The coronavirus forces you to telework. Do you know the 5 risks of telecommuting that you can and should avoid?

Spain is not exactly a country where teleworking is considered an option (Only 8% of companies employ it), but to great ills, telecommuting can be a great remedy. Even so, the coronavirus epidemic has forced many companies to consider this option to prevent productivity from declining. And although the benefits of this system have been known for some time (it represents a saving for companies of up to 30% in infrastructure, reduce distractions and increase the level of satisfaction and the control of the work of the employees among others), is not without risks. These are the main ones, know them thoroughly to avoid them.

Bug number 1. You are a novice teleworker in a novice teleworker

The rush is not good at work or telecommuting. "It is very difficult for companies that do not have teleworking practices to implement it urgently. If this is done, it will not work," he explains. Eva Rimbau Gilabert, Professor of Economics and Business Studies at the Open University of Catalonia.

For the teleworker inexperience is also a risk. If you have never teleworked and, in addition, it coincides with the circumstance that you are going to debut in an environment that circumstances force you to share with your children, we are sorry, but your days can be made eternal and stressful. Although the solution is simple: before you start typing on your computer tried to isolate you from the environment, a family awareness and education work is imposed on those around you so that they understand that, while you are teleworking, you find yourself in a different role than usual and That everyone should respect him.

Bug number 2. Telework prevents you from disconnecting

The possibility of working at a distance is not the most appropriate if you have a tendency to be a workaholic because you may be tempted to be aware of the mail throughout the day and extend your schedule as much as possible. The only way to avoid working too many hours is to organize with the team and define well what your tasks are going to be while you make a realistic management of the time you must invest to complete them.

Bug number 3. The loneliness of the freelance makes a dent in you

We don't just go to the office or the workplace to work, it has also established links, make pineapple with our partners and recharge the motivation stacks. And creating those links when each of us works from home is more complicated.

The thing gets even more complicated if the rest of the teammates work as a team and you remotely, because besides feeling isolated You may think that the rest of the team does not appreciate your work (a valid fear if we consider that 49% of Spaniards He doesn't trust his teammates to be productive if they are out of the office).

The solution? Propose weekly meetings by skype with the rest of the team so that this link does not dissolve and you can demonstrate your commitment. Although the best option is telework a few days and not others, to match others.

Bug number 4. Teleworking can make you fat (among other risks to your health)

In agreement, you are at home and you can do whatever you want: from working with heavy music in the background to connecting with your pajamas on. But don't do it, please. If in an office you wouldn't smoke every half hour while typing on your computer, in your home office, either. Remember it.

In addition, you must be careful to avoid another risk: Potato syndrome on the desk, which is characterized by accessibility to food at any time during the workday (because that day takes place next to your kitchen and your fridge). This syndrome involves the intake of an excess of empty calories (let's face it, we're more of snack cookies than pears) which unbalances the spending / consumption balance and contributes to uncontrol the schedules, since breaks between meals are not respected. An invitation to gain weight.

Another of the threats of the home office is hidden in its absence of ergonomics. In a workplace the physical working conditions are regulated by law and the company is obliged to comply with them. In your house, obviously, no. And maybe your flexo when you were studying at the university and the Ikea wooden chair are not the best options to make a full work day and you finish suffering from muscle problems and pain for lack of adaptation of your furniture to your needs.

Bug number 5. You do not want to telework, but circumstances oblige you

For many telecommuting may be the Holy Grail, but for others it can become a nightmare. The profile of the “ideal” teleworker, as described Eva Cifre, professor of psychology at the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló, is a disciplined, effective, planning, constant person, capable of adapting to circumstances, with the ability to work with poor social contact, capable of self-motivation and with ease to make decisions and solve problems. Do you recognize yourself in him? It is a long and hard to follow list.

If you are far from complying with the entire list, your mental health can suffer in the form of stress. According to a report prepared by the International Labor Organization in collaboration with the European Union: 41% of employees who do telework show high levels of stress, compared to 25% of those who work in the office full time. In addition, 42% of people who work at home full time and the 42% of online workers wake up several times at night, while this only happens to 29% of employees working in the office.

The only way to combat this vicious circle of nomeveoenestepapel-stress-nopuedocontodo, is to start being kind to ourselves. remember: You don't have to be the perfect worker. You have to be the best worker you can be with the circumstances that have touched you. Park the self-demand and pressure on what you are not able to do and think about everything you add. Take a deep breath, and go ahead.