It's official: we are halfway through the second year of the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil. During this period, many companies adapted their work routines and placed employees on remote work.
After all this time working from home, many professionals feel exhausted, while others say they have never felt so productive.
And you, which side are you on?
Uncertain times directly affect our productivity
To understand more about how moments of uncertainty can affect individuals' productive capacity, we spoke to Rita Brum, neurotherapist, master coach and master in Psychology.
Rita explains that turbulent moments can directly affect individuals' productivity. "People's productive capacity is directly linked to emotions and emotions accompany us every day, so it is very important to know them, as only then will we know how to deal with them", says the psychologist.
The expert explains that people react differently to circumstances and some are more able to adapt. However, Rita reports that most people have experienced some type of psychological exhaustion during this period. "I have observed in several patients - who have already had Covid - an increase in insecurity and fear and the consequent development of phobias", says the specialist.
She states that certainly, nowadays, people are much more emotionally burdened than at the beginning of the pandemic . Rita says that she has treated several patients with problems with focus, concentration, memory and anxiety and, through neurofeedback techniques, has helped many people.
The difficulties brought by remote work
One of the main difficulties that people encounter when working remotely is reconciling domestic and family activities and their work routine.
Giuliana Tosi, marketing and experience manager at Ambev, shares this sentiment. It turns out that for the professional, the year 2020 brought another significant change to her life: she became a mother.
The manager says she went on maternity leave in March, the month the lockdown began. Therefore, she only definitively started working remotely in October, remaining in this model to this day.
Giuliana reports that the biggest difficulty is finding quality time to work and be productive . Furthermore, she has felt firsthand the difficulty in balancing daily tasks between home and work: "the biggest difficulty is separating tasks. Being a mother, housewife and professional in the same environment is hard. Time is confusing. , I feel suffocated", says the professional.
For Giuliana, the turning point was when her son went to daycare. She says that she resisted the decision a lot because of the pandemic and that she often felt the judgment of people who told her to “seize the moment”.
However, the situation reached such a point that Giuliana realized that, if the decision was not made, it would be impossible to maintain work at the same pace. "It is humanly impossible to do both functions very well. I have my professional vanity. I love my son more than anything. I don't want to give up! But... there are only 24 hours in a day", he says.
Giuliana says that despite the initial suffering, today she realizes that she made the right decision. "His going to daycare hurt me a lot inside at first. But today it gives me a huge breather in my professional life. What I still haven't achieved is balancing my personal life!" - he jokes - "The weekend is always the baby's."
She says she has found balance, taking breaks to rest and be silent. He also states that he found a refuge in the practice of meditation and that today he can disconnect from his problems after business hours: "this is liberating", he says.
Giuliana's practice is encouraged by Rita. According to the expert, excessive work is a dangerous practice, which can even affect the professional's productive capacity. Therefore, she highlights the importance of having planning and organization, in addition to well-established schedules. " As paradoxical as it may seem, working too much reduces productivity , because when we are tired we have less focus, less concentration and consequently less productivity", explains the psychologist.
Advantages of remote work
On the other hand, remote work has pleased many professionals, who have become super fans of the system and are very satisfied.
Mariana Lauande is one of them. IDP's commercial and relationship manager has been working from home since March 2020 and explains that, right at the beginning of the pandemic, she realized the need for social isolation, mainly to be able to be with her mother, who is part of the risk group of the disease.
She says that in the beginning the situation presented several difficulties. "In addition to all the external tension with lots of new information and events, the change in routine, staying at home 24 hours a day and not having an adequate physical space brought me several difficulties", explains the professional.
However, she guarantees that after better adaptation, remote work has become easier. "I consider that my productivity has increased a lot. It took a while for me to adapt, as I didn't even have a physical space at home to work, but after organizing the space and the daily routine, I see that I can be more productive than at the beginning My routine is well designed and I can follow it lightly", explains Mariana.
She says she also adopted practices to improve her work routine. "I organize myself to take 10 minutes every time after an hour of sitting at the computer. I have some reminders in my office to remind me to drink water, breathe, blink... Every day I stretch, because sitting all day ends up damaging my spine a little. here, right?" says the professional.
How to improve productivity
Finally, psychologist Rita Brum suggests some practices to improve productive capacity during this period. The professional considers them to be extremely important for those who want to better deal with emotions and increase productivity:
Develop Emotional Intelligence: It is essential to invest in the development of emotional intelligence, which is the ability to recognize one's own emotions and then know how to recognize and learn to deal with them. Learn more about emotional intelligence in this post: "Emotional Intelligence: What is it?
Have discipline: Working from home is a challenge that requires a lot of discipline. We need to keep in mind that everything that is happening will pass.
Maintaining positive thinking helps a lot with productivity.
Being grateful for life and health , gratitude produces endorphins in our body, which is a natural anesthetic that helps ease physical and emotional pain.
Practicing physical activity: taking care of your body is also important, as well as producing endorphins.
Establish contact with people, even if it is online or through messages.
