Work from home? 6 basic tips to adapt

"Improvising is fun, but I keep the well-being, the balance and the freedom that the organization gives me."

It is a phrase with which I end my workshops and talks on organization, and I believe that these days it is key.

The word "fun" is not exactly appropriate this time. The improvisation to which we have been subjected both personally and at work due to this virus is not fun. Other adjectives such as chaotic, stressful, worrying, surreal, but not funny can be used.

The good news is that we are going to discover new ways of working, new challenges, new opportunities to do things that, due to the continuous movement of day to day, we never have the time or opportunity to do. Because there is always something to do.

Well yes, those things are going to be left out and we have no choice but to live with our family and in our home 24 hours a day. Mixing family and work.

And to be able to carry all this in the best possible way, it is essential the organization. There is no room for improvisation here, unless it is to improvise a game or a family activity. For the rest we need organization both personally and at work.

I am one of those "lucky" people who work from home, so this situation does not produce any change at work level. And precisely because I am used to this type of life, I want to contribute my grain of sand with habits and ideas that serve me every day, and that if you do not work at home, you do not even consider them.

I hope my ideas serve you both personally and professionally..

• Personal habits
• Try to be everything the most neat and collected possible, but, as my friend Ana Samper would say, don't be afraid of disorder.

As more people are at home for more hours than usual, it is inevitable that it will cost more to have everything in order, but with a little discipline, and routines of each one picking up their own, it will not get out of hand..

There are a couple of details that serve me every day, and it gives me a sense of order, so that it does not seem that everything is a disaster when the weekend arrives and we all relax a little.

• Make the beds
• Take things out of the dishwasher first thing in the morning (we always put it at night)

And now I am going to explain each of the 6 points that I consider essential for these days.

1. Don't work in your pajamas

You will have already heard it but I will repeat it. Don't work in your pajamas. I know it's tempting, you don't have to go out to work, nobody sees you, I stay in my pajamas. Error.

Your mind has to associate that you are going to start the activity at your usual time, that you are going to wash and dress in a normal way so that your brain activates. If you don't do it like that and stay in your pajamas all day, your mind will relax, you won't move forward and it will be even more chaotic than this situation already implies..

Maybe the first day you want to do it, or some day off. Getting up without having to go anywhere, having a coffee next to the computer and playing music can be very pleasant and satisfying. But don't take it as usual, it won't turn out right.

2. Workplace at home

This is the hardest part many times. If you are not used to working at home, you do not have "your place". Well, it is a good time to find a hole, devise a corner, your corner.

A table that you have not used for a long time and that you have found a space in a place in your room or in the dining room, the terrace, a corner of the kitchen, perhaps the children can make a space for you on their desk. Take it with enthusiasm, like a new stage, an opportunity to learn a new way of working.

3. Plan meals and grocery list

In many houses, especially if there are children and they stay in the school cafeteria, the daily menu is not too much of a problem, because adult meals are improvised or we eat anything, or we eat in a cafeteria.

You just have to think normally about dinners. But now, we need to eat, have lunch, have a snack, have dinner, and it is not going to be possible to go shopping so lightly, or at least it is not convenient.

So it is essential, and it will take away a lot of headaches, to make a weekly menu for make a shopping list that suits your needs and do not go overboard in buying unnecessary things that end the supply of supermarkets, as we have seen these days in many places.

4. Learn to know the time that tasks occupy you

Surely you do not stop in your day to day to control how much your tasks, both work and personal, occupy you.

For example, you don't pay attention to how long it takes to pick up the dishwasher, or to pick up the clothes from the clothesline, or in the workplace, how long it takes to write a report, create an invoice, send an email, answer a call ... Well, so that you can combine both things, it is important that you pay attention.

From the moment you get up in the morning until you go to your work place (dining room table, the terrace of your house) we have said that you start the day by organizing the house a little, cleaning yourself ... why is it important to do this?

When you go to work normally, we do not give much importance to how the house is left. You take the children to school, you go to work, and when you return, God will say, I'll pick up quietly.

But if you are not going anywhere, you are going to live with your house, rather, live with your house 24 hours a day and it is necessary that you see it collected, or what for you means collection, so that you are not seeing excessive clutter while you work. Since it is going to make you uneasy.

So if you know how long the tasks that are basic for you take up to feel that you have everything under control (for example in my case it would be a dishwasher, a kitchen set up, a set dining room and beds), you will know how long in advance you have to get up to that your work schedule is as normalized as possible.

5. Get some exercise

These days there are videos that highlight the Spanish humor in any situation, no matter how hard it may be, and the videos of playing sports walking the corridors of the houses, or going around the dining rooms are quite typical.

But they are not very far from the recommendations that are made. And it is that in a small safe space that we can do some exercise to clear the mind and that it is better to spend so many hours at home.

For me the best, dancing like crazy to the song that you like the most, and if it can be with the family, much better..

6. Equipment management control

You will no longer be together in an office, you can no longer communicate with a simple word, you have to use effective communication methods. What does this mean? That you are clear about what your communication method is going to be. Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack, mail, telephone ...

In any case, something that you all pay attention to at the same time of the messages that are received, so that everyone has the peace of mind that if, for example, you make a WhatsApp group, the messages that are put will be seen by all of immediately or at least in a short period of time (in this case, for example, the most appropriate would be to use WhatsApp Web on the computer, it is much more agile than on the mobile). responsibility.

Cloud tools

If you haven't done it until now, use cloud tools. For example, use Drive to have important files shared. In this case, the ideal is to have prepared a Drive shared with everyone on the team, with folders classified according to the nature of the documents or according to the department, so that everyone can access from anywhere.

You are not going to suddenly upload everything to the cloud, but surely you always use the same documents (budget templates, invoices, advertising to clients, accounting excel ...)

It will help you to sort and classify the most important files you have. It is like cleaning the storage room of your house, if you look closely, you will see what is really important.

Process monitoring

A tool of process monitoring In order to know where the tasks are, it will also be essential so that everyone knows where the tasks are, without having to ask for messages or phone calls at all times. There are many in this sense like Asana, but in my day to day, my star tool is Trello.

Meetings

With these process tracking tools, meetings they will be limited and they will be able to be done virtually and they will surely be much more productive.

You can use Skype, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. The latter has a limit of 40 minutes for meetings of 3 or more people with its free Basic Plan, something that is not bad so you know that the meeting time will not exceed 40 minutes.

Another application that works very well, free and for videoconferencing with several people is Jitsi Meet, and without minute limits. You can share screen, youtube videos or do Video Streaming.

The changes bring us new learnings and reflections. And the secret to overcoming all this is the ability that human beings have to adapt..

With a little help, collaboration, discipline and responsibility, everything goes ahead.