Covid-19 is obviously the \u201chot potato\u201d among the most highlighted topics globally due to its range, scale, and severity of impact. Without a doubt, the pandemic has caused numerous downside effects and disruption to everyone\u2019s daily routine, regardless their nationality, status, and profession. Working remotely or working from home (WFH) is one of the noticeable effects caused by Covid-19 and it is triggering a controversial discussion on whether if this is an efficient working method. Personally speaking, after more than two months of working intensively from my \u201chome office\u201d, I have definitely seen both the pretty and ugly faces of this practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pretty thing that can firstly be spotted from WFH is definitely the travel time cut-down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During this\ntime, I don\u2019t need to get up super early to get ready for school or work.\nEspecially, it saves me more than 1,5 hours per day commuting back and forth\nbetween my apartment and Hanken, which is a very big deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plus, I\nreceived an offer to a part-time consulting project and a full-time summer\ntraineeship at UPM. In the normal case, I must decide which one should I let go\nand which to stick around. However, under the circumstance of Covid-19, I only\nneed to wisely divide my time schedule so that the work-study-life balance\ncombo will be maintained. Eventually, I can also work double jobs and study at\nthe same time without having to drop anything even though the workload is super\ncrazy for me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the ugly side of things, concentration is undoubtedly the ultimate enemy of WFH. Although I have an awfully load of work burdening my shoulders, it is quite challenging for me to keep my head on the ground and focus on my work. Distraction comes from all directions such as social media, Youtube, online shopping, bed (obviously) and whatever you name it which seriously undermine my productivity and efficiency. Longer working days is inevitably as the result of the two untamed beasts named \u201cDistraction\u201d and \u201cBad time management\u201d. Furthermore, without any face-to-face communication and interaction, it became a nightmare to seek for help in case of emergency, regardless the nature of the problem (whether if it\u2019s work or study-related).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, learning from both good and bad experiences mentioned above, I would like to share with you some pro-tips that I\u2019ve found particularly and (partially) helpful for me to stay positive and effective during this period:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Train\nyour thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Eckhard Tolle simply put it: \u201cThe primary\ncause of happiness is never the situation, but your thoughts about it. Be aware\nof the thoughts you are thinking\u201d. Try to focus your thoughts and energy on the\nbrighter side of any events that occurred throughout the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Set up a\nfeasible and reasonable working timetable with mini goals along the day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This might sound like an absurdly obvious and non-special method, but I bet not many people do it anyway. Nevertheless, it\u2019s absolutely crucial. Even if you won\u2019t be able to cross every goal that you\u2019ve set earlier off your to-do list and follow your timetable in a strict manner. But at least, at the end of the day, you\u2019ll realize what you\u2019ve missed and need to be done in the following day and more importantly, how did you let that goal slip. A small self-reflection will naturally occur as a side effect of this activity, which is super good sign for incremental self-improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Take a\nlook at applications that can assist your working and boost up your brain\nactivity level<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try, for example, <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Pomodoro app that enhances your concentration\nby setting up reasonable work-break interval (25 minutes of working will be\nrewarded by 5 minutes of break; after 4 mini-breaks you\u2019ll get a long 15\nminutes break). Believe me or not, this mechanism is incredibly helpful for\nyour productivity and working efficiency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Brain boost applications that keep your brain going and trained throughout the day with quick, mini-puzzles such as Elevate, Peak, or Math Riddle (this one is a bit heavy on Math problems if you\u2019re into it like me).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
– Listen to concentration, deep focus music to\nget your mind focused on the task you\u2019re executing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Set up a\n\u201cLove yourself\u201d including: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope that this blog will be relatable to you in some ways and be useful for your WFH routine. Now, enjoy the lovely sunny summer. A truly \u201cthank you\u201d for having spent time on this little blog post of mine \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Covid-19 is obviously the \u201chot potato\u201d among the most highlighted topics globally due to its range, scale, and severity of impact. Without a doubt, the pandemic has caused numerous downside effects and disruption to everyone\u2019s daily routine, regardless their nationality, status, and profession. Working remotely or working from home (WFH) is one of the noticeable … <\/p>\n