COVID isn’t all bad. It’s also a gift.
The COVID Era normalized remote work. And I am grateful. With remote work, I don’t stress over my appearance, freeze waiting for busses in minus thirty, and go ape over office politics. I also no longer get workplace anxiety, which was worse than having my hands burned on a stove every thirty minutes. At least, that’s the analogy I used when I was in the throes of severe anxiety.
Thanks to COVID, I’m earning more money than I’ve ever earned in my life—and am succeeding despite three serious disabilities. With that said, here are eleven strategies I use for flourishing in remote work that may be beneficial for you:
- I journal every task achieved for reporting purposes in virtual meetings.
- I use the timesheets as a way to make a game out of the timer, recording every task in time increments with the aim to “show off a little” my productivity. This tactic also helps with my focus.
- I spend more money on clothing while purchasing fewer items. By selecting only “timeless” pieces, I can look my very best at the occasional gatherings.
- I spend more time than 8-hour days clocked into work. While this strategy may not be most ideal for parents, for a single wanting to get ahead, it can be a remarkable way to go the extra mile. I commonly clock in ten to eleven hours a day, with some of that time dedicated to professional development.
- I invest in skills development by spending money and time watching Udemy courses to acquire work-related skills. I spend at minimum an hour a day upgrading skills.
- I invest in coaches from Fiverr for one-hour tutorials whenever I approach a task challenge I am unable to resolve on my own.
- I invest in lunch-and-learns from Fiverr coaches willing to provide me with, for instance, five hours of design lessons for $50 total.
- I spend time each week seeking out new avenues of growth for my company online by searching for topics such as “sales strategies 2022.”
- I keep an email folder in which to store “new ideas.” I also like to text myself spontaneous work ideas for the record.
- I keep office politics to a bare minimum and maintain a formal, professional, but friendly tone in all written communications. It’s much easier to remove office politics in a remote corporate setting if one sticks strictly to business in all communications.
- If showing my face to a client via Zoom, I find the best lighting in the home and wear a full light face of makeup. Mac cosmetics allows me to “virtually” try on makeup, which I find beneficial. I elevate my laptop so that the camera is at eye level.
When I learned today my company would have an office one or two days a week, I shed some tears. COVID’s remote work has been decent for me, and going back to an office, even one day a week, is reason to cry.
But, as with anything, COVID has a double-edged sword. It’s hard to sell a product when everything is closed.
Given how many of Marie’s articles the students noted, I felt I needed to include at least one more. Not only is this one from the beginning of November in keeping with what you’ll usually find in a Voice Magazine, this one gives us an alternative take on what’s currently bringing down most people. And if an article in The Voice Magazine can make a student feel better for a few moments, well, that doesn’t deserve to be part of the Best of?
