Work from home challenges and how to overcome it

Since the community quarantine has been implemented in the Philippines, businesses have also adopted the work from setup to its employees to assure that business will be a usual despite the limitations under the community quarantine.

At first, it might look like a win-win situation for both employer and employee as the employer will save office resources while employees don’t need to travel to the office, and of course, limiting the risk of getting infected by COVID-19.

But as the work from setup has started, employees slowly realized that this kind of setup has tons of challenges that sort-of makes the setup more stressful than working in the office.

Here are some of the work from home (WFH) challenges employees had experienced and suggestions on how to overcome them:

Back pains

Although you also experience this while working in the office, it seems that back pains due to longer sitting time in a work from home setup is worst. At least, on office-based work, you have the chance to stretch your body by walking on the pathway during breaks or going to the cafeteria to eat. As we know, the community quarantine limits us in going out of our houses which also means less physical activities. Also, there are times that we work longer in the WFH setup because we don’t think of going out on time because we want to go home early and avoid heavy traffic.

Recommendations:

Stretch your body. Make sure to move. Maybe have a tour at your house during break times or have a short exercise after work to maintain physical activity.  

But of course, there are times that we are too busy to have a break or too tired to do exercise after work. Fortunately, there is Ibuprofen + Paracetamol (ALAXAN FR) that will help in getting rid of these back pains.

What the best about ALAXAN FR is its fast relief formula that removes pain in just a few minutes. 

Internet Connection 

Internet speed in the Philippines has been a problem for decades already but it became worst during the pandemic, maybe because of the surge in internet demands because of a sudden shift to digital activities such work from home setup, online learning, e-commerce, and more.

This challenge affects employees' productivity since the work from home setup relies on the internet for communication. Imagine extending working hours just to meet deadlines or being disconnected while on a presentation or a meeting? Stressful!

Recommendations:

Always have a backup internet source. Unfortunately, there is no 100% reliable internet provider in the country. At some point all of them experienced downtimes, so having a backup is a good solution.

You don’t need to apply for an additional line, you can have at least mobile data that you can hotspot in case your primary source is failing or you can purchase a reloadable mobile dongle or prepaid wifi.

Additional Expenses

Maybe the first thing you think when you heard that you will be working from home is that you can save a lot of money since you don’t need to go out of your house; no transportation cost and lesser food cost.

Yes, working from home during this pandemic is costly to most if not all. Electric and mobile internet use rise resulting in higher bills. Purchasing additional equipment or gadget to meet requirements also adds additional cost. And of course, most if not all have become addicted to online shopping.

Recommendations:

Know your priorities. Buy what you need. And if you can do DIY then do it. Stop shopping for unnecessary stuff online. If you can do window shopping in the mall then also do it online.

Learn to stop working after office hours. The longer you work means higher the electric consumption.

Work-Life Balance

Most of the time we struggle to separate our personal and work during WFH setup. We tend to work beyond office hours, we bring our work to our beds, and sometimes we forget to enjoy and rest.

Our home should be our place of relaxation, safety, and security. It is where we rest and calm ourselves after a long day of work. But since you are working from home, our work invades our place.

Recommendations:

Plan a schedule. Treat every day as a normal day at work. Wake up early, have your breakfast, and dress like you are going to the office. Then stop working after office hours then change your office clothes. This for me is effective as it will make you feel that you are already done working.

Also, set your place of work. Maybe you can set up a mini office in a quiet space of your house. Don’t bring your work to your room. That is not a place to work. It is a place for you to rest.

These are some of the challenges most employees encounter in a work from home setup. But despite challenges, I know that Filipinos are born #Palaban! Parang mga #mandirigma na hindi sumusuko! So I am sure everyone will cope with these challenges.

I hope all the recommendations will help, but if you have more recommendations on how to solve these challenges please drop them in the comment section below.