With the Covid-19 pandemic upon us, we are now forced to adapt to new ways of living. Our work and travel routines have been greatly affected. It has always been unimaginable for us to explore the idea of working from home. By default, we have all been forced to buy into the idea of working remotely. Having worked remotely (and from home) for a few years, living in Malawi but directly employed and reporting into South Africa in one of my jobs, I would like to share with you five things you need to know about remote working:
1. Remote working is not for everyone, but you can adapt:
To begin with, not everyone can work effectively from home. It takes courage and motivation to still maintain high spirits and complete activities without being managed in person. Unless you’re motivated, remote working cannot just be effective overnight. With that said, it’s all possible with little improvements in your routines, the key is to learn to adapt to new ways of working.
2. Get well organized and plan before hand:
The key to being successful at your job lies in being well organized. Plan for your day ahead especially now that you will be working from home. Simply following the day with no plan at all during this period is a recipe for disaster. As the popular saying goes, “failing to plan is planning to fail”. Plan your days accordingly to make the switch and achieve more. Draft a simple work schedule. In most developing countries, we experience scheduled power cuts, please keep that in mind when planning your daily routine. Devise a remedy to still stay focused even without power.
3. Working from home in not always as great as it sounds:
When we are in the office, we dedicate most of our time to working and completing tasks and projects. We also get to interact in person and share ideas. Now that you are home, its not possible to work 9 to 5 (or 7:30 to 4:30 in other contexts). Calm down and strive to remain undisturbed for hours as you focus on your work. Learn to take a break and socialize with family too as you won’t be seeing colleagues that much.
4. Over communicate to your managers and clients:
During this time, you need to communicate as much as possible. Let your managers know there is a new project you have been working on. Tell your clients the new arrangements and assure them you are still there to support them in times of need.
5. Continue your activities, this is not a recess:
You need to understand that the world is not on some sort of vacation. Take on your tasks and continue from where you left your activities at the office. Collaborate with the teams that you are working with and make sure all unresolved issues are still worked on and completed on time.
These are not your ultimate solutions or some sort of magic wand to provide you with an effective work from home shift overnight. This is a personal view; you might have to refer to other sources as you need to be very resourceful to discover what suits you as you adapt to working from home.
Let me conclude by advising us all to stay safe from Covid-19 by staying home. Let’s be more creative, and focused as we work from home.
If you have any comments, feel free to leave your comment below to contact the author and give your feedback.