By Sapphire Girod
Brand Experience Officer, Reputation Management
Unit Trust Corporation
UTC Tips to help you balance work-life @ home
1. Budget.
Economies globally are taking a financial hit because of the effects of the virus. Individually, households may also experience financial difficulties. Budget your funds to ensure that you have the essentials necessary during your stay at home. Avoid overspending on food, simple meals will do or dipping unnecessarily into your savings. Now may be a good time to make use of your emergency fund.
2. Plan ahead.
Having the entire family at home can be an unanticipated challenge. The kids may demand more time and money than expected and getting out of bed can feel optional. Neither of these will help your productivity. In planning ahead ask yourself, what space can I create for some quiet time to work at home? Do I need a headset to concentrate and to facilitate zoom calls? What activities can I prepare for the children to keep them occupied? Would I require a babysitter? Can my partner and I alternate time to look after the children or respond to emails?
3. Setup a schedule.
Discipline yourself by developing a routine. Schedule a time to wake up, shower, have breakfast, attend to the children, check your emails, have lunch, dinner, bed time and so forth. Ensure that family time is respected as well as work time.
4. Optimize your energy.
Sitting with your laptop at home all day can be draining mentally. Attending to chores at home can also be physically demanding. Get sufficient sleep at night, prepare healthier meals for consumption and try to avoid snacking which can leave you groggy, keep hydrated and find time to move around, do some stretches and keep the muscles active. Remember to have your fruits, Vitamin C and tonics.
5. Avoid Social Media Distractions.
Being at home in a more relaxed environment can be a temptation to spend more time browsing social media. This can be very time consuming. Although we want to keep abreast with the latest developments, it would require managing your time.
6. Develop new hobbies.
This may be a time to work on that garden or spend time reading with the children as you always wanted. Spending quality time with your family can be educational, do not view it as burden but as an opportunity to do things together.
7. Keep Positive.
It is not the ideal situation to face a global pandemic and be isolated at home. The information received may do more harm than good. Listen to positive music, tune in to an uplifting podcast or TED Talk. Make time for feeding your spiritual mind. Keep your mind focused on the positive things by recounting your blessings.
8. Communicate.
Talk to your Manager or partner about what sort of support you may need. Be realistic about what you do at home and what deadlines you can meet. Reach out for support if you feel overwhelmed. Know that we are in this together.
