Working from home can be a challenge for people who are new to this working from home environment. Most employees suddenly find themselves with extra time since they don’t have to prepare for, or travel to work. That could slash a few hours off of a normal workday. So we are lulled into thinking that we have extra time on our hands and therefore, delve into kitchen projects, tidying arrangements, laundry, or child care as we work from home. We snooze our alarms or get on personal projects unrelated to work, and before we know it – it’s 10 am and we haven’t even started our workday yet.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, nations have encouraged all businesses to require their employees to work from home in response to WHO’s call out to practice social distancing and help curb the spread of the virus. A whopping 88% of business in the US heeded that call. That translates to about ⅓ of the whole US working from home. 

That means that a lot of employees are now just a short walk away from bingeing on Netflix, making their own bread, or helping the kids out with schoolwork. How do we keep the workforce focused when there is always a threat of the bed, the fridge, and the TV? We have to keep ourselves accountable at work in order to increase our productivity. Here are a few ways to hold yourself accountable while working from home.

Have a fail-proof morning routine

Routines help keep us on schedule. They get us into a rhythm and help jumpstart productive habits. High performers attribute their success to a good morning routine. Everyone has their own unique morning routine. A sample of a morning routine would be: wake up at the sound of the alarm (don’t snooze), meditate, quick workout, take a shower, get dressed (get out of your pajamas), check your daily to-do list, fire up your laptop and log in for work.

Have a goal

Your goal/s should be SMART, meaning: Specific. Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timebound. Having SMART goals means you have to set time frames for them. Set specific goals in daily, weekly, and monthly timeframes. Don’t forget to write them down and keep evaluating and recalibrating to make sure they are measurable, attainable, and relevant.

Make sure to work in a distraction free zone

Not all of us have the luxury of having a home office. Most people have set up makeshift workstations in their homes in response to the work from home call out. Some have converted the kitchen table to a home office. Some have a dedicated workspace in the living room. Some might just even have a small desk beside their bed. Whatever your workstation might look like, make sure it is in a distraction free zone. Remove the most common temptations mentioned earlier (the bed, the fridge, the TV) so that you can focus on work. If you live with other people, coordinate your work schedule so that you can all have a period of deep work and some time to take calls and video meetings uninterrupted. 

What are your fail-proof tips to increase accountability while working from home? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

A cup of coffee at the start of the day is the morning routine for an overwhelming number of people. Coffee is our alarm. The smell of coffee is what wakes us up in the morning and it would be hard for me to imagine a morning without a mug at hand. A cup in hand signals the start of the day for most of us.

The big question is: “Is the practice of having coffee as soon as you get up really the most effective way to maximize its energizing effects”? Experts believe that drinking coffee soon after waking up isn’t the most efficient way of getting coffee’s energizing benefits. Here’s why:

Your Cortisol Levels
Cortisol is released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It can be helpful in helping enhance alertness and focus and in regulating metabolism, immune system response, and blood pressure. Reaching for a hot cup of coffee at the beginning of the day actually decreases its effect because your cortisol levels are at its peak in the morning.

Your Circadian Rhythm
Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour body clock regulated by your environment. One such regulator is the amount of sunlight you get. This is why when the sun is out, you feel more energized and awake. It also explains why most of us feel lazy during rainy or overcast days. Your circadian rhythm also determines your hormonal production. Upon waking up, your circadian rhythm starts producing cortisol, waking you up and making you feel alert. Cortisol peaks between 8am and 9am for most people. Another small spike in cortisol happens from 12nn to 1pm, and then again from 5:30pm to 6:30pm.

This means that when you reach for a cup of coffee during these times of the day, you’re already at your natural alertness peak Thus, the alertness boost brought to you by that cup of coffee is negated by your cortisol boost. In short, you don’t need it…yet.

When is the best time to get a cup of coffee?
The short answer: immediately after your cortisol peaks. That would be from 9am to 11:30am in the morning and between 1pm to 5pm in the afternoon. However, those who have problems getting sleep are recommended to stay away from caffeine after 3pm.

I know that it’s hard to let go of routine. But if you’re after the energy and alertness boosting effects of coffee, it’s best to hold off on getting your caffeine fix by waiting a few hours to brew your first cup of joe. It’s just a suggestion backed by good old, hard scientific facts. No one can stop you from enjoying your coffee whenever you want. Afterall, we’re all java junkies here.

What’s your favorite time to get your caffeine fix? When do you think is the best time for a coffee break? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

The Covid-19 pandemic has taken away so much from us. For some, it has taken away livelihood. For a lot of us, it has taken away our chance to travel. For almost all of us, it has taken away the ability to celebrate together with friends and family. And for those who have lost loved ones, it has taken away our chance to grieve.

Every culture in the whole world has its own funeral rites, customs, and rituals. But, no matter how different we mourn for our loss, we all share a central element, and that is social connection. Physical distancing takes away our ability to comfort each other during a time of grief. It takes away the opportunity to be with other mourners. We essentially have to find new ways and rituals to honor death and to celebrate life.

Saying goodbye to our loved ones begins well before the funeral rites. Those who are lucky enough to be able to spend time with a loved one before they pass, make the moments count by making amends, having deep conversations, and affirming their bonds. These practices soften the blow of loss.

Strict isolation measures in hospitals prevent visits from friends and family, this is most especially true of Covid-19 cases. While these are critical safety measures to prevent the disease from spreading, these measures also hinder loved ones from saying their final farewells. Getting closure is an important step in the grieving process and the bereaved are deprived of this important step.

Funeral rites and traditions are designed to honor the legacy of the deceased. They also offer others a chance to provide the bereaved with emotional support – very instrumental in helping the bereaved in processing their grief.

We all experience grief differently and process it at different rates. If you or someone you know is experiencing grief, here are some things that might help.

There are different stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance). It is normal to want to get to the “acceptance” stage as quickly as possible. However, you might find yourself going back and forth through the stages. Work through your emotions at your own pace. People can be too helpful for their own good, and some, while very well-meaning, might offer advice about “moving on” that might not be taken too well or might not work for you. Just remember that your feelings are valid. There is no right or wrong way to grieve.

Practice self-care. Check the bare minimum requirements off of your list: get some rest, eat well, take regular showers, stay hydrated, write your thoughts in a journal, meditate. But self-care also involves reaching out to family and friends. Check-in from time to time and be each other’s support system. While you may not be able to do this face to face, you can arrange virtual catch-ups to help bridge the gap. Self-care also involves seeking help. Consider working with a mental health professional and exploring online therapy.

However, you choose to deal with grief, remember to give yourself permission to mourn. Be kind to yourself and to others. How do you deal with grief? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

When you have a team of highly intelligent individual contributors or a handful of technical specialists, it is not easy to wrangle them together. They know that they are experts in their subject matter and therefore, you might find it hard to give them orders. However, your in-house experts are not bullet-proof. They do make mistakes and need to be coached from time to time.

Your high performers absolutely value precision and perfection and probably need very minimal intervention. They’re usually business-critical and are hell-bent on the perfect execution of a project. But when they do make mistakes, the business can take a critical hit. This is why it is important that they are coachable and that they listen to feedback when a pet project of theirs needs recalibration. So how do you coach an expert who does not take well to coaching?

Work towards a goal
When you initiate a coaching session with your subject matter expert, you have to have the end goal in mind. It could be: to work towards a better relationship with the rest of the team, to help increase your subject matter expert’s self-awareness, to realign your subject matter expert’s objectives with the objectives of the business, etc. Whatever the goal is, it has to be clear in your head. Otherwise, it would prove difficult to get your subject matter expert’s buy-in. Once you state your goal for the coaching session, it will make it easier for your subject matter expert to understand your point of view.

Get their perspective, then assert your own view
Speaking of point of view, it would be helpful for this and any coaching session if you can get the perspective of your subject matter expert. Ask them what steps they are proactively taking towards working on your shared goal. This way he or she will be able to identify and own up to their lapses instead of being told about their lapses. Understand their perspective before asserting your own. Be upfront with your observations.

Show them a few options
Ask them for suggestions on how they can do things better the next time around. Subject matter experts love action plans. Asking them for suggestions will give them a chance to draft their own “next steps” or a comprehensive “plan of action” list. This gives them ownership of the solution and therefore, they have more control implementing it. Nothing is stopping you from giving your own suggestions, too. Remember to keep a good balance of ideas.

Get them to commit
Once you get their suggestions, get their buy-in. Ask them which of their suggestions can they execute right away or which of the suggestions are they committed to move forward with. Ask for specifics: the when and the how. At the end of the coaching session, you should have your subject matter expert’s commitment to a suitable plan of action.

What are your coaching tips on handling difficult to coach employees? How do you coach subject matter experts? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Before the widespread devastation of the Coronavirus pandemic, there was a  smaller scale illness that has alarmingly swept the nation. It has left a lot of devastation in its wake and is being considered as a public health issue. Loneliness has long been tagged as a modern plague or an epidemic long before the coming of Covid-19. It affects both the young and the old and can inflict anyone from all walks of life. Long term loneliness has been associated with other mental illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, suicidal ideation, and increased stress. It even has physical manifestations like a weakened immune system, decreased sleep quality, and weight fluctuations. “Lack of social connection has a significant effect comparable to other leading indicators of risk for early death,” says Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University^[1].

In America, 61% of the population over the age of 18 struggle with loneliness. This epidemic intersects with another pandemic, Covid-19, and is causing added anxiety to those who are already suffering from loneliness. Safety measures like social distancing and working from home are necessary life-saving measures to curb the spread of the virus, but these measures can also affect mental health.

People are wired for intimacy and to find a sense of belonging. We have a biological need to be in social groups and to seek human contact.

With most governments telling us to stay home, practice social distancing when we do go out, and to avoid crowds and enclosed spaces altogether, a lot of people are missing the opportunity to connect with others. This means we have to get creative in finding ways to “keep in touch”. How do we nurture relationships and build social networks in a time of social distancing?

1. Call a friend or a family member – Give them a call to catch up, learn about each other’s lives, and see how they are coping. It is important to give them your full attention when you do call to get in touch. The quality of the conversation will depend on this, so make an effort to really listen. In turn, be open about your feelings, too. Let them know if you are struggling with loneliness. That gives your loved ones an opportunity to help you as well.
2. Call a therapist or counselor – A health professional will help you untangle your thoughts and talk about your feelings in a safe space, free of judgment. If you feel that your loneliness might be best shared with someone who could give you professional help, then, by all means, set up an appointment with a professional. Your mental health matters, especially during these trying times.
3. Join an online class – This will give you an opportunity to meet people even if your area is on lockdown. You don’t necessarily have to go out of your home but joining an online class will give you an opportunity to learn about something you enjoy and meet others who enjoy the same things as you.

These are extra challenging times. So be kind to yourself and seek help when possible. Do you have tips on how to prevent loneliness? Let us know in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

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^[1] The Loneliness Epidemic Has Very Real Consequences, Collins