3 Tips for staying productive while you work from home during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

With the current outbreak of the Coronavirus disease, also known as COVID-19, many private enterprises, companies and civil servants have adopted the idea of “working from home” or splitting offices to reduce the number of employees in the workplace over a prolonged duration. This flexible workplace idea is largely also an emergency ‘social distancing’ measure that may significantly help to minimise the number of people being affected. However, most of us might not be used to this working arrangement. Worry not! Here are 3 tips to help you stay productive at home.

1. Establish Constant Communication

With everyone working from home, it can be challenging to communicate with your teammate immediately. In this case, companies and departments can explore the option of setting up video chats and phone calls with the relevant teammate on a regular basis during office hours. Another solution that organisations can try would be establishing teleconferencing and collaboration tools that can help teams to be more productive. These tools include the following free applications that are available on android, iOS, Mac and Windows:

1. Slack: A collaboration tool where you can send direct message and files to a group or user. You can also easily create a voice and video calls too.
2. Trello: An online corkboard where you can organize the “cards” into different lists so everyone on your team can be updated on your work progress.
3. G-Suite: Connect and access all files and documents instantly wherever you are. All your colleagues can also create documents on-the-go, and everyone will be able to see the updated docs on Google Drive too.

2. Find your Work-life balance

Trying to squeeze everything into just 24 hours is hard! In addition, most of us could be quite new to the idea of working from home and would find it hard to work for a straight 8 hours at home, like in our office environment. In this case, you need a clear plan.

With applications like G-suite’s calendar application, it allows all to see everyone’s schedule without calling or messaging. It can also clearly state all the meeting details and time that one has to take note. Considering all of these important timings, start planning your other workload around it with the idea of time-blocking and also including small breaks in between. This can help one to stay productive and not burnt out while working from home. You can also share the list with your team members to get their inputs if they need some projects to be cleared on that day.

With so much time spent at home during the outbreak of Coronavirus, we should all still strive to achieve a work-life balance and to also stay mentally and physically healthy.

3. Declutter Your Space

Living in a tidy and organised space allows you to be more productive while you work from home. By having a clean home, it would also look good and professional when you are having a video teleconference with your teammates or clients.

Did you know by organising and keeping your home orderly and decluttered, it provides you with a space to focus and be more productive too? Especially during this Covid-19 outbreak situation, having a clean space helps you improve the overall indoor air quality, sleep better and reduce the chances of getting sick. Here are more ways to keep your home clean.

During this period, if you need a storage space to store all those hardly used items or big bulky boxes of personal and family items, come store them all at Extra Space Asia Self-Storage! By storing your items in a self-storage unit, you will be able to enjoy extra space to work and rest. After all the decluttering, it would also be much easier for you to clean, vacuum and sanitize all surfaces at home when necessary.

On top of keeping our home clean and organised, it is also important that we practice social responsibility during this crucial period. This includes observing good personal hygiene, monitoring our own health conditions and staying at home to rest if unwell. Please see a doctor if you have fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. We should also practice and maintain social distancing of at least 1-2 metre between yourself and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Social distancing reduces transmission of the Covid-19 virus effectively and lessen the impact on the already stretched healthcare services. We should abide to social distancing especially at public spaces like our offices, hawker centers, supermarkets, shopping malls etc. where the flow of people tend to be higher.

Lastly, we hope that everyone will continue to stay safe and healthy. Please also be kind and support one another during this Covid-19 period.