Ensure WFH a better place for productivity

Keep yourself organised, set digital wellbeing boundaries: Experts

By Anil Rachamalla

Protecting mental and physical well-being is balanced only when we set proper digital well-being boundaries so as to increase productivity and engagement. The pandemic has helped us save a couple of hours of travel to the office replacing it with work from home culture. However, work from home comes with a few risks to your mental and physical well being. It’s important to set appropriate digital well-being boundaries to protect your overall well-being.

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Many times, WFH is taking up more space in your mind and life than you would prefer and you may be on the periphery of remote work burnout. A few red flags of remote burnout are

(a) You are not taking time off, even though you had enough space to do so (Neglecting to take the time off you rightfully deserve to spend with family or leisure)

(b) You have the tendency of working from home more just to escape the stress (Staring at your computer screen or scheduling nonstop meetings and not taking a much-needed break to address other problems at home).

(c) You don’t have enough boundaries set up in your home (You work from your kitchen table or a makeshift desk in your bedroom)

(d) Haunted with job security (You might want to protect your job, but you’ll lose your well-being and it’s not a risk worth taking)

Advantages and disadvantages of WFH

• Advantages

(a) Less commuting time (b) More productivity because of less human interaction (c) Saves physical office space and expenditure of the organisation (d) Availability of employees across the globe.

• Disadvantages (a) Lack of community and lack of opportunity of working in diversified working cultures (b) Communication muddle (c) Procrastination and less accountability (d) Managing productivity and Engagement (e) Security concerns i.e. Leakage of Sensitive Data, Cyber Frauds. (f) Maintaining Confidentiality, Integrity, and Authenticity

Tips for better productivity

(a) Set expectations with all at home. (Roommates, family members, and pets must respect your space during work hours).

(b) Take clear breaks – Instead of watching YouTube and watching some news clips, go for a walk in the corridor and enjoy fresh air, or spend time with pets and kids.

(c) Pick a definitive finishing time – Establish a work-life balance and ensure you have a definitive disconnect time from work.

(d) Eating and Sleeping – An unhealthy diet and sleep schedules can affect productivity and drain energy.

(e) Be a Freelancer – If your company is not working from home-friendly, be a freelancer in the gig economy

(f) Balance Screen time v/s Green time – While disconnecting from tech gadgets, spend some green time i.e. playing, cooking, and gardening.

(g) Pod Casts – Listen to podcasts for better productivity while on breaks

(h) Use Screen Time and Other Productivity Tools – Which keeps track of your work delivery and spend times

WFH space setup ideas

Whether your WFH office setup is where you run your company activities, keep yourself organised, you need more than a desk and a chair. Below are some home office organisation ideas that will make burning the midnight oil better.

(a) Well-furnished desk

(b) Ergonomic office chair

(c) Ergonomic keyboard

(d) Strong WiFi connection

(e) Proper routers and WiFi Settings

(f) Adequate lighting

(g) Notepad & pens for jotting down meeting notes

(h) Noise-canceling headphones

(i) Big wall calendar stuck in front of you

(j) Small whiteboard in front of you to scribble to-do tasks

(k) Personal Desk Printer

Time Management

(a) Attention to time: Small pockets of 15 to 30 minutes exist between scheduled meetings, ensure you walk 100 meters or browse a paper, or have a short two-minute talk with kids and spouses.

(b) Personal Boundaries: Respect the space of everyone and don’t yell at kids when someone is disturbing in the midst of your meetings, especially when you are sharing a living space with roommates, spouses, children, and pets.

(c) Calendar Management: Often spouses and kids complain that you are overspending time on the system and not allowing time for them. Create a calendar and slot time for all.

(d) Managing Energy: First few hours in the morning is when you’re fresh, prioritise the important works accordingly

(e) Empathy and compassion: Remote work today is happening in an extreme state of uncertainty and anxiety, now is the time to have empathy and compassion with each other especially with teammates.

Stay Tuned to Cyber Talk to know more about internet ethics and digital wellness brought to you by Anil Rachamalla, End Now Foundation, www.endnowfoundation.org