I never liked the idea of working from home. While I have had my share of it in life and I am by nature an introvert, I must say I like working in the office and visiting clients. For me, my job is like the work of an actor: it takes place on a stage, in special conditions, with a certain décor, with appropriate costumes, not at home, alone. Maybe I had the chance of being one of those who always liked what they do, despite all the difficult moments and all the responsibility involved.
I’ve always known how to find ways to be with others but also alone, when I needed it, both at work and outside it. I’ve always liked spending my weekends in large cities, where I could be surrounded by a lot of people and, at the same time, alone.
Now, many of us work from home. It is something imposed, not a choice. In the two weeks I have been at home, I had days when I barely left my couch to make myself a cup of tea. I started at 9 and finished at 6. I do not know what it is going to be like from now on, if I’m going to have the same amount of work.
However, I have noticed that it is useful to consider some things when we work from home:
To have a schedule, to wake up early.
To dress for the calls that we have, for what we do. Sitting about in our pyjamas day in day out will not work long-term, and we will be at home for quite a long time, according to estimates.
To take care of ourselves, of the way we look – it will influence our self-esteem in the long run.
To take time for lunch, for a coffee.
To call our friends, the people that matter to us.
To avoid sitting in front of the TV and on Facebook all day.
To behave towards ourselves the same way we would do with a person who is dear to us, someone we want to keep motivated, energized, upbeat.
To have around us (in our stronger or weaker network) people who can help keep our moral up. It is not always going to be up, that is why it is good to plan who we could talk to when we start our descent down that slope.
To read positive books, to see movies that put us back on our feet – this is not the moment for something depressive. Anyway, the general situation is bleak, it is essential to counterbalance it in any way we can.
New habits: remote breakfast with our colleagues / friends / parents / with the people that matter.
If you have children it is more complex: homework, food for them, games, activities, alongside your job; you have to teach them to be organized, being organized yourself first and foremost in order to give an example. It can be done, our parents did it!
To accept that sometimes you will work less than you wanted. The children need your attention, they struggle, too; accept it, you will catch up; or ask a colleague to take over some things, it would do to help one other in these times.
If you are a manager, manage your expectations related to your employees. If they were normally working at a certain capacity (let’s say 85%- taking into account the cigarette, social media and joking breaks), now they will work at a lower capacity. Not because they do not want to, but because they have kids at home, they are panicked, they watch TV to keep themselves informed, they need to cook, clean, many activities that were normally taken care of by teachers, nannies, house keepers, dry cleaners etc.
It is critical that managers adjust to the way they communicate in this period, not to pelt employees with messages, requests, to be more empathetic, to concentrate on what matters the most. All the ppts, excels, reports just for the sake of it should be left behind. What matters now is to give people the confidence that we care, that it will be ok, that we work together to find solutions and that we will go through this period well. It is a moment when we can reveal the leader in us or our dark, selfish, uncaring side.
Be careful what you do for your mind, soul, body: keep the negative thoughts away, the same with negative people, read something that will bring you joy, watch a movie that made history, exercise a little, even inside, no matter how much.
Take into account that this virus it is an aggression towards us; our natural need to protect ourselves will be stronger. Even if we stay at home, fear and anxiety are present in our minds. Our sleep will be worse, we will be more emotional, more reactive. The other family members are the same. Take a deep breath before reacting. Let’s see ourselves from the stage where we act and from the balcony for perspective – so we don’t end up embarrassed by our own behaviour. And if we slip, let’s ask for forgiveness from others and ourselves.
Think about what we will do after the crisis. If we are not able to/ want to do what we did before and during this period, what are we good at? What would make us wake up in the morning and be excited to go to work?
This period will pass. We will have formed new habits, we will go out into the world again. But the world before the crisis will be changed here and there. It did not freeze, it is evolving with us. The way we work will change, we will be different here and there, we will choose differently, we will put a price, I hope, on true values. After it hurts for a while, it will be alright, our world will be better, we will have more courage, we will know what we want better and especially what we do not, we will be more humble, more attentive to ourselves and those who really matter.
And the stage on which we will walk to perform our role, the costumes that we will wear, will be more authentic, more in sync with who we truly are.
