9+ Tips to Working from Home During the COVID-19 Lockdown

“While lockdown has been helping to contain the contamination rates to some extent, work from home is helping maintain some balance and sanity in our already crumbling world economy.”

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Most people are not new to “work from home”. Most have even enjoyed the occasional breaks from the office space to work from home. Many of us are not used to being a full-time remote worker, but COVID-19 has imposed it on all of us.

Embracing this new norm has indeed been a struggle during this lockdown. Trying to balance family and children, the constant distractions and other restrictions have made work from home an even more laborious task that questions our productivity.

As you have probably figured out already, working from home is not an easy task.

Social isolation, distractions, time management, loss of productivity, you name it. At the end of the lockdown, the job market will probably also have a different scene too.

Finding the motivation to be productive, especially in these times where most people have high anxiety, is extremely difficult.

You have to bite this bullet. There is no other go and if you try, you can overcome the challenges of working from home. Social isolation, distractions, time management, loss of productivity, you name it. At the end of the lockdown, the job market will probably also have a different scene too.

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• Dress up for the job

Work from home would have probably made you excited about the dream of working in pajamas, but you’re wrong. It is very easy to get excited about sweatpants and pj’s, but getting dressed for work will trigger your brain that it’s time to work. Therefore it’s important that you dress appropriately.

You may feel that one of the perks of working from home is not putting the effort to get ready, you need not pull out your best clothes. There is no need for a suit and tie, just pull out the business casual gear and feel good about the day.

Jeans and t-shirt may be a good approach to opt for. Don’t forget your pants, since you don’t want to get up to grab a file across the room during a video conference in shorts.
Try to find a balance that works for you but avoid getting too cozy.

• Structure the day like normal

Time management is very important in making this lockdown tolerable, so you must plan your whole day. Start with a proper sleep schedule, since both oversleeping and sleep deprivation can lower your mental functioning.



Keep a routine with some variations for every day - having different tasks at different times is very important. Try doing to balance the time you have saved for doing something positive, like cooking a healthy lunch or reading a book.

Structure your workload depending on whether you’re a day or a night person. If you are a slow starter then maybe doing routine tasks and important tasks later can be a way to go.

Work from home can be the best reason to create an effective list of priorities by making your weekly to-do list, rather than a daily one, where the important jobs will jump straight at the top. Try doing the most important work when you feel most energized.

• Restrict your news access

It’s okay if you want to stay updated with what is going on in the world. However, the media reports every single detail and may exaggerate or misinform sometimes for shock value.

Scrolling down the twitter feed will only add to your panic and won’t help concentrate on any tasks. So try to limit the corona virus related news to once in the whole day. Doing that in the morning may work for the best.

Find a few reliable sources from where you can get your information from. Also, try getting situation reports from your local health and safety institution and the World Health Organization.

After getting the daily dose of your information, try not to tune for any further updates until the next date. You will feel calmer, better and at the same time, you will be able to get a lot of work done.

• Find out when are you most productive

One of the liberties that you can take from “work from home” is that you can plan out the whole day in the way you feel most comfortable with. Since you have full control of how you arrange your time.

Some people may work better in the afternoon while others may be the early-birds. It may work best if you take 45-minute intervals with breaks in between or even three full hours without any interruption that may work for some.



You can play around with your schedule and figure out how and when you are most productive and can adjust the calendar accordingly.

• Work at the workplace

If your space allows for it, try setting up a private space that has good lighting and aromatherapy. You will need a comfortable space where you can focus on the tasks at hand.

Get a comfortable desk and chair and make sure that you feel motivated by the environment and ready to tackle any problem that comes your way. Try not to work from anywhere else except that space.

And don’t do anything else in the workspace except work.

• Stay away from distractions

Honestly, you cannot expect privacy while working from home. Many would have realized it by now. But we have to work from home so you have to find the solution to stay away from the disturbance if you aim for maximum productivity.

One way is as we discussed earlier, is to find a comfortable and peaceful workspace. The next step can be the balance of your time on phone calls. You can do that by time management, by allotting the least amount of time to the phone that you can.

If you live with other people, you should let them know in advance that you are working and are not to be disturbed.

It may be harder than it sounds, but well, as you know, no pain no gain. You can always browse through Instagram feed and give time to people who live with you, after work hours.

• Workout from home

Your movements are much restricted now due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Most of you are restricted to your houses, doing minimal activities. We are getting prone to a lazy lifestyle that can affect our physical as well as an emotional state, it may even affect your work as well.

Exercise will not only help you to break a sweat but also help in refreshing the mind and will also enhance your cognitive capacity and will be helpful to the ones who have pacific depression.

Make sure to take at least an hour of your day to do basic exercise. You will feel the difference it has on you the next time you sit down to work. Always remember that a healthy body and mind are the key to productive work.

• Jam some song

One of the best things about work from home is that you get to create your personalized routines. And you can use time management to create any setting of your choice. And what can be better than creating a personal work soundtrack?

Create some work-friendly playlists which will boost your mood or you can go with the ready playlists on youtube and Spotify.

It will be a great idea if you match the music with the type of work you are doing.
Like you are writing a report, or talking to clients or doing something that requires a lot of focus, go to classical music. If you’re crunching numbers or dealing with codes, try something fun and upbeat to put you in that zone.

• Stay in touch with your coworkers

Know that you are not alone. We all are stuck at home and trying to adjust to the whole work from home transition. So, try consistently reaching out to your coworker

Being isolated and at home could make you lose the bigger picture which a physical office provides: you are all working towards a common goal.

It’s important that you advocate for yourself and encourage others to do the same during these calls. Clearly state the progress that you’re making and set realistic expectations.

Your colleagues are the ones who understand your working situation better than anyone else since they are on the same boat. Make sure to ask from and provide help and feedback to others through your work communication platform.



Remember that you don’t need to compromise on your relationships and networking because of the quarantine!

• Take some time for self-care

When the full-time work from home can start to blur the line between work and home, you might find yourself stuck to the computer screen for a longer period.

That can sometimes be necessary for a huge project or an important presentation, give yourself some time for relaxation. This is where our time management again comes into action, you need to balance your time so that you can be focused and productive when you need to be.

With increased flexibility, you can make sure to take the time so that you’re not missing life’s important moments.

• Learn something new

Work may slow down for many during the pandemic but this in itself can create a new opportunity. Try to think about what else you can do during this period to develop another line to your work.

Maybe an IT course, or a language, try doing something to keep yourself cognitively active. You may never get this kind of window to learn something again. Use it.

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• Know when to “log out”

This can be one of the most challenging aspects of work from home. Though you may be receiving emails, texts, and chat at any hour, it’s important to develop a habit of setting a time when you can just “log off”.

The best part of working remotely is having the flexibility to balance your time and work when you are most productive, so be careful about time management by not setting the standard that you are available 24/7.

If you follow the above-mentioned steps, your work from home will get much more convenient and comfortable. A lot of times, you may feel depressed and don’t feel like working, remember you are privileged to be still working.

Many people out there don’t even have steady jobs anymore. So, be thankful and make the most out of what you have.

Time management is the best way you can figure out how you can balance both work and family. And effective time management is essential if you want to continue meeting deadlines when working from home.

Work from home may become the new normal, but we are still quite a few miles away from it. As not all jobs are feasible enough to be shifted remotely. Even companies are trying hard to keep a balance between maintaining order while keeping everyone productive.

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