The New Normal: Tips for realistically working from home during COVID-19

We’ve all seen articles and infographics flooding our newsfeeds and inboxes offering effective work-from-home tips. These are helpful during these uncertain times across the world but, most neglect to mention that there are other variables now in play with COVID-19, such as children at home, and in most cases needing to be homeschooled, partners are home and boundaries are hard to come by, and there is increased anxiety about our safety and the economy. We’ve gathered our Dialexans’ advice for this new normal of remote work, we all find ourselves. Dialexa has been optimized for remote work for more than a decade and we are in a unique position to help all companies do the same.

1. Maintain a routine: Working from home can create a lot of distractions, so try to stick to a schedule. Everyone’s schedule may be different so be sure to communicate your preferred hours with your manager, coworkers, roommates, family members, or partner. If you have kids, realistically, complete privacy is impossible — they will interrupt your work and this is something we all have to understand. Setting a schedule for their day helps, but also be sure to manage expectations with your supervisor. Offer to hop back online at the end of the day to complete unfinished work.

2. Communicate with your team: There are endless tools making remote work efficient in today’s world. Utilize the ones that work for your company. Several telework companies are even offering their tools for free during the pandemic. Working from home can also be isolating for team members which can lead to depression and decreased productivity. Staying connected builds comradery and lifts spirits. For supervisors, we advise once-a-day check-ins with your team, focused on increasing morale.

3. Create your own workspace: If you have a private room or dedicated desk location already, great. However, for many, this may require some creativity. If you are one of the majority of workers without a dedicated home office space, or even a desk, here are some creative alternatives we recommend:

• Use your bar cart or bookshelf but try to save Happy Hour for 5pm.
• Turn your clothes hamper upside down.
• Bathtub office — this has to be one of the most creative we’ve seen. Using a mini ironing board as a desk and pillows as your chair, at least you’ll get some privacy.

4. Build in break time for yourself: Realistically, if you have children at home, you’ll use these breaks to take care of your kids and not actually take a break. However, it’s still a good idea to step away from work for a few minutes. Here are some at-home break ideas — most of which are still applicable while social distancing.

5. Maintain regular health and hygiene: Apathy in health and appearance can lead to a drop in productivity. While wearing pajamas are a small perk to working from home, try to maintain a healthy diet, hygiene and work/life balance.

6. Be courteous and understanding: With the new normal of most of America working remotely, there are sure to be hiccups and hurdles along the way. Do your best to exercise compassion for yourself and others. Dogs are going to bark, background noise will happen, there will be unexpected interruptions; except these to happen. This is our new normal, but not an excuse to slack off! Maintain your highest quality of work, but give yourself and your coworkers the grace we all need as we navigate these uncertain times together.