How to Save Sanity While Working Remotely

COVID-19 pandemic forced a lot of companies to adopt telecommuting. Self-isolation wasn’t new for me if we’re talking about remote work. Basing on my experience, it’s very easy to burn yourself out on remote work and lose all enthusiasm. On the opposite – it’s quite possible to maintain it, too.

In the previous article, I described my opinion on distant work in general, but now we’ll talk about more important things for everyone. Here are four personal tips for any person who have to (or want to) work from home for a long time.

Firstly, you have to maintain your work-life balance. Sure, it’s a standard tip for any workers, but it’s even more true for remote ones. The reasoning here is quite simple: as you work from the place where you live (and where your personal life is usually concentrated), it’s easy to go all-work, you wouldn’t even really notice. Don’t do that, even if there’s overtime pay on your job – and especially if there’s none. That’ll do in a short term, but you’ll feel the negative results in 3+ months.

Secondly, don’t discard the lunch break. Even if you’re eating in front of a computer (which can be harmful for your health by the way), it’s important to make a pause even if you’re working on an hourly basis. It’s even more important if you constantly have to do overtime work – cook something or go for a walk for 30-60 minutes. Again, all negative possible effects might not appear instantly, but they certainly will, sooner or later.

Thirdly – Do. Not. Get. Distracted. You can’t really do anything with the presence of relatives or other loving ones, but you must build some barriers with them at the working time – otherwise, you’ll be focused on your home, not on work. What’s even more important, you shouldn’t get lost in the Internet surfing or gaming at work. From my personal experience, time drags much longer in those cases, comparing to simple work-brake-work regime. What’s worse – your head is all messed up for some reason and you get tired really fast while doing much less work. This is not even about work discipline, but about your well-being and the clarity of mind.

Fourthly – and lastly – keep company with your colleagues. Work is a social-heavy activity. Even if you feel yourself better without human presence, it’d be good if you’ll chat with your team on non-work matters, or call them to talk. A little bit of socialization certainly wouldn’t harm in those troubled days

Aforementioned tips are just excerpts from my personal experience. I can only hope that it’ll be helpful for you worklife.