{"id":3224,"date":"2020-11-21T21:21:11","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T15:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifegram.org\/?p=3224"},"modified":"2021-05-28T14:05:41","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T08:35:41","slug":"tips-to-be-more-productive-while-working-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/tips-to-be-more-productive-while-working-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Tips To Be More Productive While Working From Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Here are some of the tried and tested tips drawn from our collective experience to help you to become more productive while working from home, 10 tips for today\u2019s working professional.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><em>\u201cThe key is not to prioritize what\u2019s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.\u201d<\/em> <strong>&#8211; Stephen Covey<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">I remember my manager in one of my previous organisation once asked me, &#8220;What is your opinion about working from home?&#8221; <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Back then, we had a policy that allowed one to work for any two days in the month from home as long as your manager consents to it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While I have never faced any restrictions in getting these two days, in general, the working culture was such that, managers loved to see their minions working in front of them, even if they are not doing anything productive in particular. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It was just that they wanted to see their team in front of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The reason being, people believed &#8220;You just can&#8217;t work from home, being at home is akin to being on holiday&#8221; and most importantly this notion that you can&#8217;t be as productive at home as you are in the office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And then one fine day, the massive lockdowns of COVID-19 happened and all of a sudden, whether you loved it or not, to keep organisations functioning \u2013 Work from Home became the only way of going forward \u2013 and everything in the working scene since then has changed forever.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Some of us quickly managed to transition to this new lifestyle. Yet, a lot amongst us had a tough time to adapt to this new change because of various reasons \u2013 infrastructural, technological and most importantly tackling our kids, family members all staying at home 24X7, each with their respective online schedules.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Tips_To_Be_More_Productive_While_Working_From_Home\">Tips To Be More Productive While Working From Home:<\/a><ul><li><a href=\"#1_First_and_foremost_Decide_a_fixed_space_your_corner_office_at_home\">1. First and foremost \u2013 Decide a fixed space, your corner office at home<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#2_Your_comfort_comes_first_Get_all_your_infrastructural_needs_in_place\">2. Your comfort comes first \u2013 Get all your infrastructural needs in place<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#3_Embrace_technology_Make_it_your_friend\">3. Embrace technology \u2013 Make it your friend<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#4_Create_a_daily_ritual_Your_routine_will_power_you_all_through_the_day\">4. Create a daily ritual \u2013 Your routine will power you all through the day<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#5_Create_a_structure_Schedule_your_day_well\">5. Create a structure \u2013 Schedule your day well<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#6_Pomodoro_technique_Your_friend_to_get_things_done_efficiently\">6. Pomodoro technique \u2013 Your friend to get things done efficiently<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#7_Play_music_When_the_music_flows_you_are_in_the_flow\">7. Play music \u2013 When the music flows, you are in the flow<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#8_Take_adequate_breaks_Even_if_you_think_you_don8217t_need_them\">8. Take adequate breaks \u2013 Even if you think you don&#8217;t need them<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#9_Earth_calling_over_Yes_you_are_still_on_planet_earth_don8217t_forget_to_interact_with_Humans\">9. Earth calling \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 over \u2013 Yes, you are still on planet earth, don&#8217;t forget to interact with Humans<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#10_Take_care_of_your_Mental_health_It_is_more_important_now_than_ever\">10. Take care of your Mental health \u2013 It is more important now than ever<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Tips_To_Be_More_Productive_While_Working_From_Home\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Tips To Be More Productive While Working From Home:<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span id=\"1_First_and_foremost_Decide_a_fixed_space_your_corner_office_at_home\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">1. First and foremost \u2013 Decide a fixed space, your corner office at home<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Carving out personal space in your home is an essential first step; it is your place of Zen; it is your workspace. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It should be well lit, adequately ventilated and give off the right energy vibes, yes you will feel it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">You also need to separate yourself if you are living with your family, especially children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Try to have your place in one such room, where you can close the doors and isolate yourself when you work so that you are not distracted or bugged when you are on that all-important call or busy meeting your deadlines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"2_Your_comfort_comes_first_Get_all_your_infrastructural_needs_in_place\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">2. Your comfort comes first \u2013 Get all your infrastructural needs in place<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Once you narrow down on a space, you need to make sure all the infrastructure is in place to make you feel comfortable and office-like. Why? Because you will be spending a whole lot of time coiled up here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">A well designed and ergonomic office chair goes a long way to help you maintain a good posture and at the same time give you an excellent office-like feel.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Similarly, a simple desk with drawers, storage or shelf space to keep your notes, stationery, files and documents gives you a dedicated work area \u2013 a space to zone out and go into office mode.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">You can add either a whiteboard, a flannel board or a magnetic board to pin up your notes, task lists to do, essential appointments or simply put up something to motivate you and keep you going.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you are short on space, then invest in a good quality laptop table with adjustable stands, there are few in the market which has USB cooling fan and also helps you adjust the angle of the table to help you type comfortably and support your wrists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Avoid sitting on beds, couches or sofas; they might make you sluggish and lazy because that is their job to help you cosy up and relax.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"3_Embrace_technology_Make_it_your_friend\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">3. Embrace technology \u2013 Make it your friend<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">COVID-19 has truly brought technology to the forefront, and sometimes the things we take for granted have become our essential work lifelines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Invest in a good wi-fi provider, work out your workload, entertainment load along with your family needs and pick up an optimum plan with decent bandwidth. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Always have a phone-based network as a backup in case your wi-fi goes down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">In places where electricity failures are frequent or more prolonged, it will be wise to also invest in a good quality Inverter to power your essential appliances and laptops so that you are connected and not under pressure or extend deadlines due to these factors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Similarly making sure to have a good quality laptop or desktop with webcam, audio setup, with decent RAM, memory, processor and supporting office applications, if your company has not provided them, is definitely a game-changer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And getting one for your children or spouse to manage their activities is a lifesaver, in doing so you can avoid playing timeshare with your devices and inevitable compromises.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">With the market now flooded, with various cloud-based platforms, for video conferencing, team collaboration and enhanced work capabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Try getting yourself adapted and acquainted with the functioning of these applications \u2013 the difference between knowing where the mute button or video pause button is on your conferencing app can save you from a spot in the Hall of fame of potential embarrassment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It is a small investment; you might feel reluctant to make initially. Still, in the long run, it will help you remain comfortable, productive, deliver with speed and avoid any frustration due to lapses or delays, which is like investing in peace of your mind.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"4_Create_a_daily_ritual_Your_routine_will_power_you_all_through_the_day\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">4. Create a daily ritual \u2013 Your routine will power you all through the day<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As humans, our brain likes and craves for a routine; this helps the body&#8217;s clockwork align itself with your daily activities and help you ace your day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">How does it work? When you set a daily routine, it sends instructions to your brain to gear up for the upcoming day and help you wind down as you call it a day and go off to sleep, and accordingly your entire body and energy levels get aligned to keep you at the peak of your performance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">One simple wake up ritual is to get up early, take a moment to pray and express your gratitude for the new day and new opportunities presented to you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Exercise or do some brisk activity like walking or yoga for 15-30 mins, shower and wear fresh clothes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As you get ready for having your breakfast, go through the newspapers, spend time reading few pages of any motivational or self-help book you love or turn on your favourite music and get ready for the next step of planning your day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"5_Create_a_structure_Schedule_your_day_well\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">5. Create a structure \u2013 Schedule your day well<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As you go through your daily ritual, it prepares you for this vital step of planning \u2013 That is creating a structure, your daily task list of the things to do, things to accomplish for the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While you are building this list, try to prioritise, schedule and allocate time for your tasks, it will help you stay focused by quantifying time required for completion vs time at hand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This list will also give you a layout of the land, your high-level map of critical activities and milestones as work your way through your project or work goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">The priorities will let you know where you are? When you are? And what you need to do, to get, where you want to? And it helps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"6_Pomodoro_technique_Your_friend_to_get_things_done_efficiently\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">6. Pomodoro technique \u2013 Your friend to get things done efficiently<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">As fickle as the human mind is, it takes a lot for us to stay put and concentrate for longer duration when doing any task.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Our mind constantly likes to go back to the resting position, and it doesn&#8217;t enjoy being put to work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It keeps on trying to gratify itself, and that manifests its way in the form of distraction and procrastination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While we know, it is unproductive, deep in our hearts. We still find it challenging to overcome, and it affects our overall time management and can cause severe delays or last-minute pressure and stress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Pomodoro Technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s when he was a university student, struggling to manage time and focus on his studies and finish his assignments.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Using a tomato (called Pomodoro in Italian) shaped kitchen timer, he used to study in intervals of 10 minutes, where he used to focus on his studies. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And once the 10 minutes sprint is over, he then used to take a break, relax, enjoy himself and start again for the next sprint of 10 minutes \u2013 and so Pomodoro technique was born.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Used by over 2 million people worldwide- the key to Pomodoro technique lies in its simplicity and effectiveness as they put it &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/francescocirillo.com\/pages\/pomodoro-technique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pomodoro Technique teaches you to work with time, instead of struggling against it.<\/a> A revolutionary time management system, it is at once deceptively simple to learn and life-changing to use.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\"><strong>It has six simple steps to follow:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Choose a task from your to-do list and a timer<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Set your Pomodoro clock for 25 minutes on the timer<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Focus and work on the task until 25 minutes are over \u2013 This is your one Pomodoro sprint<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">When the timer rings \u2013 mark that task complete<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Take a short break of 5 minutes to relax<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And then go on to repeat Steps 1 to 5, until you complete 4 Pomodoro sprints at which point you can take an extended break of 30 minutes (it will help your brain to assimilate new information and take adequate rest)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>To get the most benefit, out of the 25 minutes Pomodoro interval, here are three rules you must follow:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">You should break complex projects or tasks requiring more than four sprints of Pomodoro into smaller and actionable tasks.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Smaller singular tasks can go together in one sprint<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Once a Pomodoro timer is set, it must ring.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Remember, Pomodoro is an indivisible unit of time that cannot be broken, especially taking care to avoid checking any incoming notifications like chats, emails or text messages and avoid distractions in any other forms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Any random ideas you get, any tasks, or requests that come up should be noted down and come back to later. In an unlikely event that there is an unavoidable disruption, take a five-minute break and start again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Cirillo suggests that you should track these interruptions as they occur and work out how to avoid them as you start your next session.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Pomodoro technique is a potent time management tool, and it helped me pen down my thoughts to write down this whole article. So, yes, it definitely works.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"7_Play_music_When_the_music_flows_you_are_in_the_flow\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">7. Play music \u2013 When the music flows, you are in the flow<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Music is the rhythm of life; it has the ability to make us move and groove and connects deep into the recesses of our soul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It amplifies our emotions, perks up our energy levels, like the lightning and the wind. And yet there are times it acts as a calming, soothing balm, relaxing and unwinding us down into the space of contemplation and self-discovery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Music is very personal, to each his own. So, choose your soundtrack to get you grooving through your daily tasks, it can be as per your mood, inclination or even the pace of the work you are into.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Like I like to hear fast and peppy music to crash through repetitive and mundane tasks or switch over to instrumental music without lyrics when sitting to write or pen down my thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">There is no set playlist; you have to experiment with what works for you like I know a friend who likes to start his day with listening to Eye of the Tiger from the movie Rocky, it energised him for the day and made him feel like Rocky Balboa ready to take on any challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">There are also those amongst us who may find music a distraction, and noise doesn&#8217;t allow them to concentrate. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Then there are others, who sing along with the lyrics even if it an instrumental number, they feel that they cannot focus and so it is absolutely fine not to play anything.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">If you must try, start with instrumental music, and work your way up to different genre as long as it helps to pep you up and gets you in the flow. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Remember the type of music you will listen to will have an impact on your overall mood, hence try to be aware of this aspect as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">For those who have tried, and now swear by, how it helps them get grooving and finish off the tasks at hand like a warm knife slicing through cold butter. It is an experience in itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"8_Take_adequate_breaks_Even_if_you_think_you_don8217t_need_them\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">8. Take adequate breaks \u2013 Even if you think you don&#8217;t need them<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Take breaks, yes, it is an essential thing if you want to stay productive. Contrary to what our conditioning has led us to believe, all work and no play can really make Jack &amp; Jill a dull boy and a dull girl.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Why is that? Our mind has an attention span of no more than 45 minutes at a stretch. Depending on the task at hand and its gravitas we may expend a whole of lot energy either in doing it or even thinking about it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This energy expenditure is tiresome to the body, and the brain in general. Hence mind starts wandering off in search of immediate gratification to relax and calm down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">That&#8217;s why most of us feel sleepy or physically present but mentally absent in long calls, meetings, training sessions and at times when we are working on some activity endlessly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">And, if this were some essential training, you would have missed out on the critical learning and knowledge gaining opportunities here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">So, take a break, devote 5 to 15 minutes of your time and at frequent intervals to get up from your chair, stretch yourself a bit, walk down to the other room, take a bio break, the most crucial point is to move away from your workspace for some time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Make sure to have your breakfast or lunch on time during these breaks and give adequate time to eating without rushing through; this will help you ward off headaches and sets your mood throughout the day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Drink a lot of water; you can either keep the bottle on your desk or utilise your small breaks to walk down to the kitchen to have them, whatever suits you the best but makes sure to stay well hydrated, which we usually tend to overlook.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">These short breaks will assist your mind in processing all that has happened so far and help you come back even stronger for next innings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"9_Earth_calling_over_Yes_you_are_still_on_planet_earth_don8217t_forget_to_interact_with_Humans\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">9. Earth calling \u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026 over \u2013 Yes, you are still on planet earth, don&#8217;t forget to interact with Humans<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">While it is important to isolate yourself at home, in your workspace so that you are not disturbed by anyone, Yes, it helps you focus.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It is equally important to make sure you give your time to your family members at home, especially your spouse and children for playing, doing your day to day chores etc. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This used to be easy when you are at the office, away from home when you were not available in front of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Now the lines are so blurred and roles so overlapping, it makes a lot of difference to set aside time out for your family at the same time ensure that you are not disturbed while you are working.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">It also helps to network with your peers, colleagues and team-mates often to stay on top of the pulse of what is happening in your organisation, try to converse about off-work topics and keep it light-hearted.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">When people ask for something, make sure you respond to them, even if it takes you some time to respond, make sure you do, it matters.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"10_Take_care_of_your_Mental_health_It_is_more_important_now_than_ever\"><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;\">10. Take care of your Mental health \u2013 It is more important now than ever<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Human beings are free-spirited animals; living for days and months within the confines of a single space is not in our design, even if it is our home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">So, we have had to deal with a cocktail of emotions, expectations, various pressures, fear of uncertainty and a sense of hopelessness during these challenging times.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Staying away from home for work, shielded you from the daily routines, behaviour quirks and actions of your family members, which got amplified and sometimes overwhelming when you are available 24X7 at home and vice versa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Quite a lot of people on both sides expressed their frustrations of being unable to deal with each other and their temperaments. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">All these have an overarching effect on our state of mind and our well-being.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Remember, you are not alone, most of us are going through this same patch just like you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Hence make it a point to consciously reach out and connect with your boss and other folks at the office, your friends, co-workers etc. as well as your family members irrespective of whether they are staying with you or not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">These conversations need not be goal-oriented or work-related; it could be a simple catch up, checking up on each other to make sure they are doing good in these difficult times. Give an ear, listen to them, let them open up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">This is a two-way process; it will benefit you as much as it will help others and keep you charged, hopeful and motivated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Thank people around you a lot, show your gratitude, for their presence in your life, they have spent their time and energy, to help you get where you are now, so make sure, that they know you are grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">I am sure if you have reached till here, you would have got a fair idea of the many things you can do to make yourself more productive while working from home.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Read also: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/mental-health-while-working-from-home\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Take care of your mental health while working from home.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14pt;\">Drop in the comments, What is the other go-to advice that has worked for you? and share with all of us here to help each other become even more productive.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are some of the tried and tested tips drawn from our collective experience to help you to become more productive while working from home, 10 tips for today\u2019s working professional. \u201cThe key is not to prioritize what\u2019s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.\u201d &#8211; Stephen Covey I remember my manager in one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":5152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189],"tags":[677,705],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3224"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5153,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3224\/revisions\/5153"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifegram.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}