ADAPTING TO THE CORONA WORK-FROM-HOME REGIME
For the last decade, terms such as self-discipline, time-management, and organization have been very popular topics in several workshops, seminars, books, and conferences. However, the self-discipline has never been more popular than today, when the fatal virus assaulted the world and made most of its population to work from home. A relatively new trend such as Working from Home seems not that pretty and relaxed as it does at first glance. When you have to work from home you should be able to organize and discipline yourself in your house/room which is full of interesting and alluring distractions right in front of your nose: soft bed, sweet snacks, newly released Netflix series and another bunch of disturbances.
Being a research fellow of the International Sustainability Academy means to be lucky enough to have a monitoring and evaluation system which allows you to keep yourself controlled and responsible. However, fighting with a new everyday routine sometimes may cause some changes in your daily regime. For example, your usual 7 am wake up time postponed to a later time, the thought that you shouldn’t catch the train in rush makes you more relaxed, your breakfast and lunch can last longer than usual. And then, you realize that almost half a day has passed already, and you barely start working. Sounds familiar? If yes, continue reading further and find some tips that can help you out. If all described above is not about you, well, congrats, you’re doing well and have very strong willpower!
Well, let me now share some tips which worked out well for me and maybe, they will be helpful for you, either. Why this can help you? Well, owing to the ISA, I had an opportunity to have some lectures on neuroscience and the main principles of brain works, so, the methods I will describe are based on science and related academic articles.
First and foremost, let your body and mind adapt to new realities and working environment, and instead, help yourself to adapt slowly, step-by-step. We’re not robots but human beings who have feelings and complex system of the brain. Throughout our lives, our brains built a tremendous amount of neuronal connections that build our knowledge and habits. And our habits are the systems of signal and triggers, by activating of which our brain begins processing. Let me explain what it means. For example, we all have morning routines before going to the office, don’t we? Probably, your alarm clock is set for the exact time, let’s say, 7 am. Then, you have morning exercises, shower, breakfast, trip on the bus/train/taxi to the office. This routine prepares you for the condition of being ready to start your work.
That is, the activity is a track of neuronal connections that send an unconscious signal to your body and mind to start work. And now, you have to build new neuronal tracks to send your mental-self signals to start working at home which is full of cosy and comfy distractions. Surely, it takes time and as we know, time is not a source that will wait for us building new habits. We should adapt quickly and respond immediately.
Thus, the easiest way, to begin with, is simplifying a new path by simple steps. Set up your alarm clock as if you would go to the office tomorrow. Process the same routine including make-up (for women) and shaving (for men), dressing up and so on. Stop walking around in your pyjamas no matter how comfy it is. This will let delude your mind and send an unconscious signal about getting ready to work. Another important step is organizing your workplace. Get rid of some stuff that can distract you from your work. Leave only the necessary documents, papers and your laptop. This will be another illusion of your working environment.
Next, set alarm clocks for your lunch, give yourself exactly one hour for having a meal and then, turn back to your work. Do not have a meal on your working desk, this will let your mind to have some rest from the information. And don’t forget ventilating your room to nurture your body with fresh air.
If you experience some difficulties with concentration, my recommendation would be Pomodoro timer (https://tomato-timer.com) It’s a great time-management assistant that allows you to set up 25 minutes (or, you can set your deserved time), then it gives you 5-10 minutes break and set up another 25 minutes session. The idea of working/learning for a short time interval is about to have a deep focus during which your brain can proceed and understand the information in the most effective way.
I hope these few tips would help you to adapt to a new work-from-home culture!
