Working from home: going remote but staying connected
In these uncertain times, it is important to ensure that creativity and productivity remain high whilst working from home (WFH). For most people, this is likely to be their first time WFH and there will be some challenging moments. We wanted to share some of the strategies we are using to stay motivated. We hope they are helpful for you as we all face this new challenge, whatever your working style.
YSI Global has highlighted the biggest struggles when working remotely. Hopefully the above recommendations and ideas can help you in addressing these struggles and keeping up the creativity!
There are two main areas of your life that you should focus on to remain a great asset to your team: physical and mental wellbeing. If you look after these key areas, then your creativity and productivity in working and everyday life can thrive.
Physical Wellbeing
Ensuring that your body stays active is vital. Even if this is a quick walk around the block or a trip to the local park while keeping to the Government’s social distancing guidelines. Often, whilst WFH you find yourself trapped behind your desk with your head down. Research from the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that even small bouts of moderate to vigorous physical exercise (for as little as five minutes) can add together to provide important health benefits.
If leaving your house is not an option, that’s okay! There are plenty of free online videos of how to remain healthy in small spaces. Yoga is a personal favourite of mine, as it stretches out the body, which is vital after sitting in a chair for 8 hours! HIIT sessions are great workout in your front room as you need little space and no equipment.
Mental Wellbeing
As Raheema mentioned in yesterday’s blog post, wellbeing and mental health is essential for all employees. This is especially true when WFH. How we get to a positive standard is completely different for each individual. Therefore, not everything you read online will work for you! It is incredibly personal, but here are a few ideas:
- Create a routine! It is hard to be productive without one, but setting yourself achievable and challenging targets can give your week that much-needed structure.
- Eat healthy and have a balanced diet. Try not to drink too much caffeine and get your five-a-day! Here are some easy recipes when taking a break from work.
- Take a break and don’t be too hard on yourself. Watch your favourite Netflix show, chat to your family and friends or listen to a podcast. If you find yourself losing motivation, one will find a boost in creativity after a short break.
- Meditation, this does not have to be an hour session in the full-lotus position. But can be as easy as closing your eyes at your desk for 10 minutes.
- Stay connected! With ongoing Corona Virus events, being social with friends outside of work seems harder, but there are many ways you can stay in contact and feel connected to those outside your household. Try organising a lunch date via Facetime with a friend! Or use the House Party app to chat to large groups. My friends and I have organised pub quizzes online, something to look forward to in the evening!
- Sleep. We’ve all heard it time and time again, but the importance of sleep can’t be ignored. Make sure that you get the recommended 7–9 hours a week and try not to rely on caffeine to keep you alert!
How to stay creative as a team?
At Gather, we have taken five steps to make the transition to WFH easier that could also help your team maintain creativity
- Communicate. We agreed a rule that we would have no more than half-a-day of no contact between team members. We practice this through daily stand-ups, with as much communication as possible through Slack and Microsoft Teams. We also regularly schedule 5–15 minute chats that are non-work related to keep up morale.
- Video and screensharing. Microsoft teams allows you to share your screen. Create presentations, excel sheets or even videos, this will ensure your team recognizes your work, but also so you can feel proud for the work you have completed that week.
- Share information. We use Trello as a simple user interface for our SharePoint and Dropbox so that no one has to spend more than one minute finding a document.
- Wellbeing. Loneliness is the second most common hardship from WFH. Everyone needs to feel a belonging to their organization. Read Raheema’s blogpost how we use a Team Charter, Trello, Ted Talks and virtual pub quizzes to ensure positive team wellbeing.
- Prioritise. Separate your tasks into urgent and important. This is a recent Gather initiative, there is a companywide understanding that you are a lot less efficient (naturally) working from home compared to the office. Therefore, we separate our tasks. With this prioritization the team can ensure that key deliverables will be completed to the highest possible standard, and on time.
We are very much learning as we go. This is the first time our entire organisation has worked from home. We would love to hear if there are other tools, tips and tricks we can adopt to keep our team strong and well.
