Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s home from work we go. You all know the song, though I bet you thought the lyrics were “it’s off to work we go.” We did as well. Today, neither is true as millions of businesses and their employees are doing their part to Flatten the Curve of COVID-19 by working from home to social distance and self-quarantine. At the Anago corporate office in South Florida, we too have decided to have our staff work from home to promote safety, unity and vigilance against this silent, deadly disease.
If you were already working from home, you are definitely ahead of the curve and have most likely disciplined yourself to balance home and work life within the same relative space. For the rest of us, this takes some getting used to. We contacted our staff to find out what works for them to remain positive, healthy and productive while working from home. Here are a few tidbits we’ve discovered.
Weight Gain Warning
David set up his workspace at the dining table and has discovered that the chairs are extremely uncomfortable when sitting for long periods of time. He warns that you may gain a little bit of weight during this time given the temptation to hop into the kitchen to snack more regularly. On a positive note, David is able to wear whatever he wants and doesn’t mind sipping on a nice merlot while working away.
Mobile Workstation Redefined
Veronica did her best to recreate her office space at home just as she has it at Anago. She brought home items from work and arranged them in the same way she had them at the office to help mentally prepare. Creating a space just for work has been a challenge for her and admits that having the kids home provides another level of difficulty. With kids to keep up with and tasks to complete, Veronica takes her workstation to different rooms of the house, redefining what it means to be “mobile.”
Don’t Decline, Instead Recline
Preston commandeered an extra bedroom and pulled the recliner from the living room to use as an office chair (that’s interesting). Distractions??? None for Preston! He suggests creating a morning routine similar to before. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, get the juices flowing. Streamlining this process gets Preston off to a strong start and helps him maintain focus to tackle the day’s tasks.
The Art of Working from Home
Sharlene is a master of the work from home genre and admits this is “right up her alley!” She set up a replica of her Anago office space at her dining table with a soft lamp, relaxing mood and no distractions. She follows the same routine she normally would with the difference of saving time and money on gas traveling to the office.
Soothing Sounds
Like many of her co-workers (and we bet like many of you out there), Kim set up her home office on the dining room table. Let’s face it, it’s just a bigger space and is most likely rarely used unless it’s Thanksgiving Day. Kim maintains focus by playing meditation music in the background, which is important to keep her trekking through that To-Do list. The other tip: no TV or other home distractions are allowed during office hours.
No TV, No Netflix, No Tiger King
Judy also prefers the dining room table despite having a dedicated home office. She handles distractions the same way at home as she does in the office: she gets up, takes a walk to clear her mind, and settles back down with a nice glass of water and some fresh fruit. Judy is also a big advocate of the “No TV” movement to limit distractions. She says that her routine of catching up with her favorite show has not changed despite wanting to continue binge-watching Joe Exotic and The Tiger King docuseries.
A Little Help from the Office
Symone is thankful that she was able to bring her second monitor home from the office. This has helped her tremendously in creating a home office environment. As far as distractions go, Symone admits there is less noise distractions at home than in the office. In her quest to find a productive work rhythm, she hid the TV remote to eliminate the temptation of turning it on. Though she admits that TV and the news of the day can be sad and discouraging so hiding the remote is probably a good thing all around. Guess she’ll have to go to Judy’s to watch The Tiger King together.
Stay Safe, Stay Strong, Stay Home
At Anago, we are committed to the health and safety of our staff, partners, vendors, and all others we encounter on a daily basis both professionally and personally. These are trying times, but we are collectively focused on getting through this for ourselves and the people around us. We choose to work from home to keep our business running and to do our part in Stopping the Spread of coronavirus not just for ourselves, but for all people in our community.