EXPLORING NEW WAYS OF WORKING
Monika, our EVS volunteer from Poland, has decided to stay in Milan during the quarantine and she -as everyone at our organization – was working from home, from the comfort of her apartment.
You can read about her experience with smart working below.
Remote working – blessing and the curse
“Remote working, the way of working that most people dream about. It allows us to plan our own time and work from whichever place on Earth we could think about. If we need a break and go to the sea or mountains, we can easily do it taking our computers with us and working with beautiful view in the background. It gives flexibility and teaches self-control, time management. It has a lot of perks but it also has minuses.
Nobody expected that most of the world would experience a few months lockdown during which work would move from the office to our own houses. We were forced to work remotely and plan our own working schedule. We were separated from our co-workers which interfered communication. During remote working we lose track of time and we tend to procrastinate or overwork due to lack of distinction between work and private life. Lack of social contact influences mood which leads to decrease in motivation.
We had to adjust and learn how to use benefits of technology to overcome all appearing obstacles. We all are now masters in using video chat and handling moments of interferences which stopped the videos. I can’t even count how many times the internet connection broke and I lost half of the meeting. It was also quite difficult to be locked in the apartment without the possibility to go out and meet colleagues from work to discuss the upcoming matters. I was missing human contact which gives motivation to work as at home there is so many distractions.
I think that after that experience we all will appreciate more the pluses of working in the office, as well as employees will notice that remote working is possible in the jobs considered before as office based.”