The advent of the coronavirus pandemic has brought with it the new normal, as nations try to contain and curb the spread of the novel disease.
Lockdowns have been put in place, social distancing encouraged, and most importantly, those who can work from home have been urged to do so.
Working from home has brought about many benefits for both the employer who could forego certain costs like overheads or canteen costs, or loss of production due to traffic jam delays.
For the employee, they need not to worry about traffic jams, spending time in fuel queues and any other expenses associated with having to travel to and from the office.
Most importantly, the work from home phenomenon has helped in reducing the chances for one to spread the virus to workmates.
However, this has come with its own challenges too.
Daniel Changwa, has just found the going tough; “It is a tall for me, working from home. I had to fight running battles with my children, who demand my attention,” he says.
Changwa adds that, his children are so excited seeing him home for the rest of the day and as such they would want him to play soccer with them.
Not only the children, his relatives and friends are calling on him frequently and at times he is forced to give them audience.
Apparently, a number of those who are not used to working from home, have found themselves in Changwa’s shoes.
Meanwhile, according to life coaches, proper planning have to be done in order to avoid the disappointments brought about by the distractions when working from home.
Conscious Leadership Coach, Barbara Mutedzi says it is true that working from home has its own distractions.
She adds that there is bound to be noise, there is bound to be people stepping on each other’s toes; there are bound to be incidents that need your attention more often that when you were working from the office.
She maintains that these problems can be overcome through perfect planning and prioritising one’s work.
For example, she says waking up in the mornings and have a family meeting on what the day or the week is going to look like.
She goes on to say plan your work time, with the kids, and break for tea and lunch at the same time.
“They are part of the household. No cutting of the grass, or noisy cleaning around the house when you are working.
“There are other duties they can do during your busy times and or when you are on a work call. It’s unprofessional to take a work call when there is noise in the background that can be avoided,” she says.
Mutedzi adds that having a designated work space is important to re-create the idea that you are going to start work.
She says in the end, everybody want to be happy.
“We all want to be productive toward the things that we are engaged with at personal, professional and business level. What is the best thing you can do right now, with the resources that you do have? Have a diary and a journal. Put together a schedule. Find ways to make your environment, workable. Make sure everyone at home is on some sort of schedule,” she says.
According to her it is always important to notify others of when you would be free, take breaks, exercise and to practice one’s spiritual practice.
She advises; “Be available for you and what you need so that you can serve and lead others better. Reach out to those who can help.”
Forbes magazine says some have found the benefits of working from home and may love to continue that way.
“There are surveys that claim that half of Americans would prefer to continue working from home for the rest of their lives.
“Germany wants to enshrine the right to work from home in labour law, and is an interesting way of learning from an exceptional situation,” notes Forbes.
