Work-At-Home — we’ve done it sporadically, but now we have to do it full-time to help ourselves and our neighbors.

You might be finding it hard to stay focused on the job when you’re doing your job at home full-time. Here are seven tips to help you be a bit more productive, spend more time with your loved ones, and not venture into overwhelm.

Develop a tight schedule — The more you lock in each task, activity, and errand, productivity will be so much easier and you will feel so much better. Use a virtual/manual calendar and track ALL your activities — from the time you get up/take a shower to the time you go to bed.
Communicate often — Your boss and your team need you — keep them updated frequently (check-in twice a day) with progress, to-do items, and emergencies.
Kill the big shoulders — Don’t try to manage/shoulder too much. Take on only what you can handle — during times like these, we tend to try to hold onto everything. Make sure you’re delegating effectively to your team and letting your boss know about your workload.
Wax On/Wax Off — Working at home is different from working in an office — you have additional responsibilities to pay attention to at home. Don’t work solidly from 7 AM to 7 PM — you’re going to burn out quickly. Try the Pomodoro Method, work for 45/50/55 minutes straight and then take 5/10/15 minutes off to spend time with your family, take a quick mental break, or go outside and enjoy the spring weather. You will come back to the task at hand with renewed vigor and focus.
Ask for help — If you get truly overwhelmed, reach out to the people who can help you. Start with your boss, it’s their job to solve problems for you and to monitor your workload. Try to work with your direct reports to see if they can come up with a strategy to help you with your issue (they love doing this by the way). If the weight gets too heavy, ask for professional help.
Don’t worry and project too far into the future — When we are thrust out of our day-to-day routine, we tend to get very anxious. That’s normal. It’s when we start to extrapolate our anxiety into irrational fears and start to develop many multiple what-if scenarios. Don’t do that — you might think it will help you, but it will exhaust your energy and have you running mentally into too many rabbit holes.
Find ways to diffuse the pressure — In times like these, we tend to forget to take advantage of our mental ‘release valve’. Exercise, read, cook, spend time with your loved ones, listen to music/podcasts — do something that not only relaxes you, but also grows you mentally and physically. I listen to Tara Brach often — check her out.

Stay home, stay safe, and stay well. All the best - Rich