Work from Home Experience during Movement Control Order (MCO)
COVID-19 took the world by a complete surprise and impacted
our lives personally and professionally. We were working in the office the
other day and now working from home until I don’t know when. It has been 6
months now, and I thought, maybe I should document my experiences for personal
reflection and as a reminder to myself.
A lot of things have changed but I’m going to share these two (2) for a start: -
1) The MCO
has definitely affected my daily routine. With the work from home arrangement,
I have extra 30 – 45 minutes in the morning and evening which I usually spent
to drop off my son at the daycare and commute to work and vice versa. Extra
minutes means more time for bible study, skincare routine, breakfast, cooking
and exercise. So, just like everyone else, I had to prioritize and rearrange my
activities to adapt with the new norm.
2) Our ways
of working have also changed. Meetings, discussions and trainings are conducted
online. I’m grateful for the good internet connection and communication
platform such as Microsoft Teams, otherwise, it would be very difficult to
execute my work. Working at home is actually not something new; because sometimes,
I continued my work at home. It just that, this time around, it is 100% working
at home and less face to face interaction with my colleagues (...which I miss).
1) One of the challenges is setting the boundaries between work and personal life because sometimes, I get carried away with my work and call it a day around 6pm -7pm which is supposed to be my exercise and cooking time. My working hours is from 8am – 5pm (min. 8 hours) and in between I also need to give attention to my 4-year-old son (with his online homework, meals etc). It was difficult and stressful in the first 2 months, but over the time I learnt few tips to balance my work and personal space.
2) Staying focused on my work is also a challenge. First of all, the environment is comfortable, if I sit on the sofa too long I might fall asleep and secondly, it can be hard to keep my mind on work when we are surrounded with the pandemic updates via TV, social media and WhatsApp because naturally we want to keep ourselves updated.
1) Stay organized and adjust – I listed out my to do list, planned how many hours I wanted to spend on them and identified which tasks that I can outsource or cut short. For example, if I have meeting or training in the afternoon, I will order food delivery to save some time, or prepare a simple 8-10 minutes meal such as Fried Rice. As for household chores, I will only do them after 5pm. I noticed that by having a routine or a plan, I am much more in control of what I want to do for that day. Although sometimes my day doesn’t work out as planned, I will try again the next day.
2) Use a timer – I have been using “Forest” to help me remain focus on my tasks. You can also use Screen Time (for iPhone user) or whatever apps which is available to you. It has helped me from getting distracted from the important tasks that I must complete during the day. For example, I will set 2 hours to focus on preparing my presentation pack, or even 45 minutes to reply emails. As for social media, I will set the screen limit for example 30 minutes per day. It will be difficult at first, but you will be amazed on how much time you can save.
3) Get help – I know that this option is not for everyone. Some of us are alone and far from our family during the MCO/lockdown. If you have someone at home who can help you to look after the kids or do household chores, get their help. My husband and I are a team in this matter. For example, during off days, he will look after our son, so that I can focus on my tasks and online meeting or training. If he is working, I will manage with No.1 and No.2 above.
4) Stay connected – Staying connected with our families, friends, superiors, colleagues are important to our mental health. It was tough in the first few months; I had some friends who couldn’t travel back to their loved ones and had to go through the quarantine alone. As for myself, I couldn’t sleep because I keep thinking what will happen if I don’t complete the work today (due to some limitation) etc. So, I reached to my Superior and discuss on my challenges which has reduced my anxiety as well, it is important for me to get connected with my Superior and colleagues to “check in”.
Thank you for reading this post. Please take care and stay positive. We will get through this together.💖