How We Stay Organized and Engaged as a Team Working From Home

Sometimes we cannot help being caught up in our daily lives. Since our team is working from home bounded by the quarantine′s restrictions, it is evermore important to find ways to take care of yourself and stay healthy and organized in day-to-day life.

Just like our previous article about Team Morale, we discuss what steps our team is taking to make sure they remain engaged and productive at work, and most importantly, how to stay healthy both personally and together as a team. Take a look into the lives of some of our team members at Xotels whilst they are working from home in isolation during the Coronavirus quarantine stage in the different countries where we are based in. Find out how they deal with the limitations presented by the circumstances to make the best out of the situation, and at the same time preparing to come out stronger than ever before.

1. Yoga & Exercise

Meet Diana from our HotelScienz Sales & Support Team!

Practising Yoga and exercising regularly are for me the best ways to relax, unwind and stay healthy and fit. I use simple tips and guided practices from different places such as Instagram and blogs to see what works best for me and apply it in my own way to fit my schedule. Every time I use different ways to expand my routine and frequently switch it up to make things more exciting.

Since the gyms are closed and running outside is not possible due to the restrictions, I started working my way around it in a few ways to make sure the amount of exercise I get is not being limited.

Instead of running outside, I started running up and down the stairwell of my apartment block which works perfectly. Also, I started by doing some researching and testing of what works best inside of my apartment. What I found that works best is incorporating physical activity into my work routine in the form of short breaks, which helps to unwind and gets me through the day faster.

My Tip

Change things up and get some exercise in, it works like magic! Also, plan your breaks ahead and make sure you get enough time to exercise and have regularity in your time spent off.

2. Home Gardening

Meet Lauranne from our Marketing Team!

Since the quarantine started, I have been working from home which has been a few weeks now. Normally, I spend most of my time outdoors in the city when I am not working, which is unfortunately not possible at the moment. Luckily - as you can see - I am blessed to have my garden to spend time outdoors in between work and in the weekend when the weather allows for it.

I try spending as much time as possible in the garden to get some fresh air and movement in. Also, I make sure that the vegetables that we have planted get the needed attention which is a great way to keep myself busy around work.

My Tip

Spend time in different places around the house to break the daily routine a bit. Since working from home can get lonely and repetitive at times, it helps me to organize my thoughts when I switch places around the house to work from. My approach works in the way that I make sure the various spots are neatly organized the evening before and not to spend too much time on this on the day itself when I am working.

3. Cooking

Meet Thijs from our Marketing Team!

What is better than cooking, I mean come on - keeping yourself busy whilst being treated to a good plate of food will unquestionably stay on top of my list of favorites. All jokes aside, I love to cook as it really helps me introduce moments during the day to take my mind off other things, working almost in a therapeutic sense. With some culinary background, I love to prepare elaborate dinners for friends and family which unfortunately is out of the question at the moment for obvious reasons. On the flipside, it gives me some more time to first perfect a few dishes before throwing myself in front of the lions - being my constructively critical friends and family.

Besides spending time to cook in the evening (or - as they would say back home - dinner in the dead of night), I find myself incorporating moments to prepare a quick and wholesome meal to keep me healthy and energetic. Personally, this feels key to making me be my best and productive self as possible. Also, I am trying to avoid becoming the embodiment of the ′before and after quarantine′ memes that are liberally floating around the internet.

My Tip

Try finding time to take care of yourself, especially when it comes to food. My approach is easy: never sacrifice time to take care of yourself - so make sure you start planning some ¨you-time¨, now is the moment!

4. DIY Home Makeover

Meet Leonardo from our Revenue Management Team!

Despite not being the best handyman one could ask for by a long shot, I thought to myself, why not bang away at some work around the house. Since having some maintenance needed in my living room I went ahead and gave it a whirl...

...and, as you can see in the picture above, it is still a work in progress ;)

Wish me luck!

My Tip

Not only does it feel good to finish some pending upkeep to my apartment, it gives me the time to take my mind off work and spend time on something that will benefit me in the long term (as long as it turns out well enough not to need a professional to come in and patch things up…).

Be creative and try finding something that can use a lick of paint or look for other ways to give your apartment some love.

5. As a Team: Virtual Drink with the Team

Meet our Xotels Team!

Besides having multiple ways to connect with each other during the day, such as daily meetups to organize and engage ourselves as a team and our Virtual Friday Lunch, we spend time with each other after work to have a drink on Friday just like we normally would. Something as quintessential as that surely cannot be missed out on ;)

We love to see our team get together and keep themselves motivated and active regardless of the current situation. Although this period might not be a walk in the park for any of us, it is good to see our team sticking closely together and supporting each other by coming up with creative ways to deal with the circumstances and come out stronger than ever before.

Please share your thoughts on how you find your way to keep yourself going during this crisis. 

Stay home and stay safe!

Cheers,

Patrick Landman @ Xotels