How to upkeep your work productivity in amidst of Covid-19 fears – 8 ways to boost your morale

Life has come to a standstill due to the pandemic Covid-19. Many of us are working from home now, having no insight in the near future. People are fearful about recession and struggling to keep calm. So how do we ensure productivity at work in such chaos? The answer is, by keeping calm and taking care of our physical, mental and spiritual well being.

Here are the 8 ways that can help you keep your sanity and morale high at work:

1.     Socialize Virtually

Social distancing is the buzz word floating around but humans are social animals and can go into depression in isolation. Hence we need to stay connected virtually with colleagues, managers, family, and friends. Take extra efforts and have those chats on Slack, base camp and Whats app. Have video calls with peers and share your challenges. Maintain relationships with vendors, clients and partners on Skype for business, LinkedIn, phone calls and Gotomeeting. Do not underestimate the power of connecting. It can keep you going.

2.     Stay Organized

Having some morning rituals before you sit with your laptop can upkeep your productivity while working from home. Go for a morning walk, have fresh-squeezed orange juice, take a shower and wear clean nice clothes. Also, setting up an office environment in a clean room having a window for the sun to come in will make you shine. And don’t forget to get your 8 hours of beauty sleep at night.

3.     Eat and Drink Right

I read somewhere ‘Eat like your life depends on it’ and it is so true in today’s context when your immunity decides your survival. Eating healthy meals and drinking lots of warm fluids especially water can help you maintain a healthy body and mind to keep the illness away and perform at work.

Make sure you take meal breaks and keep that water bottle next to your laptop. Also, keep taking your multivitamins as doctor prescribed. This is a great time to watch some recipe videos, learn to cook your favorite dishes and skip the trip to the restaurants.

4.     Work that Stress OUT

Stress kills your immunity. Being at home can pent up your physical energy which needs a positive let out in the form of yoga, biking in your block, or spot running. Take out that treadmill rusting in your basement or the skipping rope lying in your garage. I opt for some freestyle dancing or Zumba for fun or cleaning that cluttered wardrobe. Watch your weight and exercise regularly to keep your body and mind steady for work.

5.     See  the BIG picture

We humans easily get caught up in the recency effect and feel what if the sun never appears. The truth of life is that the change is the only constant thing and what begins will surely end one day. Hence, it’s important to see the big picture and keep hope. To balance our soul during such turbulent times, it is important to focus on our spiritual well being. Praying in the morning for 5 minutes and using the Headspace app for meditation helps me immensely.

6.     Let’s give LOVE a chance

You cannot meet your friends, neighbors or teammates for some time. But your spouse and kids at home are your lifelines. Hug them enough, and play board games or ball with your children. Watch movies or have that candlelight dinner at home with your spouse. I am even sending out little gifts and greetings to my friends and teammates who are feeling a little low. These are the things we all wish to do when running for our jobs, so let’s use this slowness and enjoy our time.

7.     Learn, Upskill, Get ready

Finally, I can do that online analytics certification that I wished to do for a long time. Humans’ morale stays high when challenged. This is a great time to take up a new video course, a podcast series or a certification exam that will help you upskill and get ready for the world as and when it opens up. This can help you get that meet your goals at work, earn that long due promotion or get a salary hike.

8.     Work hard, Party harder

Who says you need dozens of people around to have leisure time, think out of the box. I am utilizing my off hours to take long foam baths with a glass of wine, play video games, listen to my favorite music, dance to that new number, reading a book in my balcony, and taking a virtual guitar class. Enjoy your own company, it is one of the best times to connect with yourself and reflect upon what you wish to do in your life.

Folks believe you me, in a few weeks from now, we all will be back in our offices commuting in crazy traffic during rush hours, and will be wondering it was not that bad to be home with our families. Let’s not repent later what all we could have done with this time. So, just hang in there, keep a smile on that beautiful face and focus on your work. As they say, this too shall pass away :)

Photo credits: Thanks to the talented photographers of pexels.com