This latest outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought with it numerous challenges.

One of the biggest challenges that this pandemic has brought us is the work from home culture that we need to adapt to.

We are forced to be away from office and do our daily duties from our home.

Since, we all know that working from home is a challenge, here are a few tips that will help you stay ahead of the curve.

1. Be disciplined

You need to understand that you still need to work even if you have to work from home.

You need to have the same amount of discipline that you would have had if you were to work from your office.

So have the same morning routine even if you have to work from home.

Get ready on time, exercise, have your breakfast and switch on your laptop right on time as you would have done if you were in your office.

2. Establish clear boundaries and have clear communication with your family

Don’t give your family members the false impression that this is a vacation.

Establish clear boundaries and make sure that your family knows that its not your holiday and you still need to work and perform as you are required to do in your office.

Especially if you have kids, make sure that you establish clear communication with your family and inform them the hours that you will not be available due to work from home due to Coronavirus.

I know that it is not that easy being so professional with your family members but tough times need tough people and decisions.

3. Find your quiet place

If your work requires you to concentrate, then you need to find that quiet place when you are working from home. It can be your garage, a small desk in your room or your dining table.

Make sure that you are working in a quiet place where there is no constant distraction. Because if you work in distraction then the quality of work that you do will get hampered. Also, it will lead to a lot of work from home stress related issues due to the Coronavirus.

4. Take time to spend with family

Remember, this is a golden time to spend with family. So when you are not working make sure that you take some time to spend with family. Get some board games, work on that kitchen garden, play indoor games with your children, dance with your wife, spend quality time with your family.

If you are a workaholic, you will be surprised how spending time with family increases the happiness quotient in your life. Also, when you spend time with family your relationship with them improves which increases the overall wellness of your life which includes your health and your mind.

5. Take time for exercise and meditation

If you are the one who likes to work out in the gym or you are more of a couch potato type, then you need to get yourself up and do some home exercises. You can go for yoga, meditation, bodyweight exercises or pranayama.

Being at home feels good for one or two days but when you have to be at home for more than a month, then the lock down starts getting the best of you. I am talking about increased stress that leads to increased anger issues which may lead to family issues.

So you need to feel good from the inside at all times and be happy.

For that you need those endorphins or happy hormones that are released through a morning workout. If the workout can’t be done in the morning, then the evening is fine. But if you could work out in the morning that’s golden.

6. Establish a new routine

When you are working from home, sometimes you cannot follow the strict office routine.

That’s ok, until and unless the work gets done, hours are not a problem.

Honestly, how many of us work a full 9 hours while we are working at office. You and I both know that real work gets done for no more than 4 hours, rest is lost in lunch and tea breaks and meaningless gossiping with colleagues.

So that gives you a whole lot of time to be flexible with your work from home routine.

A simple work from home coronavirus routine may look this way:

1. 7 AM: Wake Up

2. 7:30 to 8:30: Exercise

3. 9 AM to 12 PM: Work

4. 12 PM to 2 PM: Lunch and spend time with family

5. 2 PM to 5 PM: Work

6. 5 PM to 11 PM: Do whatever you feel like. Practise a hobby, work towards your dream, do whatever you like to do.

7. 11 PM: Get ready to sleep.

That’s a full 8 hours of sleep for you and a whole lot of time to spend time with family and whatever else you want to do.

7. Be flexible

Remember, having a rigid routine when you are working from home is not always possible. So leave room for a little flexibility every now and then. Being too rigid can also add up to your stress levels.

You cannot stop kids from bumping into you or invade your work from home private space. Also, some family member may come to you for an important discussion now that they are seeing you at home, finally, after such a long time.

Relax, it is a normal process and you need to be flexible and not allow these things to stress you out.

8. Establish clear and achievable work from home targets

Now that you are working from home, it may not be possible to achieve as much as you would have achieved if you worked in your office cubicle. So, you need to have clear goals as to what you want to achieve every day and not set unrealistic expectations from yourself.

Understand that this change is hard on you and you need to take this one step at a time.

9. Dont worry every employer understands. Do not be too hard on yourself.

Right now, every employer understands that working from home is harder than working from office. There are many distractions while you are working at home due to coronavirus that were not there before.

So take it easy and if you are not able to adapt immediately then dont be too hard on yourself. Give yourself time and eventually, you will prevail.

10. Breathe to help you focus

While working from home, it is very difficult to keep focus. So learn some 5 minute breathing exercises to help you focus and you will be fine.

Thank you for reading my blog.

Do you have any work from home tips that you may like to share with my readers? Feel free to share in comments below.