How An Essex PR Agency Works From Home The Right Way
COVID-19 has now well and truly spread its viral tendrils to the UK. This ‘invisible enemy’ is having unprecedented economic and societal impacts. The nation has been left house-bound and crippled by the uncertainty brought with it. The world can’t simply stand still. Measures must be taken to ensure that workplace productivity ensues in as similar a fashion as pre-virus times as is possible.
One of the biggest of these steps is for companies that are able, to work from home. Remote working offers an opportunity for businesses to continue running, but it also brings its own unique set of challenges. The team here at our Essex PR agency, has just drawn to the end of its first week working from home (at the time of writing). The team got together over Zoom to discuss how to go about remote working the best way possible.
Keep A Routine
One thing we’ve all found at this here Essex PR agency, is the benefit in maintaining a routine. One of the most important steps to successful remote working is to keep a clear boundary between work and home; even if they’re now in the same place. By clocking in and out at the same time each day, you don’t overexert yourself all at once, you maintain productivity when you are working and you also keep some semblance of normality; even if that normality is a commute from your bedroom to your office space.
Routine is essential, in all of life and not just a pandemic, in maintaining stable mental health. Uncertainty tends to lead to anxiety, and it’s all too easy to feel overwhelmed during the home-working period. Controlling that which you can control, i.e. some routine in your life, is a good way of mitigating a portion of that anxiety. Another something you can do to add to this routine is get changed as you would for work normally! Ok, so maybe not a full suit but at least make an effort to get properly changed; sitting in your pyjamas all day isn’t conducive to a productive day’s work…
Get Some Fresh Air If You Can
Try and get some fresh air before work, after work or on your lunch break. There’s an important caveat here: only go and get fresh air if you’re not putting others at risk. We should all be taking social distancing incredibly seriously, so if you’re planning on going out to the local park, say, then take all the necessary precautions that have been recommended by the appropriate bodies. Fresh air can do the world of good for both your physical and mental health, with natural light having a similarly beneficial effect. If nothing else, getting out can help alleviate some of the feelings of claustrophobia that you may have been experiencing from being cooped up for an extended period of time. We’d like to reiterate, however, that the utmost care really has to be taken if you do decide to go for a walk.
Check In On One Another!
This one’s important. Very important. People’s mental health is going to take quite a beating over the next few weeks, and it’s vital that we get through it together. Send your work colleagues a message, especially those who perhaps already suffer from anxiety or any other mental health issue. Even those that don’t will no doubt struggle. Extroverts aren’t particularly used to being cooped up indoors, and may be hit a lot harder than anyone thinks they will. If you haven’t already, set up a work team group WhatsApp or group chat to boost morale with silly, little jokes and bits of banter. If you find yourself personally struggling, then talk to one of your colleagues about it. Let your line manager or your boss know; sometimes, just venting can be enough of a release in itself to bring things back down to a simmer rather than a boiling point.
Have Some Form Of Escapism
It may be Netflix, it may be singing ballads, whatever it is it’s important that you have something fun to do for when you’re not working. Preferably this won’t involve a screen given that most office jobs will require you sat at a computer all day, anyway. But just make sure you have something to look forward to come tools downtime. If we can’t go out to socialise, well then why don’t we socialise over Skype or Facetime? Call your friends and have a virtual movie night in together, perhaps!
Celebrate Small Victories
Be nicer to yourself! Those seemingly small tasks that you would never have normally paid a moment’s notice on? Celebrate them! It’s an incredibly difficult situation we all find ourselves in, and we need to go a little easier on ourselves; that includes praising ourselves for getting our jobs done, no matter how minor they may normally appear. At our Essex PR agency, we also have other small incentives such as weekly lottery lines to congratulate those in the team who have made a real difference that week! You may say ‘we wouldn’t usually do any of this’ – well, this is no ordinary situation, therefore a slight deviation from the norm is no bad thing. There’s no reason why your work should take too much of a hit if you just keep taking things nice and slowly, one day at a time!
We can’t say with any certainty how long this situation will take to play out. Even when we’ve returned to some semblance of normality, the impacts will be long-lasting. With that in mind, it’s crucial that we stay as productive and healthy as we can, especially if we’re working from home. We have a greater duty than ever to be good and decent human beings. To be kind to one another, over anything else. So, if you’d like to find out any more remote working tips from our Essex PR agency; then click here to get in touch!
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