How to Remain Productive While Working Remotely
It’s been roughly half a year that we’ve seen our lives flipped upside down due to COVID-19. Beginning with the swift and unforeseen closing of universities in March, stay at home orders in April, to this partially in-person way of learning and teaching. It’s hard scrambling with bus times, Zoom links, and everything else. Every week there seems to be a cloud looming over our heads, ready to downpour at any minute. The question we are faced with every day is: how do we make it out without getting caught up in the storm?
Home and Work Balance
While we are all trying to figure out this new balance, life is still forging on ahead, with no signs of stopping. At home, it might be hard to stay focused on Zoom class, meetings, projects, and homework. Since doing the majority of my work from home, I’ve found that I don’t allow myself to relax. I feel like I should be doing something all the time. My computer is a constant reminder that I have work looming, every single day. I’m at home, I have work due in three days, why shouldn’t I do it now? But this isn’t a healthy mindset to maintain.
Your bed is for sleeping, not working
It’s crucial to create boundaries. Set a time to do work and time to do anything but work when you’re home. One major rule I’ve always followed: do not work from your bed. Yes, it’s comfortable. And yes, it’s your safe space. But keep it that way. Ashley Hubbard of Healthline outlines several reasons in her article about using our beds as a home office, and why you shouldn’t do so. One of the first reasons: overall sleep quality. In the article, Hubbard features psychotherapist and behavior sleep medicine therapist Annie Miller, who says that when we work from our beds, we equate that space with wakefulness. This in turn will start to affect our sleep quality and patterns. If you’re continuously working from your sleep haven, try setting up downstairs on the couch instead, or create a makeshift home office out of a spare desk and an extra kitchen chair.
Keep up with your mental health
With these unprecedented times, loneliness is sure to creep in. At Grand Valley’s latest PRSSA Reimagined meeting, all three of the professionals spoke on self-care, and how incredibly important mental health is, especially during this remote era. If you’re stuck at home all day doing work, attending class, get outside for thirty minutes to breathe fresh air and feel the sun on your face. Bake some cookies, try out a new recipe -- or order in from your favorite restaurant. Just be sure to indulge yourself in the things you enjoy and want to do, not have to do.
Maintaining the Balance
Finding the balance is hard but important. Keep time for yourself, but also remember that blog due at midnight, or that quiz due by Friday. Everyone is struggling right now, and no one is really sure what is going to happen in the next few months, or even weeks. Be gracious with yourself and others, and believe in yourself. Whether it’s your first semester of college or final, keep up your study habits, develop new ones if you have to, but persevere beyond these trying times. You’ll make it through to the end.
About Kady:
Kady Volmering is a senior studying Advertising and Public Relations with a writing minor. She is currently the VP of Professional Development on GVSU's PRSSA and an account associate for GrandPR. In her free time she's watching movies or working at Banana Republic.
