How to Transition Between Work Time and Personal Time
Physical presence doesn’t always equate to mental presence. You could be sitting at your desk but more preoccupied about a home repair than the assignment at hand, or you could be at the kitchen table thinking more about the proposal you have to finish than the people eating dinner with you. That’s why transitions from work mode to personal mode are so essential. And you have to make an especially intentional effort on these transitions when you work from home because you don’t have the natural change of context cues.
In my experience as a time management coach, here are some of the ways to be less distracted and more present whether you’re working or enjoying personal time.
Working Remote? These Are the Biggest Dos and Don’ts of Video Conferencing
Here are 10 do’s and don’ts that I believe elevate the overall experience of a video conference.
Do: Mute your microphone whenever you’re not speaking — even if you’re alone in the room. Background noise can be an annoying distraction and stifle any meeting’s flow.
Do: Be aware of your video settings. Check if your microphone is muted before delivering a two-minute monologue that no one will hear.
Don’t: Position your camera too low, too high or hooked onto a different monitor. Weird camera angles can be very distracting — and unflattering — during video conference calls. Make sure your camera is eye level and on the monitor you plan to use for the conference.
23 Essential Tips for Working Remotely
Many organizations have asked employees to work remotely during the coronavirus outbreak. If you’ve never worked from home, this can be a challenge.
My assistant Eileen and I have worked as a remote team for more than five years — Eileen is in North Carolina and I’m in New York City. Eileen and her colleagues at Delegate Solutions are a fully remote team assisting clients like me with strategic and consultative administrative support.
For those new to remote working, Eileen and I wanted to share some tips on how we make it work. We asked some of our other remote team members and partners for their best advice as well. If you have tips to add, please share in the comments below.
Cyber Meeting Tips for YDI Clinicians
The following was written by Livingston Care Manager, Candice Maurer, to help her fellow clinicians who are grappling with engaging their clients digitally during one-on-ones.
What our clients need most in this time of uncertainty is some FUN! And, I firmly believe that we can bring that into their homes even though we are not physically present.
Here is a list of 10 ways to make your telemedicine session FUN so that your clients will want to keep coming back again and again. We may be in isolation from one another at this time, but we can still engage our clients in deep and meaningful therapeutic sessions.
Get some puppets or stuffy’s and do a puppet show – you can incorporate role playing house hold rules or practicing coping skills
Put on a talk show. You can use a pen for a microphone and ask the client questions as if you were on a talk show.
Play Charades
Put on a costume or paint your face
Play a guessing game
Use dice and see if your client can guess what number you roll
Make a social emotional jeopardy board with sticky notes and large white board or poster board.
Use sound effects (you can find sound bites for free on google also your camera should have various backgrounds you can play with)
Do magic tricks! (Check out Pinterest for loads of ideas!)
Challenge clients to create a drawing, use recyclables to create a piece or art or practice coping skills before your next session.
Here’s another tip! Gather your materials before your session and be ready to test which game works best. Once you find an idea that your client is deeply engaged in, continue with it until it loses its luster and save your other materials for the following sessions. Be prepared to switch your strategy often as kids have limited attention spans! Don’t forget to have fun!
