The world has adjusted to the new normal with the spread of the novel coronavirus. There are restrictions imposed on traveling, and people are quarantined in their homes to contain the spread of the virus.Work from home becomes a new trend in this pandemic, which has taken a toll on our productivity and health. Anxiety and stress have become common issues due to minimum or zero social interaction. You are confined within the walls of your home and can’t go out to do gym or exercise.

It is very important to take care of your physical and emotional health at home. There are a lot of ways to keep yourself fit while staying at home. 

Let’s dive into that!

Find out the ways below to ensure your mental and physical health in a good state.

Healthy routine for Work from Home

Exercise Daily:Exercise is an intrinsic part of staying healthy during these stressful times. This doesn't mean that you need to do a full-body workout every day to see the results. You can do Yoga at home and keep your body & mind in balance, or you can go outside for a walk in nature, taking care of social distancing guidelines. These activities will not only keep you physically fit but also rejuvenate your mind. With the help of fitness apps, you can set your exercise routine and take advantage of exercise programs.

Meditate to relieve stress:Get up early in the morning, find a quiet place and sit for 10 minutes just focusing on your breath. Thoughts in your mind might come and go, don't think about them, but try to relax in those peaceful moments. Scientists believe that meditation has some magical benefits to humans as it can reduce stress, anxiety and improve your sleep. Meditation brings peace to your life, enhances your problem-solving skills, and makes you more patient.

Sleep well to relax:When you miss your usual healthy sleep, you feel drowsy the next day, less motivated, lethargic, unproductive, etc. So, it is important to have at least 8 hours of sleep to keep you active and productive the day ahead. Before going to bed, try to unclutter your mind, meditate for 10 minutes, clean your space, and avoid using your phone. When you areworking from home, you can get a sound sleep because you do not have to wake up early to commute to your office. A good night's sleep boosts your mood and keeps you active all day.
 

Eat right:Your diet has a direct impact on your physical and mental health. Staying indoors provides you a golden chance to follow your diet regime, which you were not following before because your favorite restaurants and bars in the city were open. During Covid-19, it becomes ultra-important to have a diet that boosts your immune system.  Eat a lot of green vegetables, whole-grain food, and reduce the intake of processed food. 
 

5 Tips To Stay Productive while working from home

Work from homeseems to be a fascinating option to most of us as it provides ample time to connect with our family, exercise, sleep, and meditate. But, working remotely is not easy as it requires a lot of focus to be productive. People who love socializing and interacting with people in the office find this new way of working a big challenge. 

So, what can you do to stay focussed and remain mentally fit while working remotely? 

Let’s find out!

Find a Comfortable Space: Whileworking from home, you ought to find a dedicated space, which is quiet and comfortable. The place where you can focus and work without any hindrance. Try not to sit in your bed or sofa because you’ll find yourself sleepy after some point in time. Get a table to keep your laptop and sit erect to maintain focus. Keep a water bottle beside to stay hydrated and take frequent breaks. 

Find a Friend:You find it easy to concentrate on your work when there is no one around, no office colleagues who disturb you by their constant chattering. But, after a point in time, you feel  isolated, and you are going to miss your office buddies to discuss work and life. 

Experts suggested that while working remotely, you should have a buddy with whom you can chat and share your experience. You can also find a friend who works in some other organization and is going through the same experience. 

Create a Plan:When you are at home and working from there, you ought to be more organized and have a structured plan. Because it is not easy to work in solitude and maintain constant concentration. Create a list of to-do things and set your priorities. Don't sit for a long time at one place and try to take frequent breaks to eradicate the monotony. Go for a walk or listen to music during those breaks.

Use Other Communication Channels:It is essential to use more than one channel of communication to interact with your co-workers. You can’t only be dependent on emails; you have to use other digital tools to communicate faster. 

It is very important to have daily stand-up meetings via Zoom or Google Meet with a team so they can share their work progress and issues they’re facing whileworking from home. 

The screen-sharing option presents your laptop/desktop screen to your team members, where you can make them understand a particular topic more clearly. With slack, you can connect more professionally with your co-workers. 

Better communication with your teammates and managers can boost your productivity. It gives them a chance to share their viewpoints/opinions about a particular project and brings them all on the same page.

Everyone likes to work differently:People in authority should understand that not everyone wants to work from home, so bosses should communicate with those employees as much as possible. It is important to know how well they are adopting this new change and what problems they are facing due to this. Be  empathetic towards your employees during these stressful times.

How to reduce stress during Covid-19

Anxiety and stress are the common mental health problems people are experiencing in Covid. As our daily routine and working style have changed, some people find it difficult to cope, which creates panic in their lives. During the pandemic, people have lost their jobs, loved ones, and some are fighting for their lives in hospitals. These kinds of situations are one of the biggest causes of mental-health related issues. 

Therefore, it has become ultra-important to keep our body and mind in balance. Below are the few tips to stay mentally healthy during these uncertain times. 

Have a look!

Consume less News:It is important to keep yourself updated with what’s happening around, but to a certain extent. Watching News like people dying in hospitals, bodies piled up in the crematoriums, lack of oxygen cylinders, ventilators, all these kinds of updates create a horrific effect on minds. So, limit your News intake. 

Use Social Media to connect with friends:People are spending most of their time in isolation during pandemic. Social media is connecting people to their loved ones via Facebook, Instagram, etc. Video chats help people to engage in face-to-face conversation and stay connected with each other. But, excessive usage of social media can deteriorate your mental health, so use it wisely.

You can also Automate your social media for publishing engaging posts on all your social media channels. With effectivesocial media tools,you can make your brand’s presence stronger online. 

So, UseRannklyto schedule and post various social media  campaigns. You can also strengthen your brand’s online reputation using its exciting features.

Accept your anxious feelings:It is okay to respond to new and uncertain situations with feelings of anxiety, depression, and sadness. What can you do when you’ve those feelings? Acknowledge how you feel, take a few deep breaths, and identify the cause of your panic attack.  It can be anything like will I be able to complete my assignment on deadline?  Get to the root cause and make an action plan to deal with the critical situations.

Be active:Do not remain at one place when you’re feeling anxious or low. Try to engage in some activity and divert your attention. You can go for a walk with your dog and enjoy some time in nature. You can also give a call to your friends/family and share how you’re feeling. Pick up your favorite hobby--- it can be dancing, writing, painting, etc., and give it your undiverted attention. 

Self-Care is Important:Take care of yourself during these stressful times. Allow yourself to relax and rejuvenate to avoid stress and worry. You can do the following activities to lead a happy and balanced life.

• Go for a walk
• Do breathing exercises
• Take a balanced diet
• Read books
• Drink water
• Exercise regularly
• Watch your favorite movie/series
• Give time to your hobby

Take professional help:It is okay to talk to a professional if stress and anxiety are interfering with your daily life. Mental health professionals motivate you and suggest effective ways to manage your stress. Just share your feelings with an expert without feeling ashamed. 

Advantages and disadvantages of Work from home

Work from home has its pros and cons, which you can understand only by having the experience of working remotely.

Let’s dig deeper!

Advantages of work from home

Enhanced productivity:Experts found that employees who work from home are more productive. Because at home, there are fewer distractions as compared to the office space. They find a peaceful environment at home and can do more work without getting distracted. 

Cost-effective:Being a business owner, you must have experienced one of the greatest benefits of work from home--- Your business no longer has to pay the rent of office space and electricity bills. 

On the other hand, employees don't need to report from the office space, which eliminates the traveling costs from their expenditure list.

Spend more time with your loved ones:As you don’t need to commute to the office, you get quality time to spend with your family. Get up early and play with your kids in the park or cook your favorite meal for them.

Environment-friendly:Environmentalists have reported a significant drop in air pollution because employees are not commuting to their offices. Reportedly, during the first phase of Lockdown in the UK, the levels of nitrogen dioxide on London’s roads were reduced by 31%.

Power Nap:Manage your lunch break and try to take a powerful nap of 20 minutes at home. This will boost your creativity and reduce your stress levels. Your productivity will be enhanced and you start to enjoy your work after a short nap.

Disadvantages of Work from home  

Teamwork gets reduced:As employees are working in solitude at home, which results in less communication between the team members. Except for the daily stand up meetings, there are no face to face conversations that create a huge gap between the employees.

Difficult to evaluate performance:Managers find it difficult to monitor the employees’ progress and performance because they are not physically present at the workplace. Frequent calls via Zoom or phone can’t solve this problem because these calls consume a lot of time and decrease productivity.

You have to do more work:If you complete your 8-9 hours of office shift while working from home, it doesn’t mean you’re free. Anytime your immediate supervisor can give you the task, and you can’t say No.

Hard to fix IT issues:It is difficult to fix the technical and software issues at home without the support of the IT department. Over a call, it becomes harder to understand the steps of solving a particular problem. 

Work from home becomes the reality as nobody knows what uncertainty like Covid can hit the world again. So, you need to adjust to this new working trend and take care of your health. Create a healthy routine and follow it religiously to experience its effects. Working remotely can become monotonous, so you ought to create your coping mechanism. Do not take your physical and emotional health for granted while staying at home. Try to talk with someone you trust if you feel anxious during these uncertain times. 

If you want to share your experience while working from home, please write to us.