What Coronavirus Has Taught Us About the Importance of Digital Productivity
Companies all around the world are taking steps to prevent the spread of coronavirus, with many asking their employees to work from home – Zehnder included.
Of course, not everyone has this privilege. But for those who do, it opens up a completely new way of working in order to help #flattenthecurve.
Working from home has plenty of advantages (an extra hour in bed, homemade breakfast, etc.) but can also be filled with productivity challenges. In this article, we’ll discuss some ways to ensure you stay productive while you’re stuck in the house!
Communication Is Key
Above all else, communication with your team is key. At Zehnder we use Slack as our central messaging platform in order to stay up to speed with our client and department teams. This ensures that everyone is on the same page about tasks at hand, without having to send hundreds of emails.
For team “stand-ups” or internal client team meetings, we take advantage of Slack’s group phone conferencing features, as well as the video conferencing features. For external calls, we use platforms like Skype for Business. It’s nice to have face-to-face human interaction every now and then, and video conferencing helps ensure that everyone is engaged during meetings.
Make time to have social chats and “water cooler” moments with team members throughout the day. Send each other GIFs or funny videos. Everybody is in the same boat, and those small laugh breaks go a long way!
Use Cloud-based storage services like Google Drive and Dropbox to store and send files to clients and team members. This makes file sharing easy, without things getting lost in email. With Google Drive, you can also create editable documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more, so the need to send files and back and forth via email vanishes.
Structuring Your Day
We live in an era of multitasking. You check emails on one device while listening to music on another, periodically checking the news on another device. Now more than ever, time management is essential to ensure you get all tasks done in a timely manner.
When working from home, be sure to set clear working hours and to stick to them. Setting a schedule gives you a sense of urgency and control, and helps to add structure to your day. Of course, some people are “on call” and working as crisis communications professionals right now. If that’s the case, be sure your schedule reflects that. Take longer breaks throughout the day to make up for being on call. And be sure you're sleeping adequate amounts each night.
If you’re not a “to-do list” maker, now is the perfect time to pick up that habit! Creating to-do lists and physically writing out notes throughout the day will help your task feel more legitimate.
Speaking of structure, create a dedicated “Work From Home” station within your home. As tempting as it may be to work on your comfy sofa or bed all day, you’ll feel more productive at a table near a window or in your home office. If you have a backyard, sitting outdoors is also a great mood booster!
Stay Active, Even While Indoors
Without a reason to get up and out of the house, staying active may evade you. Luckily, platforms like YouTube have a wide variety of at-home workouts that you can do to release those endorphins. Some of our favorites include Yoga with Adrienne and PopSugar Fitness. The super-popular Peloton, is currently offering a 90-days free trial on its app, which can be used with any bike or treadmill, and include floor workouts, yoga and meditation classes.
Sitting in the same room all day without human interaction can be challenging for anyone, but factoring in an outdoor break can make all of the difference. Even if it’s just a quick walk around the neighborhood, some fresh air can give you a much needed boost to power through your day.
Be sure to keep your mind active as well. Find a new podcast to listen to or a new album to play in the background. Spotify's 'Made For You' section is the algorithm working at its finest to give you some new and fresh to enjoy! We love mediation apps like Headspace to help practive mindfulness as well.
While it’s important to stay active and productive right now, it’s also important to remember that we are in the middle of a global pandemic. Anxiety is high for everyone, so remember to be nice to yourself! Eat those 10 cookies, take a nap during your lunch break – this is a no judgement zone!
If you found this helpful or have any other tips, feel free to message us on social media. We’d love to chat!
