How to deal with stress when working from home

How to Deal with Stress when Working from Home

By Michael Morris

Working from home might sound like a less stressful option than braving the daily commute or dealing with face-to-face contact with coworkers, but it doesn’t eliminate those daily workday anxieties completely – and it can bring its own set of worries along with it. Since the coronavirus pandemic, stay-at-home orders have meant that more people than ever are working from home and facing the realities that homeworking can bring. Many people ask: “How do you deal with stress when working from home?”

5 Great Tips for Handling Stress when Working from Home

1. Differentiate between home life and work life

When you’re working from home, the lines between your home life and office life can easily become blurred. It brings a whole new meaning to “bringing work home with you”. Therefore, it’s essential to make sure that you create a space in your home that you only use for work purposes so that you don’t constantly immerse yourself in your work life or let work-related stresses bleed into your daily routine.

5 tips for handling stress when working from home

When you finish work, it’s imperative that you can switch off and enjoy your family time or just find time to relax. Put down your pens, turn off your computer and step away from your desk until it’s time to start work again. Don’t be tempted to check your inbox and find ways to distract yourself if you feel that niggling desire to write that email you just didn’t have time to complete earlier in the day.

2. Create a comfortable workspace

How to deal with stress when working from home

When creating your home-based office, try to find a quiet space that’s away from distractions such as the television, or your children. By immersing yourself in an environment that’s conducive to productive working, the transition from office to homeworking will be much easier.

Be sure to set up your home office in a way that will keep you relaxed and make you feel comfortable at your workstation. Most importantly, don’t skimp on breaks. When you’re in the office, it’s natural to get up from time to time to chat with a colleague or wander into the kitchen to get a coffee. In your home environment, it’s much easier to forget to take these breaks – but they’re essential for mental well-being and stress reduction.

3. Don’t let social isolation impact your mental health

How to deal with stress when working from home

For anyone who is used to working in the buzz of a busy office environment, the change to homeworking can be quite isolating. Whether you have a family or live alone, the lack of interaction with coworkers can create a deep void.

Scheduling regular calls with colleagues and your managers can really help, especially if you have weekly team sessions to check in with each other.

Outside of work time, video calling with friends and family members can ease your loneliness. Sharing your feelings with trusted friends will allow you to channel and ease your stress instead of repressing it.

4. Make time to do something you enjoy

Deal with stress by doing something you enjoy

One of the best stress-busters is doing something that you enjoy. Whether it’s a daily run in the park, spending time with your family, watching your favourite show, taking your beloved dog for a walk, or simply sitting back and listening to music, fun can be the best medicine for beating stress factors.

If you’re still struggling with stress or anxiety, try guided meditations to help you unwind, or breathing techniques for effective stress management.

5. Talk to someone who can help

If the stresses of homeworking are proving to be a significant burden, talk to your manager or call the Samaritans (UK) in a crisis situation. Sharing your worries can help to alleviate them and make you feel better. Remember that, although work is an important part of life, the most important thing is your mental health and well-being.

For an excellent Guide on Mental Health while working remotely, click here.

16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done

16 Simple motivation tips to get more done

We all know how each year can pick-up speed and we become busier than ever. For this productivity to be sustainable, we need a whole lot of motivation.

Especially in the life of a project manager, there are always many important things to do to keep projects on track. Here we think of:

  • being a leader who needs to motivate others
  • being a team builder so that your project will have a high performing team
  • being an excellent communicator, keeping all stakeholders informed and aligned
  • being a good organiser and planner
  • being a problem solver of all the inevitable problems that come up
  • being a negotiator and influencer
  • knowing how to keep the customers satisfied
  • keeping your business and industry knowledge current

To all of you who are in the trenches everyday, keeping your eyes on the goals and leading your projects to successful outcomes, I want to share this Infographic, with compliments from Wrike, to bless you with great motivation tips to get more done every day!

16 Simple Motivation Tips to Get More Done (#Infographic)
Infographic brought to you by Wrike

Catch the 2020 Wave

Welcoming 2020

2019 Year in Review

I would like to reflect on some 2019 highlights and share our top 12 articles published on the blog this year. 

In March 2019 we celebrated at Virtual Project Consulting, our 10 year anniversary.  In August 2019, Virtual Project Consulting has been awarded in the 2019 African Excellence Awards as the Best Online-Only Project Management Consulting Services Provider. 

African Business excellence awards

Read more about it here.

In November 2019, one of our articles was awarded 2nd place for Most Valuable Post in the Methodologies and Tools category, by the ‘Project Magement Update’ company. It’s nr. 3 in the list below.

Most Popular Blog Posts

Now for the most popular articles on the blog in the past year in case you missed it:

  1. Key Project Management Skills Needed for the Future – a January article that explored how major current trends impact the skills of project managers, what skills are in demand in the future and what action plan can project management professionals follow.
  2. Innovation through Projects – An interesting perspective ontraits that innovative people share, how projects are used for innovation, how to measure the outcomes and some examples of innovative projects.
  3. 7 Common Project Management Methodologies – Find a break down of project management methodologies with a helpful animation from Fundera.  This article was awarded 2nd place for Most Valuable Post in the Methodologies and Tools category, by the ‘Project Magement Update’ company
  4. What’s Happened to Project Planning? – If you wonder what makes project managers successful, research has shown that planning is one area where high-performance project managers spend most of their time.
  5. Are you on a Time-Critical Project?– How to do better planning on time-constrained projects including strategies and tactics to apply.
  6. How to Make your Project SuccessfulThere are many common causes for project failure, but also remedies. Find out how to make your project successful.
  7. Your Guide in the World of Project Management– Learn about the most important things to do on any successful project during my “Interview with an expert” that was done by the well-known PM Tips blog.
  8. Is Your Company Using Project Portfolio Management (PPM) Effectively?  – Discover the current trends, best practices, common benefits, and average ROI of Project Portfolio Management.
  9. Project Management: Planning with Purpose – A look at competencies found in high performing project managers, as well as the typical journey of project managers through their careers based on insightful research.
  10. Biodegradable Plastic Project break-through– Discover more about the project that made the breakthrough biodegradable plastic possible. An interview with the developer and producer of biodegradable plastic bags, Anika Nell.

Emotional Intelligence

The Agile Project Manager

Your Career in 2020

2020 career goals

If you have lofty goals for your career in 2020, here are tips from elite-cv.com on how to improve your career in 2020.

  1. Be radically open minded: challenge your own thoughts and ideas, don’t be too attached to them. Also stress test your ideas, let others find holes in your reasoning.
  2. Own your outcomes: you are responsible for your own successes and failures. Reflect on your journey thus far and inspect what you could have done differently to obtain better results.
  3. Leverage other people’s strengths: Find out and list those things you’re not good at, then get people who are good at those things to gain great leverage. Asking for help from those who are strong in areas where you are weak is a great skill that you should develop.
  4. Learn how to make decisions effectively: Challenge your own thoughts and ideas and inspect if you are harvesting the best possible solution/s.

I wish for all of you a radically successful, rewarding and prosperous 2020!

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Virtual Project Consulting Receives Africa Excellence 2019 Award

Award received by Virtual Project Consulting
AWARD

Announcement

Virtual Project Consulting has been awarded in the 2019 African Business Excellence Awards as the Best Online-only Project Management Consulting Services Provider. The Press Release with the official announcement can be found here.

The listing that goes with this award is as follows:

  • Virtual Project Consulting is your trusted online advisor for the most comprehensive recommended resources for project management training, software, products, books and best practices! Find practical advice on project management processes, templates and tools.
  • Service offering includes PMO supported Project & Portfolio Management Software, online training for new Project Managers and partner for Agile Project Management online training.
  • Social responsibility initiative called Success Stories Shared, which captures and publishes the experience of high-performing Project Managers to share with current and future generations.

We are proud to be showcased with other outstanding businesses across sectors and we will continue to serve our online community of project management practitioners as we have been doing for the past 10 years.

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Big Data and how Psychologists help make companies more profitable

By Quinn Cooley

It is estimated that by 2020, we will be creating 1.7 megabytes of information for every single person on the planet–every second of every day. It’s hard to wrap your mind around numbers this big, but the data influx continues to grow. Fortunately, we now have the tools to actually use a lot of this big data. Companies of all sizes are now collecting and analyzing these large datasets to find insights that help to improve everything from decision-making to streamlining organizational processes.

Although we typically think of big data as a purely logical aspect of business operations, proper analysis isn’t just about the algorithms and asking the right questions. It also requires knowledge of psychology and emotions. Why? Because the customer behavior big data collects is a direct reflection of what humans do. A data scientist may not be able to make sense of these patterns and pull out relevant insights—but a psychologist will.

Past behavior typically gives psychologists a good idea of what future behavior will look like. Customers with certain behaviors are more likely to exhibit seemingly unrelated behavior. For instance, you wouldn’t think that a credit score might affect someone’s likelihood of getting into a car accident, but these are just the kinds of links that psychologists can pull out of large datasets during analysis. Psychologists have made some other surprising discoveries based on big data as well. For example, Google’s Project Oxygen discovered that technical ability was actually the least important skill for effective managers—counterintuitive at a tech company.

It’s early days for psychologists on the analytics team. Many small and medium-sized businesses simply don’t have the budget to hire someone else to look over their data—data scientists are in demand and command high salaries. However, large Fortune 500 companies are beginning to see the value in having someone with a background in human behavior. Big data has enormous potential for return on investment, however. The healthcare industry could save up to $300 billion a year, and retailers could increase operating margins by up to 60%. With that kind of potential, it’s no wonder that large companies are starting to put more resources into their big data departments and hiring psychologists.

Check out this infographic from the University of Southern California’s online Master of Science in Applied Psychology to learn more about big data’s role in business and how psychologists are helping to make data even more profitable for companies.

Big Data and the Psychologist's Role on the Analytical Team

University of Southern California

 

How to be a SMART Project Manager in 2018

SMART project managerAt the beginning of every new year people think about their goals and resolutions for the upcoming year. However, by the end of January, most people have forgotten their good intentions and fall back into old habits or routines and tend to do the same things they have always done.

I’m sure many of you have fallen into this trap, but there are always people who seem to have it together. What are they doing differently?

 

 

Good practices

Just like project management has been standardized by way of international standards and good practices ensuring consistent delivery and more successful outcomes, there are SMART ways to help you be more productive by keeping to your goals for the year.

Some experts recommend to have a vision by way of setting a personal theme as well as a professional theme for the year. This will take you beyond goals and resolutions and will help you to reach your objectives and become like a “heartbeat” for the year.

Based on your themes, you will still come up with objectives that will help you to achieve your goals and give you the best chance for success. If you don’t plan and prepare to win, how can you expect to win? This is taken from a Zig Ziglar “Born to win philosophy”.

There are numerous productivity experts and books available today that can help you reach higher levels of performance and it’s up to you to choose who to follow and what to implement. As long as you make it personal and you keep referring to your written goals on a monthly, weekly and even daily basis, there’s no obstacles that you cannot overcome.

How to make 2018 a successful year

Lastly, I want to share a wonderful resource on “How to make 2018 a successful year for your projects”, an eBook that was compiled by Elizabeth Harrin, containing ideas and tips from experts and inspiring project delivery professionals on how to make 2018 your most successful year ever? I was also privileged to be featured.

Some common themes that came up repeatedly are:

  1. Agile – if you don’t know enough about it, you need to start learning
  2. How crucial soft skills are for project professionals
  3. Authentic and ethical leadership that will help to get the work done and set you apart from your peers

Enjoy the eBook, take responsibility for your personal and career development and implement those success strategies that will help you to make this year one of the best years ever!

Please subscribe to Virtual Project Consulting not to miss future articles, tips and success stories!

 

Finish the race strong in 2016

inspiring storyJohn Akhwari from Tanzania represented his country in the Summer Olympic Games of 1968 as a marathon runner. During the race he suffered a fall that badly cut and dislocated his knee. Medical personnel bandaged his wounds and told him his knee required more treatment. However, Akhwari stood up and continued his race. An hour after the winner he crossed the finish line and when remaining reporters asked him why he continued running in his condition, he responded:

“My country didn’t send me 5000 miles to start the race. They sent me 5000 miles to finish it!”

My hope for you is that you will finish your year strong. It’s always a good idea to reflect on your past year, your accomplishments, what you’ve learned and what you’re grateful for.

As founder of Virtual Project Consulting, I want to share some of the books I’ve read in 2016 and to make you aware of the reviews I’ve done for a few really good project management books.

Book Reviews

  1. The Conscious Project Leader by Colin Ellis from the perspective of how to create a culture of success for your projects, your team and yourself. Colin is also a speaker, writer and mentor on Conscious Project Leadership. One of his outstanding qualities, seems to be his sense of humour which makes for an engaging read.
  2. The Power of Project Leadership: 7 Keys to Help You Transform from Project Manager to Project Leader” by Susanne Madsen, is an easy read and it’s applied specifically to project managers who are seriously aspiring to become better leaders. The book will help make the transition from project manager to project leader.
  3. Leadership Toolbox for Project Managers, achieve better results in a dynamic world” by Michel Dion, is to help equip project managers to manage projects in a dynamic, complex and unpredictable environment. The book is focused on Leadership including self-awareness, vision, strategic thinking, decision making and interaction with others.
  4. Project Management for SME’s by Gren Gale is written with small businesses in mind, is very practical advice and insight with regards to the application of project management as a discipline in the Small Business sector.

Other Books that I can recommend

  1. Mindset – changing the way you think to fulfil your potential” by Carol Dweck, a must read for people who want to have a growth mindset to help achieve success.
  2. Lead with a Story by Paul Smith is about the use of storytelling as a leadership tool.
  3. TED Talks Storytelling by Akash Karia gives 23 storytelling techniques from the best TED talks.
  4. Act like a leader, think like a leader by Herminia Ibarra on how managers and executives can step up to leadership by making small, crucial changes in their jobs, their networks and themselves.
  5. “Lean in women, work and the will to lead” by Sheryl Sandberg, impactful for woman who want to be empowered to achieve their full potential.
  6. The 12 week year by Brian P Moran for a boost in productivity.
  7. “Procrastinate on purpose – 5 permissions to multiply your time” by Rory Vaden, giving insights on overcoming procrastination, improving self-discipline and increasing productivity.
  8. “Surge – time the marketplace, ride the wave of consumer demand” by Mike Michalowicz for the entrepreneurs among us.

Virtual Project Consulting

On my project management blog I’m reaching almost 300 blog articles covering various topics like Leadership, Project Management, Change Management and Social Media for PM’s .

In 2016 topics included:

  • Innovation in project management,
  • Agile
  • Current trends in project management
  • Project basics – how to start a project, how to do cost estimation and budget development, project planning, decision making skills etc

Enjoy the read and remember to tell your colleagues who are looking for materials on specific topics.

Of course there are always listings of Events taking place all over the world, as well as recommended Project Management resources like Training, Software and Products. Don’t forget about the Podcasts! Our Project Success Stories are still growing and if you have a good story to share, please send it to me for publishing!

Growth Program for new Project Managers

Lastly, my flagship for the year, The Growth Program for New Project Managers. I would like to introduce this to as many people as possible in order to help new project managers to get up and running quickly. If you know of any “Accidental Project Managers” at your organisation, please refer them to this program. It will only take them a month to complete and extended coaching is also available.

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Rio 2016 Olympic Games – Biggest Sporting Event in the World

By Linky van der Merwe

Rio 2016 Olympic Games We have reached the end of the biggest sporting event in the world, the Olympic Games 2016, which took place in South America for the first time. It has been watched by millions of people all over the world who were awed and inspired by the persistence, excellence and sportsmanship shown by the participants.

The city of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil had the honour of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games over a four week-period where athletes competed for Olympic and Paralympic medals in more than 300 events.

But how much did hosting this sporting event mean to Brazil?

According to an article in the New York Times, dated August 22, 2016, the 2016 Summer Olympics have altered the City of Rio.  Experts are of the opinion that the Games served as a powerful catalyst for urban revitalization, spurring many infrastructure projects, that will enhance the lives of Rio’s residents.

Some of the projects include 100 miles of rapid bus lanes, a new subway line, four new tunnels and a 17-mile light railway system. Then of course there are the 3,600 apartments that make up the Olympic Village and a golf course. These projects are what lead people to believe that the $7 billion in transportation-related spending was money well spent.

Unfortunately, it is also a known fact that nearly every city that has hosted the Games has lost money, and few expect Rio to recoup the billions of dollars spent preparing for an event that lasts just weeks.

Infrastructure projects leaving a legacy

Let’s have a closer look at some of the projects that will leave a lasting legacy and why.

Source: Cidade Olímpica (Olympic City)

#1 Athletes’ Park

Concluded in August 2011, Parque dos Atletas (Athletes’ Park) was the first Olympic facility delivered in Rio de Janeiro for the 2016 Games. The park has an area of 150 thousand square metres. It used to be the stage of another well-known event: Rock in Rio. Since 2011, several international music stars have played at the festival, entertaining millions of fans.

From Monday to Friday, the park is used by Rio de Janeiro City Hall teachers, who offer free tennis, volleyball, basketball, football (on court), handball and weight training lessons.

The park is equipped with tennis courts, climbing wall, area for children and a gym for people from all ages. There are also changing rooms, showers and a 1,420 metre track for cyclists, runners or those who just want to go for a walk.

#2 Olympic VillasOlympic Villas, Rio

Each villa caters for around 10 thousand children and adolescents, not just for sports, but also providing them with the possibility of taking part in cultural, educational, social and health related activities.

Each complex has a swimming pool, multi-purpose court with roof, athletics track, football pitch and rooms for activities such as ballet, martial arts, gymnastics, activities for people over 60, park for children and barbecue area. Some units also have tennis and beach volleyball courts, as well as skateboarding tracks.

Every day, the Olympic Villas provide services for public school students and are strategically positioned in places that had no leisure or sport facilities previously. The villas have the aim of integrating underprivileged young people. The work is done by the Municipal Secretariat of Sport and Leisure.

#3 Olympic Experimental Gymnasium (GEO)

Olympic Experimental Gymnasium (GEO) is a project that brings together education and sport development. Designed for lower secondary education students, the GEO integrates educational training with the possibility of developing new athletes.

In order to enrol in the GEO, applicants take a physical fitness test. Then they have to meet a number of requirements to continue training – with a training load of at least two hours a day -, such as academic performance. Students’ grades are monitored and they have to keep their grades up in order to be able to continue training.

In addition to sport related activities, the GEO provides extra Portuguese, Mathematics, Science and English lessons to students. At the moment, the following sports are offered at the GEOs: athletics, table tennis, volleyball, swimming and soccer.

#4 Porto Maravilha

The Rio de Janeiro Port is where anyone coming into city by sea arrives at. 5 million square metres were renovated through the project, with express roadways, tunnels and underground passages as well as two new museums that were opened.

#5 Rio Operations Centre

The Rio Operations Centre is considered the most modern in Latin America and is in charge of monitoring the day-to-day activities of the city. This role is performed by using over 560 cameras spread out through the municipality and a big screen made up of 80 monitors (46 inch each). Through this high level technology, the centre monitors (24/7) services provided by other organisations and utilities companies, as well as maps, graphs and aerial photos.  In addition, the Operations Centre works as a tool to monitor traffic in real time.

#6 Madureira ParkMadureira Park, Rio

The Madureira Park covers an area of over 90 thousand square metres and has become a leisure attraction for residents of Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone since its opening in 2012.  Equipped with sport courts, cycle lanes, walking and running tracks, as well as a skateboarding track, the park has become the city’s third biggest.

The park is also the stage of cultural performances. In addition, it has a green corridor with over 1,500 trees and the so-called Madureira beach, with its waterfall where local residents cool down on hot days. The next stage of the project will add an exclusive bicycle lane and a new skateboarding track.

#7 Reforesting of hillsides

Amongst so many infrastructure projects, environmental projects aimed at reducing deforestation are being developed as a way of avoiding landslide and preserving the fauna and flora.  Some good results are two million buds that were planted in the municipality, particularly in the West Zone between 2010 and 2012.  Residents from several communities have been contributing to the reforestation efforts.

Sustainability Management Plan

Sustainability Management PlanA Sustainability Management Plan for Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games describes the vision, mission, values and principles of the Games, as well as the scope of the Sustainability Management Plan and the main players in organizing the Games. The life cycle of the Organising process is composed of 3 main phases, namely the preparation phase, the operational phase, then the legacy phase that needs to ensure that the work continues to ensure lasting positive transformations that maximise the social, economic, environmental and sporting benefits of hosting the Games.

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2016 – A New Year like a Chapter in a Book

The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written. We can help write that story by setting goals.” Melody Beattie

A New Year like a Chapter in a BookAt the beginning of the year, most people are motivated for new beginnings. That’s why people have New Year’s resolutions. Unfortunately, most resolutions don’t last and people forget what they were motivated about at the beginning of the year.

I have done away with New Year’s resolutions a long time ago. Instead, I do what has always worked for me that is to identify my top 5 Goals for the year, then break it down to smaller goals that are SMART (Specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound). This keeps me focused on the things I would like to do and helps me to finish one thing at a time.

After a refreshing holiday away from home, spent in beautiful surroundings, I can honestly say that I’m looking forward to what 2016 holds. At work I’m working on an exciting Programme with multiple projects and there are many initiatives planned for Virtual Project Consulting this year.

My eldest son is in Matric, his final school year, and I’m astonished at how quickly his school career is going by. The other two children have their own interests, sports and activities that will keep my husband and me on our toes this year.

At Virtual Project Consulting we are working full swing on making new things a reality. We want to continue adding value to our existing and aspiring project management community. You can expect to see the following themes covered this year on our Blog from our own articles as well as from contributing guest authors.

  • Leadership
  • Social media in project management
  • Project management software, tools, recommended Podcasts
  • Project management as a career
  • Project management soft skills and more on personality profiling
  • Project management methodologies and processes
  • Change Management
  • Project Governance

There will be a special focus on project managers who are new to the profession and who are often called “accidental project managers”.

We will continue to bring you the most recommended resources on project management software, training, products, books and events. Also look out for more Success Stories being published from experienced project managers. Don’t forget about the Podcasts as well as free resources being shared.

I’m also excited to send you more details about the book: “Strategic Integration of Social Media into Project Management Practice” for which I’m a contributing author. The projected release date is March 2016.

I would like to wish each one of our readers a very successful, fruitful and fulfilling 2016! Please share in the comments what your goals are for the New Year.

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