It has been a number of weeks now that many of us started working from home as a result of the COVID-19 virus. While we strongly believe it is in all of our societies’ best interests to adhere to the respective governments’ regulations, working from home is not without its challenges. Have you noticed that your house is an incredibly distracting place?

For many, business can continue as normal although without going to the office. Some may have to set up a plan with their partner to schedule calls alternately or move into separate makeshift offices in the house. For others, especially those colleagues with children, the challenge lies with planning and managing distractions while keeping the children busy at the same time.

As many of us settle in for another week of working from home and social distancing, we hope that some of the following tips could help you actually finish your work!

1 – Keep your Routine

Without the commute to, and from, work there is a lot of time extra in your day that you could spend doing chores that you have been putting off for a while. This is not ideal when you have to get your work done.

One of the most helpful things to do is to keep up your routine. Even though you do not have to get ready to be presentable at the office, you should try to keep up your morning routine as much as possible. So make your coffee, your breakfast, and get dressed. If you have children, then they also benefit from the structure this brings into your lives even without going to school or daycare as per usual.

2 – Structure your Work

Start up your laptop and identify your tasks first. What do you have to get done for today? When does your partner have meetings? Who is minding the children?

Once you have a list, and/or schedule worked out you can start checking off your tasks. Working methodically will help you stay focused on your tasks.

While there is no rule against working on those chores you have been meaning to get done, try to plan your breaks and do some house work in between finishing the tasks you set for yourself for the day. This way, you can finish the chores, while also getting your work done in time.

3 – Schedule Family Time

Many of us have children and partners who are at home as well. This will require some extra planning and pressure while you try to finish your work. After all, the younger the children, the more you have to help them make sense of the situation we are currently in. Try to fit in some time to focus on your children. Play with them, read together, bake cookies, etc. Whatever you do, try to plan your work around it.

4 – Exercise

Besides the distractions your house may pose, are you moving enough? It is easy to forget, or skip, your afternoon walk or keep up your workouts as gyms around the world have also been closed. People all over the world have been coming together online to do workouts remotely through video chats. This is a great way to keep up your exercise while, at the same time, keep communicating.

5 – Socialize!

That brings us to the last challenge; communication! What are you doing to keep communicating with your team? Perhaps you can take some time during regular meetings to chat with each other. Or schedule a coffee break meeting with one of your colleagues. That way, while you still have to miss being able to walk into each other’s offices or chatting in the coffee room, you can still socialize a bit and stave off loneliness.

FourVision Distancing

Regardless of the fact that we cannot go to the office and socialize around the coffee machine, we are, and continue to, work hard to best support your needs for new and future-proof HR solutions. While we may not be able to visit you in person, we can keep in touch through remote communication channels, such as Microsoft Teams, and continue to work on the implementation of any new solution you need.

Now is the time to consider whether or not your HR system is advanced enough to deal with the challenges of your staff working remotely.

About us

FourVision is Microsoft’s global leading Dynamics 365 Human Resources implementation partner. We have successfully implemented HR platforms in a variety of industries across multiple Microsoft environments for over a decade. FourVision also delivers an impressive suite of Web Apps that extend Microsoft Dynamics 365 Human Resources.