“The Hope Pandemic” series addresses the changing business climate and how we can go digital and shape a new world of sustainability, kindness and community.
We are going through an unprecedented human experiment that is shaping the way we are relating to each other and how we are spending our time in isolation.
The effect on social and human psychology is interesting. We are pondering on ways to fill time. And how we interact with those around us. Do we watch TV? Read? Play Monopoly? Do we talk to each other? Do we go back to our old school ways? To a time before we became so distracted? Is working from home working for us? How do we distract ourselves until this blows over?
We’ve seen heart warming stories over the internet, and via social media, about families isolated at home coming together, and working on creative projects and cooking and writing poetry. We’ve even seen people collaborating in different nations and producing works of art together.
But when it comes to working from home, it’s a little bit more challenging for those who are new at this. And, if you think about it, what makes working from home tough is human psychology. That’s because we associate “home” as a place to “de-work”…where we recharge before the next day of work.
Unless we have the luxury of a home office (and the habit and discipline of its use) we will need to go through a mental deprogramming and re-association…
As a species we are said to be highly adaptable, so we should soon be able to attain the state of “work focus” in the space of ‘homeness’. Here are some ways to manage the transition.
1. Get out of your pajamas. PJs are toxic to productivity. Dress differently to send your brain the signal to switch to work mode.
2. Eat well: don’t use excuses for too many fridge breaks.
3….and don’t abuse bathroom breaks (magazines, Tetris etc). Be efficient (and don’t waste toilet paper:)
4. Speaking of distractions, turn the damn TV off until you’re done with work.
5. Find yourself the same corner, nook, to work everyday: habit creates focus.
6. Work in short 2-3 hour spurts and take breaks to clear your mind: do yoga, meditate etc.
7. Keep a checklist to track your productivity.
8. Enjoy the new (for a short while hopefully) normal.
Hopefully home isolation will bring out the best, in both human ingenuity and creativity.
And it’s always good to remember that we’re all human and – and we’re all in this together.