Work-From-Home Tips Archives

Coping with Work Stress During COVID-19

How do you cope with work stress during COVID-19?

Educate yourself about covid-19
Establish a healthy routine
Talk to other people
Enjoy your free time

There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused stress for many people. The fear of the virus and the abrupt change in the normal way of living have affected people negatively. But life must go on and people must keep on working to live. It is important to still enjoy life while staying safe. Today we listed down the ways on how to cope with work stress during COVID-19. Read on!

Educate Yourself About COVID-19

People experience anxiety nowadays due to the fear of the virus. It will affect you the more you don’t know. That’s why it’s important to educate yourself about COVID-19 and the dos and don’ts that go with it. Focus on the things that you can do, like limiting going outside, social distancing, wearing face masks and shields, and disinfecting regularly. When you have knowledge about the virus and how you can avoid it, your anxiety will lessen. Knowledge is power!

Establish A Healthy Routine

The pandemic has changed our work routines, whether we work on the front lines or from home. During this time our health became our number one priority. But not having a routine can be stressful. It can feel like you have so many things to do but you do not have time to do them.

After working for some time at these tough times, you may now have a rough idea of the tasks and responsibilities that you need to complete. Take time to reflect on what you need to prioritize and what work demands you need to do per day. Think back to the routine you had before the pandemic. Rest your mind from work after work hours. Do not forget the important things you do to take care of yourself. This includes eating right, exercising, and sleeping enough at night. Having a set time for these things will ensure that you get enough rest every day.

In these uncertain times, we can only make some effort in the things that we can control, and that includes our routine. Having a routine can be less stressful because it can make you more productive and as time goes by you will get used to the daily tasks. Remember to include rest and play in your routine for a balanced work and life.

Talk to Other People

Nowadays people feel high levels of stress due to the fear of the COVID-19 virus, anxiety about their jobs, and loneliness because of being stuck at home. Other people choose to keep it to their selves instead of opening up about their emotions.

Talk to your manager if you feel that your workload is affecting your mental and physical well-being. Your supervisor or manager will know best about the responsibilities you have and the role you take at work.

Don’t bottle up your feelings and open up to trusted people. Having a shoulder to lean on will help with your emotional well-being. Know that other people are probably experiencing the same things and you are not alone. You can do this!

Enjoy Your Free Time

As a front liner or remote worker, most of your mental or physical strength may be already be depleted at work. During this pandemic, it is hard to enjoy your free time because of health worries and long hours at work. Enjoy your free time, relax your mind, and avoid burnout. There are many things you can do at home, especially now that you have more time with your family. You can also spend some alone time if you prefer. Reward yourself for doing great at work, you deserve it!

Key Takeaway

Now that the new normal has changed it is important to know the ways on how to cope with work stress during COVID-19. Educate yourself about the virus and how you can protect yourself and loved ones, establish a routine that will make everyday life more manageable, talk to your manager about high-levels of stress and how to solve it, and always make time for relaxing and spending time with your loved ones. Here is to hoping to a more enjoyable work-life during the pandemic!

The Best Tips for Remote Team Communication

What are the best tips for remote team communication?

Use Appropriate Messaging Channels
Schedule Regular Video Calls
Set Clear Guidelines and Instructions
Conduct Regular Team-Building Events

The work from the home culture we currently experience in this pandemic brings a lot of positive and negative effects. It allowed us to spend more time with our loved ones while still completing our tasks at work. One downside from working from home is the lack of face-to-face communication that can make you feel alone and depressed. We all miss an energetic high-five and a gentle pat on the back for doing a good job. Today, we will be learning how to make the best of remote team communication. These tips will make work from home so much easier!

Use Appropriate Messaging Channels

Emails are a part of a workday even back when there was no pandemic. It is useful in sending important documents and formal messages. But it is not a good channel for asking questions that need to be answered immediately.

Find a messaging application that has “rooms” that can represent your office departments. Having chat rooms that are always open can help your team collaborate right away at any given moment.

Some companies have a more informal chat room for non-work related chats. It is a virtual water cooler where employees can hang out and just chat. This can help build camaraderie in employees and reduce work stress. Even back then in the office, casual chats would help lighten the workload!

Schedule Regular Video Calls

It is important to check-in on each other once in a while. The lockdown and pandemic have caused people to feel anxious and depressed. The lack of social interaction and excessive working has made people feel burnout. Some people are not even tech-savvy, to begin with. So it is important to show some care and empathy with each other.

Not everything can be done by chatting or emailing. These two channels of communication, while useful, lack the non-verbal elements like facial expression, voice pitch, and hand gestures. Video calls can have all of those elements, except physical touch.

Weekly video meetings can connect all employees and align them with the announcements, goals, and achievements of the team. This can provide an opportunity to voice concerns and opinions about a project. But always remember to only schedule meetings with a purpose as to not waste your teammates’ time.

Set Clear Guidelines and Instructions

Supervising remote workers is harder than supervising in a physical office. You cannot see what your team member is doing at office hours. This can bring about an issue of trust unless you do something.

Set clear guidelines for expectations for everyone in your team. Set deadlines, daily tasks, and communicate instructions about timekeeping and taking breaks. When you set guidelines, it removes the guesswork on what a team member must abide by. Everyone will have a routine to follow.

One example is communicating the guidelines for breaks. Avoid settling for verbal communication and put your instructions into writing to avoid miscommunication. Be very specific. For example, you can either set a specific hour for lunch from 12 noon to 1 pm. Or you can assign a 1-hour break every day that your members can take any time.

Conduct Regular Team-Building Events

Not all kinds of office work will provide constant human interaction. Some occupations, like software programming, is more focused on constant computer work. Even more so, when in remote work setup. This doesn’t mean that we have to stop all fun activities that used to happen back at the office. There are a lot of fun ideas that could be implemented in a virtual setting.

Having fun can affect personal connections and even work itself. A study showed that happier employees tend to be more productive. A closer relationship with one another will also allow a team member to open up and communicate ideas and concerns better.

Key Takeaway

Good communication is key to making remote work more pleasant and fun. Physical distancing doesn’t mean that you have to distance yourself emotionally from your team as well.

There are different communication channels that you can use to maintain a good workflow and camaraderie within your team. Just remember to communicate clearly what you need from your teammates. Schedule regular video calls to check-in on your team and their concerns. All these virtual channels can be used not just for work, but also for fun because a happy team is a productive team. Follow all these remote team communication tips to create the best remote work experience for everyone.

Nail Your Next Virtual Presentation with These 7 Tips

What are some good tips to nail virtual presentations?

Test Out Your Internet Connection and Audio
Utilize Up-To-Date Tools
Make it Visually Appealing
Make Your Words Readable
Look into The Camera
Remove Distractions
Practice

If you’re one of those individuals who are working remotely or from home, it is well worth investing some time in learning how to execute a seamless and engaging virtual presentation. Compared to in-person presentations where you have so much room to work with, virtual presentations impose quite a few challenges and intimidation. Tech issues, distractions, or your audience can also stray away. Because of this, you need to work twice as hard. Luckily, we’re here to give you some great and effective virtual presentation tips to deliver a powerful, fun, and engaging presentation! Read on for more!

Test Out Your Internet Connection and Audio

Tech issues are definitely one of the major mishaps that come with presentations. But, with in-person presentations, you can still go on and engage with your audience until it gets resolved. With virtual presentations, you no longer have this luxury. So, to ensure a seamless and tech issue-free presentation, make sure to test out everything beforehand. Make sure that your internet connection has good speed — enough to cover everything you’ll be doing. You’d also want to test your audio and your microphone. You wouldn’t want any of these to fluctuate during your presentation.

Utilize Up-To-Date Tools

The possibilities of technology are endless! There is a plethora of online tools nowadays that you can utilize to make your virtual presentation convenient, fun, and engaging! Craft it by adding in chats, polls, features, and more.

Make it Visually Appealing

You have one biggest challenge in virtual presentations — distraction. Your audience will likely be more distracted during these times, so make sure to step up your game! Visuals are one of the most effective strategies for this. To capture your audience’s eye and attention, incorporate informative and visually appealing graphics. Or you can even switch up the colors and the fonts to make it look more organized. But make sure that it isn’t overwhelming as well.

Make Your Words Readable

It’s best to add in minimal words to your presentation and let yourself do all the talking instead. This way, your audience will have their ears on you. However, if you will add in some text to your presentation, make sure that the font size and type are readable.

Look into The Camera

It may seem awkward to be talking to a camera at first, but this step will make all the difference. Looking into the camera will make each individual feel like you are talking to them personally.

Remove Distractions

Before you head on to share your screen, make sure that there are no unnecessary tabs, distractions, or any possible intermissions. Plus, you should also stay in a clean, clear, and quiet area to avoid any interruptions.

Practice

As the saying goes “practice makes perfect”. It’s always a good idea to practice and run through your virtual presentation. This way, you can also relieve your nervousness and makes sure that everything goes seamlessly.

Key Takeaway

In this COVID-19 world where most of us are now working remotely or from home, it pays to be equipped with some great virtual presentation tips. Try these out for yourself! Use these strategies above and you’re bound to execute a powerful, informative, fun, and engaging virtual presentation.

How to Stay Mentally Healthy at Work

How can you stay mentally healthy at work?

Don’t Skip on Lunch Breaks
Set Boundaries
Play Music
Socialize
Keep a Clean and Organized Workspace
Ask for Help When Needed

More working professionals are embracing “hustle culture” and becoming further immersed in their jobs over the years. True enough, in some instances having the drive to work your hardest, is a good thing. However, this has become the standard for many to gauge mental health, which shouldn’t be the case at all. Ignoring this can lead to burnout and even more serious mental health issues. Don’t wait until this happens before you take action. You should always know how to stay mentally healthy at work, more so during these times. The impacts of the pandemic can lead to even more stress and strain. Here are some seven simple strategies to keep yourself mentally healthy at work:

Don’t Skip Lunch on Breaks

With all the tasks you have to do within the day, it can be so easy to overlook your lunch break, especially if you are working from home. Lunch breaks are implemented for a reason and are far more important than you realize. It allows your mind to recharge, rest, and refocus. Lunch breaks or eating on your table doesn’t count. Make sure that you devote your lunch breaks to yourself and eating a proper meal.

Set Boundaries

Most make the mistake of not setting any boundaries between work and their personal life. But this is one of the biggest contributors to workplace burnout. Setting boundaries and practicing a good work-life balance is extremely important for your health and well-being.

Devote working hours exclusively for work. Clock in and clock out on time, and do not work afterward.

Play Music

If your job allows it, consider playing music that you enjoy while working. You will feel better, calmer, and it may relieve stress and pressure.

Socialize

Feeling isolated at home? Or maybe you’ve been too busy keeping up with your tasks in the office. If so, try socializing more with your colleagues during breaks. Interacting with others will boost your mood and feelings of well-being. Sharing a good laugh or a great conversation could go a long way for your mood.

Keep a Clean and Organized Workspace

Disorganization and clutter have negative effects on the brain. Plus, no one wants to work in an unhygienic and messy workplace. Make sure to throw away your trash immediately and don’t let clutter accumulate on your desk. A clean and organized workspace will improve focus and boost working memory

As for Help When Needed

Handling tasks independently is the key to achieving your work goals. However, if there’s too much on your plate, and you struggle to understand a certain task, asking for help is never a bad thing. Ask for help when it is needed and don’t let stress pile up.

Key Takeaway

Knowing how to stay mentally healthy at work will definitely keep you happier and healthier. Never make the mistake of overlooking your mental well-being in the midst of working hard to achieve your work goals. Looking for a healthy environment to start working in? Click here to read more about Workplays!

Office Meal Ideas to Increase Your Immunity

What are some of the office meal ideas that can increase your immunity?

Avocado Toast
Lemon Chicken
Garlic Broccoli Stir Fry
Yogurt Oatmeal

Let’s admit it. Sticking to an office meal plan is tricky under normal conditions. With the quarantine regulations forcing companies to adopt remote work, this becomes even more challenging.

You might have experienced being on a conference call and sprinting to the kitchen just to eat something to fill your empty stomach. Or maybe you munch on unhealthy chips all day while working. These scenarios prove that maintaining a healthy diet is easier said than done when you’re working from home.

However, this is not the time to overlook proper nutrient intake. Now more than ever is when you’ll need to boost your immune system. With that, we’ve rounded up some office meal ideas to increase your immunity!

Avocado Toast

Before you start your day, it will take more than a cup of coffee to ensure that your body receives the nutrients it needs. Just as the saying goes, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day”.

Try making an easy to make Avocado Toast. Avocados are not only flavorful but they contain vitamins A, C, and E which have immune-boosting properties as well. Consuming this breakfast meal will help your body fight off bacterial attacks.

Ingredients

1 avocado, peeled and seeded
½ teaspoon lemon juice
Pinch of salt and pepper
⅛ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon olive oil
2 slices of bread of choice

Instructions

In a bowl, put in the avocado, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
Mash with the back of a fork.
Toast the slices of bread until crispy.
Spread the mashed mixture on each slice.
Drizzle with olive oil. You can sprinkle over your desired toppings as well.

Lemon Chicken

For lunchtime, it would be best to eat a heavier meal that’s rich in protein. Eating Lemon Chicken will not only be filling, but it will energize you for the rest of the office hours as well!

Chickens are high in vitamin B-6 which plays a vital role in forming healthy red blood cells. On the other hand, lemon is an excellent source of vitamin C. The potent antioxidant helps your body ward off infections and diseases.

Ingredients

3 chicken breast fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
⅓ cup flour
1 tablespoon oil
4 tablespoons butter
1 ½ teaspoon garlic, minced
½ cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
In a shallow dish, sprinkle both sides of the chicken with flour.
Over medium-high heat, add oil and butter.
Sear both sides of the chicken until golden brown.
In a separate pan, sauté the garlic.
Pour in the chicken broth and lemon juice.
Let the mixture simmer and reduce the heat.
Add the butter.
Add in the cooked chicken to the skillet.
Serve warm.

Garlic Broccoli Stir Fry

Garlic contains a key compound called allicin. Allicin boosts the disease-fighting response of the body’s white cells. According to a study, garlic can even contribute to the prevention of major illnesses such as gastric ulcers and heart problems.

On the other hand, broccoli is a good source of vitamins and contains powerful phytochemicals that neutralize free radicals.

Consuming a Garlic Broccoli Stir Fry meal is sure to boost your immune system. So get cooking and whip up this hearty meal with only eight ingredients!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ cup broccoli
¼ cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water

Instructions

Boil the broccoli.
Drain the water.
In a pan, sauté the garlic until golden brown.
Add in the broccoli.
Add in the chicken broth.
Season with salt and pepper.
Once the broccoli is cooked, add in the cornstarch and water to thicken the sauce.
Serve with rice and enjoy!

Yogurt Oatmeal

Even if you had a good breakfast or lunch you would feel quite hungry after a few hours. This just shows that your body is burning the fuel while you’re working. Instead of grabbing unhealthy sugary foods or salty potato chips, munch on a healthy snack like Yogurt Oatmeal.

Yogurt is a good source of probiotics that can stimulate the immune system and reduce the likeliness of catching diseases. It is also rich in vitamin A, Zinc, and Vitamin D.

Before you recreate this meal, remember to look for yogurts that have live and active cultures. Avoid getting the ones that are loaded with sugar as well. Plain yogurt can be sweetened with healthy fruits instead.

Ingredients

½ cup oats
Pinch of salt
1 ¼ cup milk
¼ cup yogurt
Fruit toppings (optional)

Instructions

In a pot, add oats and salt.
Combine the milk and stir.
Cook over medium-high heat.
Remove it from the heat.
Stir in the yogurt.
Transfer the oatmeal to a bowl and top with your choice of fruit toppings.
Serve!

Key Takeaway

Stick to a healthy office meal plan. While it may be tempting to neglect nutritious food options and just grab anything you can see in the kitchen, this won’t do any good for your overall health. Give your body a fighting chance to combat viruses today!

Achieving Work-life Balance Easily

What are some good tips to achieve work-life balance?

Manage Your Time at Work
Set Boundaries
Enjoy Your Weekends and Days Off
Make Time for Yourself and Your Loved Ones
Don’t Overlook Your Health

Nowadays, it is getting more and more challenging to not get eaten up by work. While it is completely fine to value career and your job, putting other parts of your life on the back burner, isn’t. Creating a healthy work-life balance is critical, especially during these times when it can be a struggle to establish boundaries from working at home. Your physical health, mental health, and even your productivity will depend on it. Here are some tried-and-true work-life balance tips you can try out:

Manage Your Time at Work

Time management is an essential part of a healthy work-life balance. A good way to do this is by planning your day out. List down all the important tasks you need to tackle within the day and stick to it. Dedicate your time to work on working hours and avoid time-wasters such as scrolling through social media or anything that details your attention and productivity. This will all result in more free time at the end of the day.

Set Boundaries

It can be so easy to merge your working life into your personal life, especially if you are working from home. However, without implementing serious boundaries, you are bound to feel more burned out, tired, and unproductive. If you are working from home or remotely, make sure to establish a dedicated space just for work. This can be as simple as a small desk or using that spare room as a home office. You can also consider working in a co-working space for a complete visual boundary.

Additionally, when you are out of work, avoid thinking about your tasks or doing anything work-related.

Enjoy Your Weekends and Days Off

Having no work on weekends are implemented for a reason. Make sure to take your days off seriously. Don’t answer calls, emails, or even think about anything work-related. Completely give yourself and your body time to, recharge, and relax.

Make Time for Yourself and Your Loved Ones

A huge chunk of your time every day is dedicated to working. So, once you’ve finished your tasks for the day or on your days off, make time for yourself and the people that you love.

Don’t Overlook Your Health

A proper work-life balance requires you to prioritize your health as well. It is so easy to overlook your well-being while you’re working for hours every day. Make sure that you stay hydrated, consume healthier food, and get an ample amount of sleep and rest each night.

Key Takeaway

Work-life balance isn’t just a buzzword. It is a critical part of our lives that we should never overlook. A healthy work-life balance will lead to better physical and mental health, increased productivity, and happier life. Try out these effortless work-life balance tips to make things easier for you!

How to Manage Your Time When Working During the Pandemic

What are some time management techniques for working during the pandemic?

Adjust your expectations
Plan a schedule
Have a designated working space
Avoid social media distractions
Set boundaries
Communicate with your boss

Under the best circumstances, practicing the best time management techniques is already hard enough. Now that we are living in unprecedented times, working from home automatically becomes even more challenging.

As events related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to unfold, it can become tougher to work without the setting you are accustomed to when in the office. Nonetheless, managing your time effectively should stay on top of the priority list.

Here are five tips for time management that can help you be more effective.

Adjust Your Expectations

Everyone is still fairly new when it comes to adjusting to the “new normal”. Families are trying to keep up with remote job tasks and online learning sessions.

The full workforce operations have shifted at home. Without the capability to have person-to-person conversations that offices allow, virtual meetings, whether scheduled or not, are what keeps companies functioning.

Adjust your expectations and instill in your mind that even if you are home, you can’t just slack around. You have to work just as hard as when you were in the office.

Plan A Schedule

Instead of leaving your calendar as a blank slate for organizations to fill out, plan out your schedule to support your job.

Remember that the biggest difference between working in the office and working from home is that you get to be in charge of how you manage your time and environment. This means you are accountable as well.

Before every weekend, dedicate time for jotting down reminders for the incoming week. By doing so, you will be able to know your responsibilities in advance. Trust us, you’ll meet the demands of projects even more.

Have A Designated Working Space

You may not realize it but the way your working space is set up can do wonders in effectively managing your time. It can impact your productivity levels as well.

For example, have a dedicated area around your house for work purposes. Don’t just sit in the kitchen table where the meals are laying around. In the same way, do not work in the living room where everyone can just come in, watch a movie, and distract you.

While it’s true that you don’t need to recreate a full-scale office, you must have a place where you can have complete focus. Moreover, clean your working space. No one wants to work in a cluttered desk as it hampers productivity. Doing all these can help you in achieve time management better by focusing mentally.

Avoid Social Media Distractions

Social media is a highly entertaining and informative platform. But, let’s admit it. It can be constantly distracting as well.

It’s so easy to pick up your phone and scroll through Instagram and Facebook every few minutes. Sure, it might not seem like it’s eating a huge chunk of your time. However, remote workers may find that social media is consuming their time unintentionally.

With this being said, it will be best to log out of social media accounts during working hours. If you find this hard, you can always try muting your notifications.

Set Boundaries

Now that the daily commute to and from the office is not needed, you might find it difficult to end your day properly. At home, you can easily access work applications and emails. To maintain a healthy work-life balance, remember to close all the work tabs at the end of working hours.

Turn off your laptop and store it properly in a place where you won’t get tempted to check every notification. If possible, set your status as “away” to avoid colleagues from reaching out to you outside working hours.

Communicate with Your Boss

When it comes to going fully remote, it is inevitable to experience bumps during the adjustment period. After all, everyone is truly becoming overwhelmed with the effects of the pandemic.

You have to juggle the work responsibilities along with the worries of rising new cases and keeping your loved ones safe from the threat of infection. The key to steering through their time management problems is communicating with your boss.

Letting them know what’s happening can help in managing expectations and coming up with a plan that’s best for you. Talk to team leaders you work with throughout the day as well. These are unprecedented times and flexible work arrangements can be done.

Key Takeaway

When it comes to time management techniques during the pandemic, follow the six tips we’ve stated above. These are unprecedented times and these efforts may just help in managing your time effectively at home.