Where were you when the pandemic lockdowns started? Most people were taken aback when companies started closing down and school was out indefinitely. Disruptions started non-stop, and people did all that they can to keep up with them.
Most people operate effectively with a schedule in place. Some feel their best when they have a rigid schedule in place, while others might not like it at all. Some people would love to have scheduled appointments to go to, whether it’s to fulfill a scheduled car maintenance appointment or to meet up with a friend or colleague at work.
During the pandemic, it’s not so easy to do that, but it’s not impossible to continue having schedules—yes, even when you’re staying at home. It’s all a matter of filling your day with things you can do at home and activities that don’t require you to go out.
Do you need to take the car in? Schedule a home service
Many people made appointments during the pandemic and saw these wilt into nothing when the lockdowns happened. Due to the ongoing fear and uncertainty then, many people may have forgone their appointments. It’s not so difficult now.
If you have made an appointment with your local service center, you can honor that schedule through some ‘new normal’ practices. Most service centers now offer home service, where a crew or service personnel can visit you at home and do the repairs or maintenance on site.
While this may be convenient, remember that there’s still a pandemic to be wary about. Consider keeping to your own personal protocols and those recommended by the government to keep both you and the service personnel safe from the virus.
Keep your day moving like an assembly line
When you’re left with nothing to do and no one to speak to, it could feel like days stretch into weeks and weeks into months.
That’s simply an unacceptable way to spend your time. In fact, if you can’t go to work according to your schedule, then you should bring your schedule home. If you’re working at home, plan to cover all your work and effectively finish them when you’re at work.
After work, or if you haven’t any work for the day, schedule the things that need doing and finish them all according to plan. You shouldn’t allow yourself to spend your day without failing to finish at least one chore. Be proactive.
Create a place where your creative energies can flow
When you’re working a car, you need to make sure that it’s running perfectly fine. The fuel line needs to be clean and the pathways unclogged, which is why regular maintenance should be done.
This is also the case when you’re preparing your space at home for remote work. You have to have a place that is dedicated to finishing projects and creating them. It’s next to impossible to stay focused with a ruckus going on in the background, so you need to really allocate space to work.
Since it’s a pandemic, there’s plenty of time to see which combinations work. Get down to the assembly line that is your drawing board and see how you would design your workspace away from work.
From days to weeks to months
Making a daily schedule that can stretch for a month or beyond cannot be stressed enough.
During the pandemic, it’s easy to see how days can mesh into weeks and months. With nothing else to occupy your mind (believe it or not, traffic and the daily commute can keep your mind busy), you might find it hard to concentrate and be motivated. The trick here is to keep your mind occupied.
Why not try to fill in your daily schedule with worthwhile activities? This could be anything from creating an exercise schedule to simply finishing work that needs to be done.
Enjoy your moments of success
There comes a time at the assembly floor at the plant or at the local dealership where they enjoy the fruits of their labor. The same goes for you, too; make sure that you don’t leave fun outside your remote working agreement. Treat it like it is—work brought home from the office—and celebrate the small victories.
Every bit of victory against COVID-19 counts. Make sure that you treat your work at home and the subsequent successes like an automobile engine in top shape, and you’ll come out of the pandemic just fine.
