Most of us are working from home to quarantine during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Being in the comfort of your own home might sound like the dream job, but it can also be extremely difficult to stay focused throughout the day. Here\u2019s how to stay productive during this time.<\/p>\n
1. Wake up early<\/strong><\/p>\n Try to keep your routine disruptions to a minimal. Part of this is to still wake up and start at the same time you would usually start working. If work starts at 8am on a normal day at the office, wake up and make sure you are ready to work from 8am.<\/p>\n 2. Avoid the pj\u2019s <\/strong><\/p>\n We know it\u2019s tempting to just stay in those comfy pj\u2019s, especially now with winter coming closer and some areas already getting chillier in the mornings. This is a bad idea, however, according to Northwestern University. Trick your mind and body into thinking you\u2019re still at work by putting on clothes that you wouldn\u2019t be embarrassed to wear at the office. If you dress professionally, there is also less chance of being caught off-guard when someone decides to video call you.<\/p>\n 3. Don\u2019t work from your bed\/ lying on the couch <\/strong><\/p>\n But the bed is sooooo comfy\u2026<\/p>\n Well, sadly it\u2019s not a productive space. It\u2019s also never good to mix business with pleasure so try to keep your bed as the \u2018comfy safe zone\u2019 as it was meant to be. It\u2019s also very tempting to take a blankie and lie on the couch \u2013 laptops just make it way too easy! Sit up straight and work from a proper office chair (or something equivalent you can find in your house).<\/p>\n 4. Set up a designated office space<\/strong><\/p>\n If it looks and feels like an office, your brain will act like it\u2019s the office and get cracking with work. We understand it is sometimes difficult to make a home office if you do not have space and fancy equipment. In actual fact, all you need is a desk, a chair, sufficient lighting and make sure it is somewhere quiet where nobody can bother you.<\/p>\n 5. Communication is key<\/strong><\/p>\n Just like any human relationship, communication is key. Try to keep in touch with your colleagues and supervisors to make sure you are still on the right track \u2013 also for your own sanity! Working in a silo can get you on the wrong path and it is also reassuring that you are doing what you need to be doing \u2013 at the right pace. Get your team to make use of conference calling through programs such as; Zoom, WhatsApp conference call, Microsoft Teams, Google Duo, Whereby, FaceTime if you have Apple and of course, Skype.<\/p>\n 6. Structure and Diarising <\/strong><\/p>\n Structure will be your best friend when working-from-home. Plan your day by setting aside certain hours and timeframes for tasks. For example, from 8-9am you can catch up on any emails you missed the previous day. Write it out and try to stick by it as much as possible.<\/p>\n Diarising has two aspects to it. Diarise your to-do list and what you need to do for the day. Then it could also be keeping a diary of what you have achieved. So, at the end of each day \u2013 at the same time you would usually leave work so for example, 5pm \u2013 write out in a book what you have achieved. Write down everything you did and then end it off with listing tasks you were unable to complete.<\/p>\n 7. Make sure you have a stable, fast internet connection<\/strong><\/p>\n Nobody wants to work with lagging internet and bad connections when trying to be productive. Ensure your internet line is reliable by going for something like our frickin’ fast fibre<\/a> or if you don’t have fibre in your area yet, our Fixed LTE<\/a> does the trick! Definitely ditch the ADSL if you plan on getting anything done over the internet as these lines are pretty slow and could cause some issues.<\/p>\n Try to get all their energy out in the morning:<\/strong> Make a \u2018do-not-disturb\u2019 zone:<\/strong> Activity time:<\/strong> Most of us are working from home to quarantine during the current COVID-19 pandemic. Being in the comfort of your own home might sound like the dream job, but it can also be extremely difficult to stay focused throughout the day. Here\u2019s how to stay productive during this time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":12087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[498],"tags":[672,510,201,518],"class_list":["post-12085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-hacks","tag-covid-19","tag-fibre","tag-home","tag-lte"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/photo-1515378791036-0648a3ef77b2-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdAWxt-38V","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12085"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12088,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12085\/revisions\/12088"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.webafrica.co.za\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A few bonus pointers for the Parents<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nHave an hour or two set aside in the morning to play and spend some time with your youngsters. By the time you get to work, they will be ready for a nap or just a little calmer to give you some quiet time.<\/p>\n
\nThis will give you time and space where you can work and not be side-tracked.<\/p>\n
\nIf they are old enough, give them specific activities to complete, such as painting a picture, finishing a puzzle piece or building something out of LEGO blocks. Tell them they have to sit down and give them a timeframe to complete it by. This will keep them occupied and give you time to finish up a few important work tasks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"