How are couples coping with home working?
Before the pandemic kicked in, working remotely was often seen as a luxurious oddity reserved for a new, special, virtual upper class. Now, for many it has just become the new norm, leaving them alone there are their partners who need to cope with that too. So how they do it?
I was recently reading an article on BBC website about the couple who work is these new circumstances. To begin with couple was happy to work together, everything was just fine. They had their desks set in their own home office, but suddenly it turned out that one was too loud for another.
Office of National Statistics known as ONS have done calculations for April and found that nearly half of the entire UK workforce was doing at least some of their work from home. It must be said that work from home was not possible for millions of workers, including vulnerable to risk of infection and that included nurses, paramedics as well as others in the healthcare sector.
According to the ONS, mainly people in the professional, technical and managerial occupations were the most likely to be able to work remotely, while those left in skilled trades, sales or factories were likely to be excluded from working remotely opportunities.
It must be said that many are not able to work remotely given they didn’t had any previous experience in doing so. If there is a one person in the household working this way, it is more likely easier to adapt. However if a couple try to switch to remote work there must be some extra steps and precautions to consider.
So how to create a happier environment for the home workers?
I will suggest to fist start with a plan, see if you have two rooms available or maybe you can make special arrangements to room you are currently working at, or perhaps you can modify a part of your bedroom, kitchen or even garage. Consider the timing as you may find that you both work in different time zones or on different dates so you can just adjust to that.
Take care of your health and well being, you need to reduce the stress as much as possible, make sure you exercise, make sure you eat healthy. Don’t forget to let the light in to your room so it will give you that better feeling, make sure you open the window to let the fresh air in. Many like the cosy office but you can always make it warmer by bringing a cup of tea or coffee !
Make sure you declutter the place and clean in often, you don’t want to work in mess, leaving alone looking at it and be aware that is there. It can be depressing. Make sure there are things which you actually use for work, get rid of all items not relevant to your work, replace them with plants, they will bring more of the happiness to your office.
Make sure you reduce the noise, you can use special headphones with noise cancellation feature or just make sure the room is insulated properly. Don’t forget to make breaks and set your timers, don’t do unnecessary overtime’s unless you really have to.
Most importantly take care of your well-being and the well-being of your partner, you want to stay supportive and kind, you don’t want to create toxic environment in your own home which can break your relationship and make you hate your work. Talk often about any of your observations and try to get a feedback from your partner, you both need to work on this together to ensure you not only understand each other but also support your second half before it is too late.
Are you working with your partner? Is there anything you wish you changed in early days of that working environment?
Feel free to let me know in the comments section below.
All the best,
Lucas
