Tips for Working From Home

Social distancing and quarantines have impacted businesses around the world. While Complete Care has clinics that remain open during the stay at home orders in the state of Florida because they provide an essential medical service, other areas of our business have been shifted to remote work. Like many businesses out there, a shift to remote work presents a challenge to some of our groups who are not only used to being out in the field with clients and business partners, they thrive on the interpersonal contact and relationships that they have built in their business.

Being a leader means recognizing struggles your teams may be facing and providing tools and techniques to address those struggles. Leaders in our Business Development Group have been working with their teams who are new to the remote working environment and have provided them with tips to help them adjust during this time. If you are now working remotely and having difficulty adjusting, these tips for working from home may help, especially for those with kids at home during this time. It's been a massive shift in the work world and we are all doing what we can to adjust and continue to provide service and support to our teams and our customers.

Here Are Some Tips for Working From Home

• Partner Cooperation: This is a challenging time that none of us want to be dealing with but we have to. These challenges can and will add stress to your household and to your relationships. Be open and communicate with your partner about what needs to be done with work schedules, kids schedules, and chores around the house. It's a stressful time and fighting with each other isn't going to help. Communicate and work together and remember, nothing you do is going to be perfect so don't sweat the small stuff and stay positive.
• Networking: Remember you are not alone in this. There are many out there going though the same stressful situation so keep reaching out and talking to your friends and family. There are several great video chat options available to stay safely connected with friends and family. Talk to people daily and check in. What have they been doing to make sure homework is done? How are they handling household duties? Do you have tips for them? Do you just want to check in and talk? It's all ok. Remain connected during this time. Isolation increases the feeling of helplessness. Do not lose connections with those around you.
• Schedule Interruptions: When you are home with your kids and family, the are probably used to having access to you at any time because you're home now and not at work. Now home is your work but everyone may feel like they can interrupt you at any time with any question or issue. Have a schedule during your work hours. When are you going to be working and when are you taking breaks. It's important to schedule so everyone knows what to expect and so they can respect your work time.
• Work Off Hours: If possible for you, it may be a good option to shift your work hours so you and a partner/spouse can attend to kids or  household issues while allowing for your work to get done. Your bosses are home right now dealing with the same issues you are. If a shift in hours would help, communicate and make the change.
• Do Not Sacrifice Sleep: Get the sleep you need every night. Make sure kids are getting the sleep they need. Lack of sleep impacts our lives in more ways than we may realize. It's not a good idea to lose out on sleep so make sure you are making it a priority.
• Keep a Dedicated Office Space: Try to set up an area at your home that you can make your work space. When you are in that space, work is being done and work only. Try not to mix your work and your relaxation time and space together because the lines between the two can get blurred and you will not be as effective in either your work or your off time. Make work your work and then get out of your work space and be done with work. Having a dedicated space can help you better separate the two.
• Stay Positive and Eliminate Worry: There isn't much in this situation we can control so try not to worry about the uncontrollable. You can control what happens inside your home so focus there and keep a positive attitude. We will get through this time and it will not go on forever. Everyone in your house is watching you and a positive attitude helps them be less stressed too.
• Focus on Parenting: If you have kids at home, you are probably getting more time with them now then you have since before they started school. Take advantage of this time. Play games. Watch movies together. Video conference with far away family together. Spend the time together as much as you can. Your kids are dealing with an unprecedented time too and have had their lives greatly disrupted. They need your guidance and love now more than ever.

It's a challenging time but we are not going to fall to pieces. We have seen friends and family and our co-workers make massive adjustments to their daily lives and people have done so quickly and positively. We will all get through this. These tips for working from home can help those of you who may be new to it. Many of you out there have experience working from home and are sure to have great ideas too. Let us know what else we can be doing to make sure we are working from home effectively while we take care of our homes and families too.