Handling Stress in times of Covid 19

April 16, 2020 The Editorial Board - Teamware Solutions

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Covid-19 has posed serious challenges to the way we work and environment we operate from.
Even though WFH is not a very new concept to Indian IT workforce during these stressful times it is
important to look at the following tips to better our productivity and be at ease with things around us:
1. Be at ease with kids and family members:
Sometimes working at home with all team members and kids around might be
overwhelming. Many of us might not have the privilege of having a separate room/work area to
attend calls/team meetings over Webex, Skype etc. With noises around us getting louder it is
but natural for us to feel stressed out and lose our temper/focus. Remember that these are
tough times and even kids/family are confined to homes without any outdoor activity that might
affect them mentally and emotionally. So be at ease and in case there is any disturbance please
mute yourself and gently tell your family to stay calm for a few crucial minutes you are about to
speak/respond. You can also chat with your team/manager and let them know that you are
muting yourself but listening through the conversation and taking notes to reassure your
understanding of the context is on track and circulate the notes to them after the meeting. This will help avoid communication gaps if any. Remember informal chats/calls to your Reporting
Manager or key team members always help!
2. Plan your Priorities for the day/week:
Being confined at home for longer periods of time might disturb the work pattern and the way
we organize our daily activities. Usually if we work from office premises our perspective
becomes broader as we exchange lots of information offline with our colleagues’ /team
members. However, at home since our interaction might get restricted it is always better we plan
our day and list down the priority of activities that we want to accomplish for the day/week. And
validate it with our colleagues / managers offline if possible. It would also help to set up regular
checkpoints on our calendars to track the status of activities that we take up. Then our work
becomes much regularized and we know what we do and quickly take any corrective measures
to meet set milestones.
3. Take regular breaks and relax:
Ensure to take regular breaks and not get overwhelmed sitting in front of your
laptop/desktop. Make sure you go for a short tea/coffee break and interact with people around to
relax and unwind. Play some soothing song / instrumental to get rid of mental stress.
4. Prefer video calls over audio:
In your regular meetings / daily scrums prefer video calls over audio. This creates an opportunity to feel in presence with your team members and get an undivided attention from your team members. It also helps understand the context better when observing the body language of your colleagues’/team members and understand the mind-set.
Finally, every one of you have your own style of  working that would suit you but it is better to use some best practices above in your scheme of things to accommodate a stress free work from home environment!
Happy WFH 🙂