Your Home Is Now Your Office…

Globally we’re all being affected by COVID-19 and many governments have issued guidelines encouraging everyone to avoid unnecessary contact and to self-isolate if they’re showing symptoms. With a rise in remote working as many offices close, it’s normal to develop feelings of loneliness or anxiety in this current, unknown, situation.

Findings from Buffers State of Remote Work report shows that 20% of remote workers suffer from loneliness, and now with many more of us working from home, that number is likely to increase. It’s normal to feel unsure of what to do and how to structure your day when suddenly being cut off from familiar faces and your everyday routines.

Here are some tips, tools and activities for you, your team, your family and your friends, to help combat loneliness, stay productive and remain connected.

Remain sociable with your team:

Set up virtual team events — it’s the next best thing to having people in a room together! Seeing your colleagues on screen and doing activities together as you would in an office provides a sense of connection and support. If your company is not currently running any virtual catch-ups or events, share suggestions and see if it’s possible to get something set up.

It’s amazing to see everyone getting creative and coming up with new ways to have fun and stay social.

Lunch: Set up team lunches so you can socialise together whilst eating at your desk. This will allow you to take a lunch break, rather than working through it.

Team Meditation: Set up a call and follow a guided breathing exercise together. This will help reduce any anxiety and allow you to stay calm. Check out Headspace or Stop, Breathe, Think.

Donut: If you’re already using Slack for internal messaging, try the Donut integration. It automatically creates a new conversation with 2 randomly matched people and suggests arranging a time for a chat. It also works with an odd number of employees, forming a trio. Donut will share a fun question to get the conversation started and your team can continue to get to know each other.

Team Drinks & Games: Why do Friday drinks have to stop? You can get creative here, set up a call, get yourself some drinks and run a team quiz. We use Kahoot.it so everyone can get involved.

Connect with loved ones:

Sharing stories can help reduce loneliness. Now seems to be an ideal time for introducing the power of technology to our elders. Teach your parents or grandparents how to join a virtual call and host a family dinner party with fun and games. There is no need to stop the morning coffee breaks or evening drinks with friends, just do it virtually - it's fun!

Here are some platforms you can use:

• Google Hangout
• HouseParty
• Zoom
• Whereby
• Messenger video calls
• Whatsapp video calls
• Facetime on iOS

Be active:

With gyms closing, classes being cancelled and limited access to open spaces, it’s likely you’re unable to follow your usual exercise regime but if it’s an important part of your normal routine, then it’s important to keep it going, just adapt it to your remote situation.

Set up a virtual gym class with friends or your team. Perhaps someone in your company would like to run some fitness classes, they don’t have to be professional, just energetic to keep everyone motivated!

Those with kids, get them to join in with The Body Coach live PE classes on YouTube.

Join a live Instagram workout.

Whilst we all may be feeling a little lost right now, try to stick to your daily routine, try to keep moving (even if you don’t exercise regularly, working from home can be very sedentary, so it’s good to be mindful of how much movement you are doing each day — walking around your home when taking phone calls is a simple, easy tip) and try meditation if you haven’t before.

Take this as an opportunity to keep in touch with your friends and family, and more importantly, support those who need it.

If you found this helpful, please share it with your community and anyone who could be suffering at this time. We are all in this together!