There might be a pandemic sweeping the world, but you still need to maintain employment and get paid. COVID-19, commonly just called the Coronavirus, has hit the world hard and fast. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially declared the spread of this virus a pandemic and that has governments around the world scrambling.
Tens of thousands of people have been infected while several thousand have died. In an effort to contain the spread and reduce casualties serious measures are being put into place. Numerous countries have shut down restaurants, fitness centers, places of worship as well as set curfews and banned large gatherings. The seriousness of the situation has also lead many companies to allow their employees to work from home.
Staying home is extremely important as it helps prevent the spread of the disease. While the idea of working from home seems like a novel one for people that don't normally do so, it can be difficult. If you have never done this before, you are probably going to have a difficult time adopting this working method, but with a few tips and tricks, you can succeed. We've put together a list of how you can maintain employment while working at home by keeping these five tips in mind.
Maintain Employment By Taking It Seriously
You must work at home as if you were still at the office. The first thing you should do is to create a temporary office space in your home, which is quiet and inaccessible to everyone. Let people in the house know and understand that you are working and must not be disturbed. Of course, you shall be coming out for breaks, but when you are in the home office, ensure that your concentration is 100% on the job, and do everything that needs to be done for that day.
Avoid Distractions
Keep distractions to a minimum, and do not allow your neighbors, friends, and family to just stop by as they wish. They must acknowledge that you are working and on office hours, and they are not allowed to just stop by. Maybe you may need to learn how to do this politely so they do not take offense. Telling them things such as “Please don’t visit me right now, as I have an urgent deadline for work,” or “Yes, I am home but just a little bit tied up to receive a visitor,” can help you keep them at bay. This is the hardest thing to do when you start working at home.
Constantly Communicate with Your Supervisors
Ensure to keep the conversation going with your immediate bosses, and update them constantly on the progress you are making at home. This keeps them informed on how you are doing, and it also reassures them that you are working even though you are at home.
Employers may think that since you are at home, you are just relaxing and watching movies, and therefore constant communication reassures them of your hard work. Come up with daily tasks and expectations for the job you are doing, and give them updates constantly, even hourly. If you can give them a face-to-face call, this would even be better.
Don't Let Yourself Feel Mentally Isolated
The transition from working in the office to working from home can leave you feeling isolated and alone. It also takes some effort and determination to get accustomed to the new work environment, and especially if you live alone, and have been enjoying the comraderies in the office, this can be really awful for you.
So, you have to look for ideas on how to feel like part of a team, such as calling a few of your office mates over to your house and setting up a “mini” office right there in your home, or setting up some group activities that you can all work on together on the internet. Make use of video calls and call conferencing so you can feel like you are surrounded by people.
Keep Energized
Don’t oversleep, don’t take long breaks and do not decide to watch a movie during a break. This will make you feel a little lazy and unmotivated. Working from home requires you to keep your spirits up. Do not allow the surroundings to influence your energy levels and desire to do your job. You can get a ton done while you're at home since you don't have the commute and all the other stuff that goes with traveling to work. In fact, you can pick up a gig on the side if you want.
Conclusion
What you need to know is that there are plenty of people that have been working from home and have been able to maintain employment successfully. Come up with a schedule and a target to achieve each day, so you can have a point of reference for your work. It’s very easy to get derailed and lose focus when you are at home and end up not accomplishing a single thing. This will cause you to lose your job, so, to maintain employment during an international pandemic, follow the points we have pointed out above.
