Productive In The Home Office 8211 Psychological Aspects 038 Tips

In addition to my work as an HR manager at e-dialog, I have 10 years of experience in the field of crisis intervention. I am currently providing voluntary psychosocial support for various crisis teams.  The well-being of e-dialog employees is particularly important to me, especially in situations like this. That’s why today I would like to share with you a few tips from my experience to make everyday life, which is unusual for all of us, a little easier.

Define your regular daily routine

Home office is a well-known and practiced practice in many companies. But the current circumstances are taking us out of our usual daily routine, which is causing us problems. Regular fitness visits are now not possible, or the after-work drink with colleagues is no longer possible. Or maybe it’s the children who appear in the background during a remote meeting, or we suddenly have to share a study room with our partner. So that we can increase our concentration again and work productively, we need a regular day. A structured agenda gives the day a reliability and predictability.

In times of uncertainty, it is routine that gives us a feeling of security and ensures stability. During such times, our brain often has difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy, between reality and imagination.  Is what we are currently experiencing reality, or just an invention of our minds? We can currently benefit greatly from this mechanism. We should use all our imagination to bring everyday office life home and thus maintain our usual processes as best as possible. The existing IT infrastructure and advanced technologies support us in continuing our work routine. We can continue to coordinate with our teammates on a daily basis or even have lunch together via video conference so that social exchange is not completely neglected. We ate-dialoguetry it every day with great success.

Set rules

Each of us has heard the recommendation that we have to separate professional from private life. Now things can get tight within your own four walls and demarcation can become increasingly difficult. Therefore, we need a commitment to ourselves and to our family members, roommates or partners. A kind of verbal contract in which we define the tasks of each individual and take responsibility for them. This can include, for example, playing with the children, household chores, personal activities, food provision, etc. The clear distribution of tasks and good time management play an essential role in reducing our stress and keeping us focused.

Proper communication between teammates is now more important than ever. Here too, tasks need to be defined, explained or delegated more precisely. It also helps to introduce short feedback loops in order to continuously adapt and improve work processes and discover untapped potential. Maybe one or two points can even be taken into everyday work later.

Coping strategies

We are particularly challenged at the moment and so it can be that we catch ourselves in a kind of thought carousel that is spinning faster and faster. In order to better deal with our reactions, to weaken them or to stop them completely, the following tips will help:

Move if at all possible

And no, that’s not a joke! Even under these circumstances, exercise can be incorporated into our limited everyday lives. Online workouts, walks in compliance with the measures introduced are options that each of us could try. Important: Regardless of whether it is the yoga online course or another sport, we need at least ½ liter of water afterwards. The movement and fluids stimulate the metabolism and the body eliminates excess stress hormones as quickly as possible. Physical activities help us to establish a sustainable work-life balance even under these circumstances.

Eat

If you don’t feel hungry, this is most likely due to an increased adrenaline level in the blood, which causes your stomach to contract. It helps if you eat a small bite, set an alarm for 30 minutes or ask someone to remind you and eat a small bite again. After you have done this 3 to 5 times at the most, you will feel hungry again and be able to eat normally. But it may also be that you need better time management so that you don’t miss your regular meals.

Don’t drink more alcohol than usual

Alcohol shortens the dream phases of your sleep and therefore increases the time you need to recover. The less alcohol you drink, the faster you will recover. Your own discipline when working from home is particularly important because we have to continue to stick to our working hours and make sure not to extend work into the late hours of the night, otherwise the necessary rest will be neglected.

Oversupply

Abraham Maslow describes human beings in a simple way in his famous Maslow’s PyramidneedsandMotivations(in a hierarchical structure) and tries to explain it.

In the current situation, we as humans are increasingly concerned with our basic needs, as we feel threatened by the current situation in terms of satisfying our physiological needs. We feel an increased urge to counteract this threat by tending to an oversupply of food or various household items. This is a normal reaction with which we believe we can secure subjective control over the situation, at least in the short term. It serves as a defense mechanism that allows us to maintain the comfortable everyday life we ​​have just been torn from. Normally we are used to having a variety of items and products, which gives us a feeling of calm and security. If these things are not available, it is a signal to us that something is wrong, something is unusual. This could cause us fears. Therefore, we try to restore our routine and get a feeling of security through overconsumption. However, it is now advisable to carry out a rational assessment and consider what we can really do without in order to be able to reduce our overconsumption in the long term after the crisis and thus use resources sparingly. For our everyday home office life, it means thinking about what we actually need to ensure normal operations.

information

We live in an age where we can obtain information at any time through a variety of channels. Being well informed means being able to take responsibility and show commitment. It is particularly important to pay attention to the reliability of the source because the information we receive has a strong influence on our thoughts and actions. In the home office, we only sit in front of the PC and are often tempted to quickly check the latest news, especially when our cell phone with the latest push notifications is next to us. This leads to continuous distraction and in the long run can turn into a time waster and affect the quality of work. For this reason, it is recommended that we set specific times for providing information and then stick to them. This approach would lead to better information andPsychohygienecontribute, which has a positive impact on our general well-being and productivity.

Relaxation techniques

At the end of the day, even though we “sat at home” all day, we still feel tired and exhausted. It makes sense to use various relaxation techniques. Meditation or a breathing technique, as well as autogenic training and progressive muscle relaxation form part of the range of options with which we can relax not only at the end of the day, but also in between. We can find numerous introductions or online tutorials on the Internet, or perhaps we have someone we know who practices this themselves and can give helpful tips. But relaxation can also simply mean being there for each other or having an open ear. Take the time to do this and plan enough breaks for time out and personal exchange, because only together and supporting each other will we overcome this extraordinary challenge!