Keller & Associate, Inc. For re-use options please contact copyright@jjkeller.com or call 800-558-5011.