Due to the covid-19 pandemic, many companies whose environment allows them to has opted to work remotely. Tigerfish software is a remote-based company and has employees all over South Africa. I’ve had the privilege of working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic started, my personal opinion is that there are much more advantages than office-based work.
Below are just a few advantages listed:
- You can save up to 10 hours a week on time that you would have used traveling to and from work during peak hours. On average a person uses 1.5-2 hours a day traveling to and from work.
- You get to save money because of one word “FUEL”. You save the Fuel money you would have used to travel to and from work.
- Working in your personal space has a much less health risk of getting infected with flu or even COVID-19.
Having outlined the above advantages, there are some disadvantages to working from home. The one disadvantage that most people struggle with is “staying productive while working from home”. Yes, there might be a lot of distractions working from home but there are ways to overcome them.
How to stay productive while working from home:
- Planning your day will help with self-discipline and ethical responsibility.
- Set at least 30 mins before you start any work for the day and plan what you will be doing for the day.
- Make a list of all your “To Do” items for the day
- Set targets you have to meet by the end of the day
- Open your calendar, book your out of office times, grey out your tea times, and grey out timeslots you do not want to be disturbed when working on your “To Do” items or set of work.
- Don’t forget to breathe and take a break. The moment you feel overwhelmed, or feel like you’re going in circles and feeling like you’re getting nowhere with your work:
- get up & go outside,
- sit down & close your eyes,
- Take a deep breath in, slowly, and then exhale slowly (Repeat at least 10 times)
- Go back to your workspace and start from over. Sometimes it helps to visualize the problem, take a blank page, and draw it out.
- Communicate. Yes, communication will be a bit challenging because there isn’t that face-to-face aspect.
- Take 5 mins a day to check in with your colleagues, have a casual chat, then get back to work. Not only will this improve productivity but will also improve the relationships between colleagues.
Implementing the above changes can make a huge impact on your work-life productivity as well as help with reducing stress.
Zaahidah Lagardien Savahl – Business Analyst
Tigerfish Software
