So, today is Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Which means we are now at day 172 since the US officially went on COVID-19 alerts and lock-downs. Can you believe it, one hundred and seventy-two days, okay, I’ll say it again, 172 days!!! That’s like 47% of this year! That’s a lot. During those 172 days, most essential businesses remained open. More non-essential businesses are slowly beginning to re-open whilst others are still carrying on with employees working from home.
Is working from home all that it’s cracked up to be? For some, you betcha, for others, they are like, meh. With that, I began to wonder why people were either on the fence about working from home or they’ve clearly jumped over the fence and the wall because of working from home. And let me tell you, the numbers were so astonishing whether it was from folks that I spoke with or just reading through several articles on the subject. For the most part, people fall into three very seemingly different categories when it comes to working from home.
· 77% of folks are enjoying the outside of the normal 9 – 5 work hour scenario
· 80% are happy to be able to interact with their families throughout the day
· 66% of those working from home would rather be back in the office
Digging a bit deeper into the 66% who prefer being in the office as opposed to working from home, 42% of the 66% group, voiced they miss the socialization aspect of the office as well as having a set routine for the children being in school vs. being home schooled by teachers and them, for those who have children in this category. The other 34% of the 66% group felt they were more productive in the office than they were at home. Interesting.
And yet, companies are seeing an uptick in the productivity levels from employees working from home. In an article published by Business News Daily, they found that remote employees work 1.4 more days per month than their office-based counterparts. Like wow, right?
While remote work continues for most employees who’d prefer the confines of the office, here are some suggestions to help guide you from blah to ta-da:
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Act like you are going into the office by doing your normal morning routine and dress the part
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By now you probably have already carved out an office space for yourself at home and if not, there’s still time to do so
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Cross off more on your to-do list which inherently brings a great sense of accomplishment to your day
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Technology is key to survival right now so make sure to keep your information updated and safe
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Skip the minute-by-minute social media posts and updates for after work hours when possible, use them as a reward to yourself for getting your work accomplished
With a little bit of planning ahead for the next day and working when you’re at your most productive self its possible, you’ll start to feel a bit better about what’s going on around you while giving you the ability to control it. www.hrcircleconsulting.com