Picture this: working from the comfort of your own home in bed with a boiling cup of coffee on the bedside table and a plate of freshly baked goods as you put on background music or a show you’ve been binging on Netflix. In light of the weather storms and CoronaVirus (COVID-19), working from home online is slowly becoming the norm.
Recently, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly announced shutting down schools and universities for two full weeks. With that came the panic of ‘now what?’ as many companies and educational institutions move towards working online. This is all while the entirety of Egypt storms supermarkets to stock food in case of a total shutdown right after witnessing last weekend’s actual physical storm that left streets flooded. Yes, it’s been quite an interesting week for Egypt.
While students can technically be given the green card to ‘take a break until further notice’ (excluding those with SATs, external exams or university obligations and deadlines), not everyone else can. Although working from home online is appealing to many, it’s not as simple as it sounds.
1) The Lagging WiFi
Turn it on and off, and then on and off again…one more time and it’ll work
This is truly no one’s fault but with the entire family in the house all using the internet, it’s bound to lag at least a little bit. The trick is to try and coordinate with one another despite the constant memes on social media expressing how every Egyptian family will probably die because they can’t live together locked up in a house for this long.
From 9 to 5, try and make the WiFi for work usage only. Whether this includes your actual job or assignments, papers and projects in the case of being a student, limit it to just work. That’ll help you stay in a working mode for the necessary hours that you actually need to concentrate in anyway.
And when the clock strikes 5pm, you’re free to disconnect and move on to your ‘Netflix and chill’ lifestyle.
2) Easy Online Distractions
Netflix and chill?
Let’s get one thing cleared up; when your company’s HR director sent out an email saying that you would be ‘working from home until further notice’, he/she did not mean that this was a holiday. But of course, everyone rejoiced like it was a holiday announcement.
Of course, having children, a pet or a large family will be a distraction when working from home – especially at a time of a global health pandemic when everyone is already talking about something else all the time. Inevitably, the global situation itself is distracting. But working online and alone means the ability to open a new tab to an endless loop of distractions that include, but are not limited to: watching movies, playing games, online shopping, etc…
But there are ways to work around this. If you can keep your bedroom door closed from the rest of the noisy household from 9 to 5, definitely do that. You’re obviously allowed to get up, walk around and actively stay aware of the world around you. However, don’t lose track of time and close the door to potential distractions.
3) Other People Feel Like You’re Probably Not Working
Reality Vs. Expectation
Because of the global health pandemic, the socially responsible thing to do would be to stay home. But alas, not everyone will be understanding. Of course, working online means the inability to continuously track every employee’s work and it also means that employees could so easily not do work at all. To have a massive amount of industries and companies suddenly work online is a new thing for Egypt and it’s bound to have some bumps especially with how suddenly it happened.
Yes, it’ll be hard and yes, not all work will get done in the exact way it normally would’ve been done. But, you’re still working. It goes without saying that working in an office is different because everyone can actually see you working. Regardless, a change in setting and routine does not necessarily mean that you’ve suddenly stopped working.
4) Lack of Cooperation And Misunderstandings
The 925 Crew (no misunderstandings here though)
Solving issues that arise face to face while being at the office is much easier than phone calls and back and forth emails when all parties could easily be misunderstood. Most offices and classes at university have active WhatsApp group chats and if that’s not the case with you, definitely make one.
925Egypt previously wrote a list of tools that would ease communication and keep everyone on the same page. Even if everyone is working from the comfort of their bedroom in pajamas, it’s important that everyone stays in the loop.
It’s easy to get caught up in a work task and not check your notifications for a few hours. In an actual office space, this would be okay. But since we are all stuck at home right now, make sure you check your phone as much as possible to stay alert and aware of the necessary work-related tasks.
5) Overworking
Take a break and put yourself first for a change
In the office, you have working hours and once those hours are over, you can switch off for the rest of the day. Working at home may often feel like it is never ending. Generally, you’ll find yourself accepting phone calls and work requests after actual working hours are over. If there is a situation or a need to do so, then it is acceptable.
However, make sure to draw borders for yourself on when to take a break and when it’s time to turn off the internet for the day and disconnect. Sitting at a computer all day without any form of exercise is not healthy so definitely don’t let the experience of working online at home turn into your entire 24/7 routine.
