Managing your time during hybrid work

As the pandemic abates, many organisations are looking to return to old office routines. But with many people adapting to the flexibility that comes with remote working, the demands for a hybrid workspace may soon rise.

A hybrid workplace is a flexible work environment intended to support a combined workforce, both in-office and remote workers. The most crucial pillars of a hybrid workplace are flexibility and support.

Given that it is a relatively new concept, here are a few ways to manage your time in a hybrid workplace:

Prioritise and set goals

First, prioritise your to-do list. After deciding on the most important tasks, create your schedule, set your goals and deadlines into your planner. Goal setting boosts performance.

Begin early

Start your day early and use the quiet period to prepare for the day. Starting early gives you the chance to sort your problems in time for deadlines. It also reduces stress by enabling you to avoid the height of rush hour and all the stresses it comes with.

Take breaks

In order to stay focused on a particular task, you need to take regular breaks and switch off from your responsibilities. When you’re striving to hit a deadline, it can be tempting to force yourself to work continuously. But taking a much-needed break is important to perform at your best. It helps you process and retain information and be more creative and productive.

Some things are naturally time-consuming, so try to avoid them.

For instance, poorly organised meetings are among the most time-wasting activities. Therefore, when you schedule a meeting, make sure that there’s an agenda to get through everything you need to discuss, and then do not exceed the time limit.

Setting boundaries

Set boundaries to keep a healthy work and personal life balance. If you’ve prioritised a reasonable amount of time for your existing tasks, you should feel confident telling others that you don’t have the time to do extra work.

For instance, do you check work email outside of office hours?

Do you make yourself available 24/7 to solve problems?

Do you work outside of your job description? It’s crucial to keep in mind and set your own boundaries.

Saying “yes” to everything at work can be tempting, but by making yourself available, or staying late, you often set yourself apart, which can lead to undue stress and burnout.

Effective communication

Unlike a complete remote organisation, a hybrid plan means that you might be working in the office while others are working remotely. Therefore, to be effective, you need to think through how your communication skills can serve the team.

Communication at the workplace isn’t also about building relationships and working as productively as possible. Having effective communication can have better outcomes.

Logging off early

Long working long hours is directly correlated to stress, anxiety, and heart ailments. While working in a hybrid environment, it’s important to keep in mind that you finish your work early — don’t give those extra hours to work and log off early.

Spending time “after hours” answering emails and returning phone calls actually doesn’t contribute to higher productivity. In fact, consistently working for long hours can make you less productive.

Therefore, instead of working late, stop logging those extra hours by setting the right expectations, prioritising your responsibilities and minimising distractions.

(The author is an executive coach)