I thought I’d write an article covering some thoughts on Coping With Lockdown – Working From Home (WFH) phenomenon, now that half the world is having to do it under Covid19 lockdown.
Everyone has different ways to work from home, I‘ve been doing it with occasional breaks since 2003, and have experienced and refined what works for me through practice and improving technology.
Where to Work
There are a lot of common issues people find when they start working from home. And a whole lot more people have suddenly started doing this in the last 6 weeks.
Finding the right work space can be difficult, particularly if you’re whole family is also at home! Try and find a distinct working ‘space’ – a dining room, spare bedroom, even a garden shed if its warm enough will do. Time to think without interruptions is key.
Where you work, make sure you are comfortable. Adjust your working position, seating angle and monitor angle to make sure you don’t start to get aches and pains after your work. I can highly recommend a standing desk if you have the space.
>> Also see our article on How to Kit out your Home Office
Technology
The main issues newly established homeworkers are facing are:
- Video-conferencing issues – e.g. being unable to enable video or sound during conference calls
- Working too much – working more hours than you would at the office
- Internet outages during the working day
- Interruptions – see ‘Where to work’ above
- Accessing company support – which is often overloaded itself
This video perfectly highlights the challenge of working from home with kids:
Mental Health
Working from home is very different when you know you can go out at any time. Take exercise, meet friends, go sit in Starbucks – its all just outside your door. But during this lockdown phase – none of those things are there. Many of us are also dealing with isolation. This can add huge pressures both physically, but more importantly mentally. We’re interactive creatures, and isolation can threaten our hierarchy of needs.
I wanted to highlight something Dr Libby Kemkaran is doing, which is a small daily 10minute ‘vlog’ pointing the camera at newborn kittens while talking to you about mindset, and pressures and how to understand them and equip yourself to deal with them.
Her ‘Tame Your Brain’ series is a great way to relax and take in this information (unless you hate watching kittens) and help you with coping with lockdown. There are some great comments from people resonating with the conditions without realising they were going through them. Check her YouTube series out.
This post was written by Rob Gordon, an IT geek, gadget lover and blogger. Rob has been using the internets since 1994 when the only streaming video was that coffee pot in Cambridge (rip)….
Follow Rob on Twitter – @robgordon – about.me/robgordonuk
