Getting A Grip On The Lockdown - Boosting Productivity

Posted on 30th Apr, 2020

While social distancing and isolation brings about trying times for us all, with human beings well known for being social animals; there is little reason for lockdown to negatively affect our productivity. While managing time between family and work, most of us have seen so far, can be notoriously difficult, here are some tips to help boost our productivity on both fronts:

• Set up a place to work from:
  • For the days we’re confined to lockdown, it is essential for each working person to identify a place within the house which will be exclusively used to work at
  • In identifying such a place, one must try to avoid any area where one would typically relax - e.g., the bed, the lounger etc.
  • The work place must be set up where one feels comfortable, and can concentrate
  • Other members of the household ought to be informed of this spot being designated as a workspace, and encouraged to keep interruptions to a minimum, when one is seated here
• Put away the pajamas:
  • In the hours you are expected to work, cue your brain of the same too!
  • Shower and get dressed the way you usually would while getting to office - use that lipstick, spritz on your favorite workday perfume, wear a tie if that’s what you’d do at office!
• Create plans and fill in your calendar/organizer:
  • Create a plan of action for each day - maintain separate entries for professional and personal plans, and set targets for what has to be completed each day
  • Prioritize activities and task you have identified for the day, and organize yourself to work through them all
• Reach out and communicate:
  • Its easy to feel you’re all alone, if you don’t connect with others at work, and among your friends and extended family
  • At work, a sense of disconnect may leave you feeling negative, giving rise to thoughts like:
    • you're the one managing everything while others do nothing, or,
    • what you're doing isn't all that important, and hence, it's okay to not do it
  • Reach out to colleagues and friends - you may not be the only one experiencing these thoughts lashing through your mind. Working it out together, can be helpful.
  • Connecting with family and friends helps ensure that not only you, but others don't feel alone in these stressful times, and that any help, if needed can be arranged for
• Plan for breaks:
  • Make sure you include a plan for you to take rest-breaks, tend to needs of your family, to socialize
  • It can be easy to use work as an excuse not to pitch in with household chores - this is not okay either. With house-help, and those offering assorted services like home-delivery, laundry etc. being affected by lockdown, every member of the household - whether employed or not, ought to contribute to the home too
  • Set a time to get back to work! - Household chores can be a convenient excuse to hideout from work too. Define times for completing tasks (particularly if undertaken during work hours), and make sure you're back in your workspace at the designated time
• Design transition rituals for yourself:
  • Transitioning out of the work mode is as important as transitioning in, one undertakes at the beginning of work hours
  • One must create a practice which helps the mind switch gears from work to home mode
  • This could include actions like:
    • Tidying up the workspace
    • Clearing the inbox
    • Making up a to-do list for the next day
    • Taking a shower
    • Changing in to comfortable clothing like pajamas
    • Exercise
    • Meditation
• Learn to disconnect:
  • It's important for every individual to take some time to themselves too
  • Unplugging the internet at home, might not be the easiest thing one can do - while it is the best way to disengage from work, during personal time
  • During weekends, or after work hours, disconnecting from the demands of work, is essential to keep anyone going through daily routine of work, and ensure one does not reach saturation and/or frustration
  • If disconnecting from work is found difficult, one can create accountability for themselves, by for instance, setting up a virtual play-time with friends or committing to an activity with members of the household at a specific time post work, which one is then bound to attend
• Stay positive, and spread positivity:
  • Focusing on the here and now, and what one can accomplish, rather than ruminating on what cannot be done in these time
  • Celebrate!
    • Birthdays, anniversaries - Celebrate virtually, through the plethora audio-visual communication applications
    • Small achievements - Learnt to cook? Shopped for your own groceries for the first time? Did your first session of yoga ever? - Pat yourself on the back
    • Look for reasons and ways to celebrate the good things
  • Offer your time, ear (virtually, of course), and wisdom to help near and dear ones through their own insecurities and challenges during this time
  • A positive expression in itself has the power to communicate to your brain, and to the brains of those seeing it, that things are and will be fine