A change of circumstances is never easy especially when you have no control over when change comes. These last number of months many businesses around us have had to struggle with the change that has come from working from home. Despite working from home, the tasks that come with working in a business environment don’t stop.
In this blog we want to highlight a few helpful tips for daily habits to help keep focused or refocus.
Schedule Alone Time
One big goal is to be able to prioritize and balance your workload. It’s hard to do that when you have someone constantly interrupting you. You may find yourself working on things that could have waited and forgetting to finish projects that should have been completed earlier. What can you do? Take some time for yourself – Schedule in “me time” even 15 uninterrupted minutes to really look at what needs to be done and prioritize.
Join Forces with Coworkers
It’s not uncommon to take on more than we can handle or even be given tasks that aren’t necessarily in our job description. This is a great opportunity to collaborate with your coworkers. Work with people to complete tasks quicker, reassign items that can be completed better or more efficiently by someone else, and communicate with your coworkers to see if they have ideas or input on projects you’re currently working on. In most cases, you’ll find that your coworkers are more than happy to give you the help you need. Make it a daily habit to be in communication with your coworkers. A word of caution: leaning on your coworkers too much you may face some resistance, keep a balance.
Don’t Be Afraid to Say ‘No”
Many of us struggle with the word ‘no’ it can hurt, anger, or disappoint the person you’re saying “no” to, and that’s not usually a fun task. It is not a weakness to say no to requests, to events, to projects, to ideas, to anything—if you have a good reason to do so. While it may make you cringe to say it, the aftermath isn’t all that bad. As we have discussed in previous blogs people will respect your decision to not pick up an extra assignment or to not move forward with a concept if you give them an answer of ‘why’. If it’s okay for people to say no to you, then why is it not okay for you to say no to others? Learn to embrace the strategic use of the word ‘no’ and see what happens.