Home Office: Keep your cool!

Software tools help you to organise your work. Tips for mixing work and private life in times of Corona

“COVID-19” is changing the daily routines of many people. Never in the history of computers have so many people worked in home office as they are doing now. Some of them are already used to it but for others it is foreign territory. The digital association bitkom has found out in a small survey that home office has been introduced for the first time for every third working person and that existing home office arrangements have been extended by the employer in 43% of the cases.

Home office: Unforeseen new challenges

Most home office newcomers find working from home presents them with totally new challenges. All those who try it soon realise that working at the office and at home are two totally different matters. Because they have learned to separate career and private life and everyone knows exactly what to do. But now, many tasks are being mixed. People who are well organised and able to concentrate find it a little easier to work at home. Others are more easily distracted by things that they normally do when they are at home. Clear out the dishwasher, switch on the washing machine, get the mail out of the letterbox or read the newspaper - these are things that they do more or less in passing – only to discover in the evening how little of their office work they have actually managed.

Concentrating on work is even harder when children need to be looked after at the same time. Especially those with small children who cannot keep themselves busy for long know what we are talking about. Parents in this situation have to completely reorganise their daily routine and their working duties at once. The normal separation into a fixed block of working long hours at a time and then home time is not working for most of them at the moment. Instead, shorter blocks of work and private life are being defined and mixed accordingly as required.

Use software tools

This can lead to some employees working less than usual at the end of the day. But is can also have exactly the opposite effect – namely that employees work more and spend half the night on their home PCs to get all the pending work done. When work and private life are no longer physically separated, the temptation to rush to the computer to check e-mails is great. Software tools help to prevent any disparity between the agreed and actually accomplished work from becoming too great. An effective tool is the electronic time recording. This not only helps employees to keep track but also the employers. Because many companies are currently granting spontaneous holiday absence or accrued overtime is being reduced.

With an electronic time recording solution, all those involved can see the actual state of every individual at a glance and take appropriate countermeasures where necessary.

Test electronic time recording free

We from REINER SCT offer such a time recording system and are now providing it to all interested companies for a free 30-day trial. The system also works with an app on your smart phone and can therefore be used for decentralised and mobile workplaces. It can be installed for all employees in a few minutes. The work times can be synchronised with a computer in the company without contact. If you are interested, please send a mail to: shinz@reiner-sct.com or visit www.reiner-sct.com/timecard

Tips for home office in times of Corona

With or without an electronic time recording system – these tips will help you to work in home office:

• Make a list of the tasks that you have to get done daily at the moment: Do you have any fixed deadlines? Do you need times without disturbances to make phone calls with the boss, with colleagues or with customers? Does the family have to eat at certain times?
• Divide up your working days into appropriate blocks and also plan a little buffer time.
• Remember that the situation could last many weeks and you have to pace yourself properly.
• Estimate whether you can manage the agreed work times. If the gaps are too big, try to find a solution with your superior which is satisfactory for both sides.
• Record all your working hours and remember to make a note of the breaks.
• Be aware that the current situation is exceptional and that there is possibly no perfect solution. A certain coolness and flexibility reduce the pressure.