Times are tough. COVID-19 is here. Everything is changing. Things will never be the same again.
Most of the working population is working from home right now and this is a massive change for most people. If you’ve never worked from home before, it is our natural inclination to set our expectations extremely high and produce, produce, produce, and sit in front of a computer for 12 hours a day, never taking breaks.
My advice to you is to STOP BEING PRODUCTIVE. SLOW DOWN. Realize that this is new and uncharted territory. I know this, because I’ve been struggling with this myself the last couple of weeks. If you try to work the way you normally do at home, you will find yourself frustrated and stressed. It will take a toll on you, your family AND your work. For me, it took watching a video produced by a friend with a similar message in order for me to wake up, embrace our new reality, and slow down.
Please lower your expectations. It’s okay to give yourself time to adjust to a completely new way of working. It’s okay to give yourself time to adjust to a real crisis and have worries and fears about the future. What is going on globally right now is not normal, and I truly believe the world is going to completely change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Don’t beat yourself up if you accidentally sleep in because you’re completely exhausted the night before or can’t focus because you have kids screaming in the background or dogs barking. It’s okay to give yourself time to adjust. Most veteran work-from-homers have concentrated hour or 2 hour work blocks and then take lots of breaks in between. Take breaks to play with your kids, walk your dog, write in your journal, or do whatever it takes to keep you sane. Employers, stop micromanaging your employees and give them room to breath and adjust. Be kind to them and be kind to yourself.
Remember, most of all, that everyone, everywhere in the world is GOING THROUGH THE EXACT SAME THING RIGHT NOW. We are all in this together!