Managing self— learning from freelancers as we work from home

Covid-19 has pushed most of us to work from home and this change is scary for individuals and businesses alike. As a freelancer and a start-up business owner, I have been working from home for the last two years. This shift in workspace when managed carefully can yield high productivity.

Work from home is a brilliant opportunity to save time on commute, spend more quality time with family and manage work hours as per your own convenience. But as many of you would realize, these benefits have the potential to become our biggest challenges within two to three weeks. The symptoms may look like the following:

1. Absence of fixed working hours lead to shift in sleep patterns. It may mean waking up later than usual or taking afternoon naps leading to a shift in sleep time.
2. Absence of co-workers and informal chat about work and non-work issues may lead to irritation with family members, especially if there is a generation gap at home.
3. Lack of communication with the manager or your direct reports may eventually lead to a disconnect from work and deliverables. This may manifest emotionally as one feels disrespected, or unheard. Or, it may manifest in an existential crisis!
4. You may feel less productive even though you are spending more hours thinking about work in front of your laptop.

The causes to these symptoms may vary from individual to individual. But, the general overarching advice for everyone is to not reach conclusions about your co-workers or organisation during this time!

As freelancers would agree, when we have a lot of time to ourselves we tend to use it disproportionately amongst our basic four factors. There is a high probability of going into a mental overdrive, not engaging in enough emotional distancing with our partners, putting zero focus on physical health and being unproductive at work.

So, what can we do to overcome these challenges? I have experimented with several tools, and techniques to manage my motivation and performance while working from home. With respect to work, here is what you can try:

1. To-do lists: A general list of work to do written in the four quadrants of Eisenhower matrix every day is more important than ever! The position of your tasks will shift each day, and hence you must take out the first 15 minutes of your day in rewriting the matrix.
2. Accountability partner: While you will have deadlines to finish the work, having a co-worker or a friend as an accountability partner can create a space for honest reflection and shared strategies to achieve targeted goals for the week.
3. Manage productivity: Timesheets, setting goals for the day, taking timely feedback are some of the ways to ensure high productivity. Teams within companies almost always do these things! But right now, using pomodoro technique, and maintaining time log on Google Calendar or on apps like Boosted and can help you to see a realistic graph of where you are spending your maximum time.
4. Written communication: When we work virtually, a lot of non-verbal communication with our team members gets lost. The work distance also creates scope for miscommunication. Thus, you must try to communicate in written ways as much as you can. After every verbal discussion, send the assumptions, responsibilities and deadlines to all people concerned over a mail.

The best freelancers always communicate with their clients, set SMART goals, and take timely feedback. They manage their professional motivation by finding a balance in their physical, mental and emotional health . The above-mentioned tools work for me, they may not work for you. Find something that does! But, as soon as you feel that you are getting anxious, slipping into unhealthy patterns, take a step back and start over! This can be the most rewarding time of your work life or the worst.