10 Useful Tips To Stay Sane During WFH In Singapore

It is almost about to be two years since COVID-19 hit us all like a wrecking ball, and life has changed. All of us are doing our best to stay productive, sane, and efficient during this time. However, restrictions keep on changing, and we keep coming in and going out of lockdown.

So, if you are dealing with work from home (WFH) during this time, you are in the right place. Here are the most useful tips to help you stay sane and efficient during WFH in Singapore.

Challenges With Working From Home

Before we move on to our tips, you must understand the challenges that come with WFH. Once you understand these, you will be in a better position to overcome them and stay sane. Some of the top challenges that everyone faces during WFH include:

1. Loneliness

The pandemic has made everyone lonelier, and WFH makes it even worse as we don't get to see our colleagues. Of course, loneliness is bad for your physical and mental health in the long run. It can affect your performance and lower your productivity with time.

That is why if you are struggling with loneliness during WFH, you must find ways to interact with other people. It will keep you sane during WFH as your mental health will not deteriorate because of loneliness and isolation.

2. Distractions

If you are living with other people in your home, such as your family or roommates, you will face many distractions while working. It can cause your productivity to lower as you will have to find a way to overcome these distractions. However, when you go to an office, you already have an environment without any distractions where you can thrive and work.

That is why it is crucial to overcome this challenge and remove all distractions when you WFH. It will allow you to stay productive and efficient no matter what is going on inside your home.

3. Loss Of Routine

Many people lose their routine as a result of working from home. That is because we take it lightly, and we wake up late, eat at random times, forget to move, and much more. Because of this, it is crucial to stick to your routine while WFH and treat it in the same way as you would when going to the office.

It will enable you to establish habits where you can thrive even while WFH. So, be sure to treat WFH the same as you treat going to your workplace and working.

4. Neglecting Networking

Networking is one of the top ways to stay connected with other people and things happening in your industry. If you are WFH, you can lose touch with your network. That is why it is crucial to find online networking opportunities in Singapore.

It will help you stay in touch with your industry and everything else going on around it. Networking will also help you deal with loneliness and the isolation that comes with WFH.

10 Useful Tips To Stay Sane During WFH In Singapore

Now that you are familiar with the challenges of remote working, here are the ten useful tips that will help you stay sane during WFH in Singapore:

1. Create A Designated Workspace For Yourself

One of the top problems many people face is that they don’t have a designated workspace for themselves at home. That is why it is important to have a room in your home that is solely for WFH. You can put a desk, an office chair, your files, and other things that will help you get in the working mindset.

You know that you have to stay productive and efficient when you enter that room. It will change your state of mind from "I am at home" to "I am at the office." Because of this, you will be able to get to work immediately as you enter that space.

Keep in mind that this space should not include anything that will distract you, such as a TV or anything else that might distract you. If you have these distractions, you will keep falling out of work mode. Because of this, your productivity will fall.

2. Stick To A Routine

Most people take WFH lightly and don’t stick to a routine. They wake up late, don’t create a schedule, and go through an unplanned day of work that makes them less productive. When we are working in an office, we have to wake up on time and stick to a routine that can benefit us.

You must create the same routine and stick to it when WFH. If you don’t, you will fall into bad habits that will lower your efficiency and productivity. Set regular hours for yourself and treat WFH as if you are working from an office.

Wake up in time, get dressed in your work attire, and enter your workspace at home as if it was an office. Once you do, you will get into work mode, and you will stay alert all day. Be sure to set a cut-off time where you are done with your work to maintain a work-life balance when WFH.

3. Stay Connected With Your Colleagues

Loneliness is a real challenge when WFH as we can feel isolated and alone during the time we are working. That is why it is crucial to get as much face time as possible with your colleagues when you WFH. For example, you can use meetings and video conferencing to stay connected with your employer and colleagues, so it almost feels as if you are in your office.

You can also use your company’s messaging platforms to talk to your coworkers and connect with them. Ensure that you also chat about things not related to work to socialize, even when you WFH. It will help you deal with social isolation and give you the same feelings of being in an office.

After all, working from an office is not always about sitting on your desk all day and being productive. All of us spend time socializing and talking to other people during our breaks. Doing this during WFH will offer you a close experience of being inside an office with other people.

4. Create A Checklist

It is easy to feel overwhelmed when you WFH if you don’t have a plan of how you will tackle your work. That is why you must create a checklist of all the tasks you have to indulge in during the day. You can sort the checklist in order of priority, with the most important tasks being at the top of the list.

It will help you visually understand what you need to do during the day, and you can begin ticking off a task one by one. Once you do this, you will love the satisfying feeling you get when you check off a task from your list. You can also set up a reward system for yourself if you want motivation after completing each task.

For example, you can reward yourself with a strategic break of ten minutes for each task you complete on the list. By strategic, we mean that you can spend those ten minutes doing something you like to enhance your focus. It will help you energize to tackle the next task on the list.

5. Reward Yourself After Your Work Hours

All of us are living a fast life, and we have forgotten the importance of slowing down. Rest and leisure time are crucial to energizing yourself and getting your work done. Besides that, many people fail to separate their work hours from their life when they indulge in WFH.

That is why it is crucial to living a balanced life and reward yourself after your work hours by slowing down. For example, if you love painting or listening to music, you can do that after work. Self-care time is one of the most important things that will help you get ready for the next day of work.

6. Stay Active

A sedentary lifestyle is not good even if you are working in the office. If you want your brain to stay sharp and alert, you must stay active and frequently exercise to keep your mind and body working. That is why you must designate a time for yourself to exercise.

You can do it before your work hours start, or you can do it in between. For example, you can take a break during work to go out for a short run and energize yourself. Sunlight, fresh air, and movement are some of the best medicines that can help energize you in no time.

You can take work calls while walking around the neighborhood if you don't have time. Doing this will help you stay active while getting your work done in no time. So, find a way and time to exercise and stay energetic throughout the day when you WFH.

7. Give Yourself Breaks

WFH doesn't mean that you must sit on your desk all day and keep on working. If you want to stay productive, you must give yourself breaks from time to time. After all, you don't want to stay inside your workroom all day as it can burn you out and give you cabin fever.

As a general rule of thumb, you can take a fifteen-minute break for every hour you work. It will give your mind the time to absorb what you have done and then come back to work. Such breaks will also improve the quality of your work as you become more productive in no time.

8. Get Adequate Sleep

One of the bright sides of WFH is that you don’t have to commute anymore. You can utilize that time to get enough sleep so you can have enough focus and concentration for the day. That is because sleep deprivation can lead to many mental, physical, and emotional problems.

So, set a routine, go to sleep on time, and ensure your body and mind get enough sleep for you to function optimally. It will help you stay alert throughout the day as you can easily concentrate and focus more.

9. Start Journaling

Dealing with the pandemic is incredibly frustrating as things are uncertain all the time. Many of us can feel alone when we WFH as we feel that we are alone in our struggles. That is why it is a good idea to start journaling, as it is a therapeutic way to ensure your feelings are heard.

You can use the journal to rant all you like, be it about work or other things. It will help you unburden yourself, and you will feel much lighter. Of course, these feelings will also reflect in your work as you can stay more productive because of this.

10. Dress For Work

Finally, the most important thing you must do is get dressed for work when you WFH. That is because if you stay in your pajamas when you WFH, you will feel lazy and unproductive all day. On the other hand, dressing for work will give you the feeling of productivity and efficiency.

Our clothing impacts how we feel, which is why you must not overlook this crucial aspect. Once you dress for work, you will feel as if you can conquer and seize the workday in no time.

Final Words

These are the top ten useful tips to stay sane during WFH in Singapore. Implement all these tips when working from home, and you will notice a significant change in your mental and physical well-being. That is because these tips will help you give the experience of being in an office even while you WFH.

Follow these tips with consistency and see yourself staying sane no matter how crazy things get at work. After all, it is crucial to find coping mechanisms as the world around us keeps on changing because of the pandemic.