In the current COVID-19 related situation, where many of us are working from home, even those who are used to it find it challenging. As Stanford Professor Nicholas Bloom writes in his article about productivity pitfalls at home, the circumstances this time are quite different from normal remote working. As he says:
1. We did not have the choice whether to work from home or not. Therefore, some of us resent it.
2. In normal working from home conditions, you usually do not need to take care of your children while you are working. Managing children and work at the same time is very challenging.
3. Many people do not have an office space at home, which makes it difficult to focus and to separate work and private life.
It therefore requires more flexibility and adaptation from everyone. If you are alone, you can organise yourself as you wish, but if you share your home with others, some negotiation about the rules of sharing the same working and living space is necessary. I personally find it important to have a separate workspace, as well as to dissociate work time and private time. Deciding on working hours and closing your office at the end of the day helps to enact that separation and prevents you
from feeling like you are working all the time. If you do not have a separate place, try at least closing your computer, putting your papers away, and doing some buffer activity (like walking) to clear your mind from work and make yourself available for your family or other activities.
Focus is essential yet so difficult in our work today. It is not easier to focus at home, unless you create the conditions for it. As Mike Erwin writes in his HBR article, we receive much more information today than we can process. In our constant connection, it is hard to focus. Therefore cutting off all the distracting notifications and beeps is important, as is structuring your day. How we start our day is particularly important. If you start by checking your emails, you immediately go into a reactive stress-mode. Starting in a focused manner, for example by taking a few deep breaths, or practicing mindfulness or meditation exercises, will make it easier to focus. Then begin your day according to where your time is best spent.
Another important aspect is how you organise your day and your actual work. One way to look at it is from a personality perspective. Depending on your personality, some activities will take more energy from you than others. Schedule the ones that drain you early in the morning, when you have the most energy. Split them in small bites – do not force yourself to do something that drains your energy for long periods. For example, if you are a very sociable person, do not work for long periods alone, but schedule time in your day to connect with others. This is particularly important when the spontaneous contacts in the office do not exist anymore. If creativity is something that brings you energy, then schedule creative activities in between your more routine work to replenish your energy.
Finally, in terms of prioritizing your work, the good old Eisenhower matrix works wonders to help you decide what is urgent and what is important, and where you should focus your time and attention first. An additional layer could be to consider whom you are upsetting if you do not do something. Most of the time we choose to upset ourselves rather than others, which may create resentment in the long run. In order to keep up your energy and motivation, it is good at times to also please yourself, by prioritising the activities that you yourself find inspiring and enjoyable.
https://hbr.org/2017/10/in-a-distracted-world-solitude-is-a-competitive-advantage
https://news.stanford.edu/2020/03/30/productivity-pitfalls-working-home-age-covid-19/
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