How to work from home along with your partner during the challenging times of coronavirus outbreak?
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Work from home along with your partner on a Coronavirus epidemic is quite an exercise for all married men and women to be on a disciplined work mode status.
Neither I switched my job, nor added anyone to my team, yet I have a new co-worker. And I see more than anyone now.
My new co-worker is my husband. There are many people like me in working together with the community. They will be working from their respective home for the foreseeable future. It means that my workday is now happening in the same rooms as and sometimes right next to my husband’s workday. This new reality is teaching us all those things we never knew about our partner’s work-life, tasks and responsibilities.
There are several employees in many industries struggling hard through coronavirus-related shift cuts and layoffs. In this situation, we consider ourselves even luckier to be employed in industries that don’t require in-person attendance.
Eager to establish a sustainable working relationship with my deskmate/wife, I solicited advice from a few dozen people. Some of them have been working at home with their partners for years. And some are like me. They are swiftly learning what works and what doesn’t after getting forced to co-work for the first time. Here’s what experts say how to handle your working days along with your partner.
How to handle your Work from home along with your partner during the Coronavirus outbreak?
- We are all uncomfortable — and that’s OK
When you figure out your partner’s work schedule, you should change your work schedule accordingly. What a day at work looked like in the office hardly resembles what our new lives working from home have turned in to. And, that’s okay, we have to survive this situation. You have to accept reality and act according to that.
It’s completely understandable for many of us to feel like we’re out of our comfort zone. And to experience some ‘growing pains’ as we adjust to our new reality (for the time being). It makes it incredibly important to work as a team, directing your energy as a couple towards the common enemy (COVID19 related changes).
Having a morning meeting to discuss the plan for the day can be a simple way to alleviate some of the discomforts we are all feeling.
- Social distancing applies to your partner, too
It is crucial to have your own working space away from your partner if possible. Once you establish separate areas, it’s also necessary that couples respect the boundaries of that space during the workday. Creating baseline rules around when and how to interrupt each other during the day can go a long way to help preserve sanity as well. Also, while it may be tempting to take breaks together during the workday, taking breaks alone may be just as essential to maintaining sanity.
Distancing your work life from your home life as the spaces you are doing both become one is also important.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate. And then communicate again.
Ensure to do the best to avoid miscommunications about expectations while living in isolation. In this uncertain time, you can collaborate on a daily schedule that outlines both personal and professional obligations. Including things like outdoor activity and exercise is an excellent place to start. It gets everyone on the same page for how the workday will look different now that a commute into the office isn’t on the table.
It’s also necessary for couples to reconsider “who does what” during this time. For example, just because your partner was the one who did a majority of the cooking before the pandemic, re-evaluating those responsibilities will be key to staying productive during it.
- Give your partner some grace
Becoming more empathetic during this time may be the answer to a lot of the anxiety we are feeling. That especially applies to the person you are partnering with to get through the pandemic. Now more than ever, it is significant that we work together and practice ‘we ‘ rather than ‘me.’ With teamwork, we can manage this challenge and even come out stronger and better than we ever imagined.”
Give yourself and your partner some grace. These are unprecedented times, and we’re all dealing with a range of emotions about the current state of affairs. Be patient with your partner and yourself. And just remember that you are both doing the best you can, and these arrangements won’t last forever.
Bringing a bit of workplace like structure into the home can feel unnatural. But it still might help you keep yourself and your partner sane as you adjust to a new routine. Once you get adapted to your new normal, you will both be sighing with relief. And buy a new headphone. It won’t let you even hear each other.
How to become more productive when you work from home during coronavirus epidemic?
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How to become more productive when you work from home during coronavirus epidemic? Fruitful ways to stay productive when working from home during coronavirus epidemic.
Work from home is an option most businesses have started adopting in the ongoing bid to curb the coronavirus outbreak. There are about 115 cases confirmed currently and has been one death in the UK.
Google, JP Morgan and Twitter are some of the large companies released Covid-19 contingency plans to UK-based staff, which include compulsory working from home.
It is believed that keeping employees further apart from each other can reduce the chance of group spread. It also avoids the opportunity for the virus to be caught during a commute or in communal office spaces.
Although the government hasn’t yet advised all businesses to follow suit and adopt remote working, Prime Minister Boris Johnson in his speech on Tuesday has said enforced home working could be an option if the situation worsens.
It isn’t an option for some workers. But what is the best way to maximise productivity for those who might find themselves sent home in the coming weeks? How will they maintain good physical and mental health, and not spend all day in the pyjamas when working from home? Know it below.
What are the perks of work from home during coronavirus epidemic?
- How to distinguish between work and home mode
One of the significant perks of working from home is slowly moving from bed to the sofa five minutes before you start. It can also be your biggest challenge.
Never forget that you are there to work. So, set yourself up in the right manner. Wake up on time, get dressed and brush your teeth at the start of the day instead of sitting in your pyjamas for eight long hours. So, Switch from home to work mode.
You can do something physically to make yourself ready for the day. Maybe it’s walking around the block, making a special tea, or lighting a candle at your desk. No matter what it is but do it without fail to create a strong association in your mind.
- Be realistic about what you can achieve
Working from home in a wide, open day can feel full of possibilities. One hundred forty-five things on the to-do list? No problem! Don’t fall into the trap of getting over-ambitious. Instead, be realistic and then possibly achieve more than you set out to. Then, you feel satisfied, rather than feeling disappointed you didn’t do everything.
Choose three to five things to do and aim to get the majority done before lunch break. Most people slow down in the mid-afternoon and having a lot in the list will give you the momentum to power through.
- Work in short bursts
When you are in the office, your day is get split by everything from meetings to lunch breaks and even toilet breaks. But when you sat at home on your own with no face-to-face interaction planned it can be easy to work for long, unbroken periods.
When we are in the office, our day is usually broken up with meetings. Although it can be frustrating, they divide the day up and create natural chunks of time. In contrast, the days at home can be very unstructured.
Impose structure on yourself to be more productive. For instance, working in 45-60 minute chunks of focused work followed by a short break. It can be an effective way to break the day up and maintain your concentration levels.
- Don’t forget to take breaks
It can be extremely challenging to tear yourself away from your laptop if you are worried people might think you are slacking off. But that doesn’t mean you should not take breaks. Just because you are feeling comfy at home, it doesn’t mean you don’t need a proper break.
Leave your desk for lunch and take benefit of being at home. You can walk the dog and blow the cobwebs away for half an hour in the afternoon. Then, you will return feeling refreshed and more productive for the rest of the day.
It also includes ensuring you make time to make proper meals and drink water regularly, instead of snacking continuously throughout the day and then crashing in a sugar slump at 3 pm.
- Manage distractions
Being in the office atmosphere gives us a limited number of ways to get distracted. But when you start working at home, you may easily get distracted.
There are plenty of potential distractions when we work from home. So, proactively handle things, which might interrupt your focus.
Keep them limited to do in the short breaks in between the chunks of focused work. As a change of scene, we need to give our brain a break. And it is the perfect time to put a load of washing on or empty the dishwasher.
- Be sociable
Unless you are self-isolating, working from home should not mean that you will not leave the house at all or don’t see your acquaintance for two weeks. Ensure you still keep up social interaction.
If you are a person, who will miss your colleagues when you work from home, build opportunities for socialising into your day. Try to call your colleagues rather than constantly email or Slack messaging.
If you really struggle to apply yourself, try virtual ‘body doubling’. Connect with a colleague via a Skype video call but both work ‘live’ on your project rather than chatting.
