How The Pandemic Has Forced Us To Work Smarter

With the nation acknowledging all kinds of Covid-related anniversaries this month, I couldn’t help but reflect on the past year. So many things seem different, not the least of which is how we all conduct our daily work lives. To my astonishment, I began to realize there are a few bright spots – some habits and behaviors we were forced to embrace but really have turned out to be wonderful changes to our 9-5 life.

Here are 5 Covid-related work tips that will continue to help us long after the pandemic is in our rear-view mirror:

1.    Create a “relationship calendar.” Your spouse, kids or dog are great WFH buddies, but it’s a different kind of engagement and connection than your actual work family provides. To stay relevant in the workplace, from home or from a capacity-limited office, make what Jim McCann from 1-800-flowers.com refers to as a “relationship calendar.” Schedule time daily to connect with three different people (work, friends or family) and be sure to follow through. Or make a weekly schedule, and choose at least one person to call, one person to email, one person to text and one person to connect with on social media. They will appreciate the gesture and it’s never a bad thing to be on people’s radar. 

2.    Establish a REAL work from home space. According to a Vanguard study, about 15% of all U.S. jobs could be conducted remotely post pandemic. That could mean 20 million people working from home. And a Yale study from last summer showed that telecommuting can easily lead to gender inequality in the workplace as moms spend significantly more time performing housework (almost an hour more each day!) when they work from home than dads do. The fix? Be certain to more permanently establish a proper workspace and set boundaries. Try to find an area with a door, avoid the kitchen table, turn an unused area into a permanent workspace and establish real working hours.

3.    Try other workplace apps besides Zoom. Believe it or not, there are other apps besides Zoom that have proven useful this year and are gaining in popularity. Clubhouse, introduced last April, is a social networking app that allows users to gather in audio chat rooms and discuss, well, anything. In a world where video chats are the norm, it may be refreshing to chat with others but with the camera off! People seem to like the idea as the less-than-one-year-old company already has millions of users and is valued in excess of $1 billion.

Donut is another interesting one. Started by Slack (NYSE: WORK), Donut introduces people who are on the same team (a team can really be defined as anything – a department, an office or even a continent), but may not know each other, and encourages them to meet, either in person or virtually. Think of it as a digital water cooler.  

4.    Keep walking and talking. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the average workday last year increased by 49 minutes – probably because none of us had to commute. But no commute means less movement. I began taking daily walks and they have become my therapy. Walks provide so many incredible benefits and allow us to untether from the desk and the computer. When walking alone I clear my head, move my body, catch up on phone calls and listen to podcasts. Walking with friends or colleagues provides a safe space to discuss work or life and establishes new dimensions to work and personal relationships. 

5.    Embrace your non-work self. The cat is out of the bag. Everyone you work with now knows you have a dog who barks, a child who is learning from home and some cluttered shelves behind your desk. This is our new reality thanks to WFH and Zoom. And it’s ok! We’re all human and we all have lives outside of work. And the realization that we can all present our true selves and still get the job done is enlightening. Embrace that you have superpowers: you can get your job done and still be an amazing mom, friend, spouse or chauffeur. We, especially women, used to feel the need to hide our non-work lives from those in the office for fear of being perceived as distracted or not fully committed. Hide no more as Covid has helped show that we can do it all.

This past year was tough. We are tougher. Let’s try to glean some good from our struggles and look ahead to brighter times.