Work In The Time of COVID-19

 | COVID-19, Fine Life

In the past week or so normal life has come to a grinding halt as we do our part to flatten the curve and keep ourselves and our families healthy.  Many of us now find ourselves working from home.  Our spouse or partner may be working from home as well, and our children are home from school.  Life has become a juggling act with a myriad of balls being thrown into the mix: social distancing, business closures, working from home, schooling from home, keeping up on the news, following CDC guidelines, and more.

If you find yourself now working from home and it hasn’t proven to be as easy as you thought it would be, try utilizing the following ideas.

  1.  Dedicate a time and space for work. Try to keep distractions at a minimum so you can focus on work. Declutter and organize, so that the things you need for work easily accessible.
  2. Have a plan for the day. Make lists. Have measurable goals. If you live with others, get them in on the planning too.  Having some structure will help everyone in the home.
  3. Be flexible and realistic. When goals are set and not met, it is an opportunity to reevaluate how you approach the day. Maybe you need to spend time with your kids before you can sit down and focus. Maybe you need to move your computer. Things aren’t going to be the same at home as they are at your normal place of work.
  4. Create limits. Log off when it’s time. You still need to find work/life/home/family balance. When you are done with work for the day, step away from it until the next morning.
  5. Move–make sure to get some exercise. Get up and walk around the room or the house. Do some stretches.  Get some light and fresh air when you can. Physical activity helps the body and the mind.
  6. Maintain connection. While we need to physically distance ourselves from others, make sure you keep in contact with other individuals: coworkers, friends, and family. With technology today we can still communicate with important people in our lives.

Above all, do what works best for you and your loved ones.  We’re all in this together and with everyone doing what they can, we can change the future. Davis Miles McGuire Gardner is with you all the way.

 

– Heather McLeskey