How productive are you this week? A few tips for these crazy days

This week was all about quarantine, working from home, and coping with coronavirus and the kids at the same time.
We all read some interesting articles about productivity tips, tools and the best way your company can transition into this new reality, but between tools and best practices — there’s much more you can do for yourself to make your day great, and your results even better.

I believe coronavirus brings with it an interesting opportunity to break old routines and start thinking about ways we could feel happier, healthier, and more productive at work.

How can we do this? glad you asked…

1. Set the mood:

• 🌞 Set up different work stations around the house and make yourself comfortable. For those who have a balcony, it’s also a great opportunity to get some vitamin D :)
• 🎧 Create a productivity playlist for your team and share your favorite songs with your teammates. This is my team’s Spotify playlist, if you’re looking for some inspiration (don’t forget to make it a collaborative playlist so your teammates can add their favorite songs too).
• 🏆 Things around us are slowing down. Don’t let your mood and energy follow. Instead of your precious commute time, dedicate the mornings to a favorite physical activity that keeps you ‘high’ all day long. From a morning jog to some relaxing yoga, anything that keeps a smile on your face — works :)

2. Avoid temptations:

• 🍫 Constantly craving something sweet? Prepare a snack plate (or as we call it in Israel- Nishnushim) every morning, so you’re set for the rest of the day (almonds, nuts, cheese bites and some vegetables are always the healthy choice, but once in a while make sure to add some chocolates too).
• 📺 Leave the couch behind! It comes with known symptoms of Netflix addiction and lower back pain.

3. Bring back the fun:

• ☕ Meet your office friends for a morning coffee over Zoom or walk your dogs at the same time (it’s another excuse to get out of bed early and get dressed).
• 🎨 Create fun Zoom backgrounds that are related to your product (check out our Soluto team’s backgrounds… feels almost as if we’re back at our last business trip to Orlando).
• 📢 Share your team’s “Success of the day” and keep the other teams posted on achievements, learning, and exciting updates. Notion & Basecamp are great tools for this.
• 📷 We all share photos and life moments on social media. Upload a daily photo of your team to Slack or Whatsapp and share some of the exciting moments you had, even while working remotely. (Don’t be afraid to get goofy with it).

4. Don’t forget the basics:

• 🚶🏻‍♂️Working from home means you’re not running around the office and going up the stairs 50 times a day. Take one or two sets of 15 minute breaks during the day for a short walk around the block.
• 🍜 Create a list of your favorite restaurants in the area and schedule your ‘order lunch’ reminder.
• 👌🏻 Keep up with the ’Daily Standup Meeting’ & planning ceremonies via Zoom.

So now all that’s left is to stay healthy, turn on your video cam and keep smiling… 😊

Shira Gershoni