Due to the recent outbreak of Covid-19, more and more people are working from home. This may not be possible for the vast majority of healthcare workers, but there are some tasks, such as updating SOPs, and creating laboratory continuing education plans, that can be done remotely. If you are at home right now, we suggest using this time to catch up on your continuing education that you may not usually have time for with a full workload. You can also use this time to do some research on new methods that you can apply to the programs you work on. There are great articles on pubmed.gov and in the Journal of Histotechnology.
The NSH office has been completely remote since 2017, so our small staff is well acquainted with working from home and have a few tips for anyone recently adjusting.
1. Get up and move around! It’s easy to get absorbed in your work and remain sedentary for a long period of time. Take the occasional break to take a walk around your neighborhood, get some fresh air, and stretch your legs.
2. Use Skype or Zoom, or some other video conferencing/chat software to keep in contact with your coworkers. You can still have water cooler chat virtually.
3. Set some boundaries. Just because your computer is with you doesn’t mean you have to be on 24/7. Determine what your organization’s expectations are for normal work hours when working from home.
4. Take a SHOWER! Seriously. If you’re starting to get in a slump and find yourself on the couch in pajamas all day long, get up and get dressed as if you were going to leave the house. You’ll feel better and be more productive.
5. Enjoy the flexibility. The great thing about working from home is the flexibility it provides. Get creative with cooking lunch recipes you wouldn’t be able to in an office. Pet your animal that is usually home alone all day.
Stay healthy out there everyone! Check out NSH’s Journal article, Coronavirus Disinfection in Histopathology, for some good tips for laboratory procedures, and our recent blog post, The Coronavirus Impact on Histology Labs, for a perspective on how labs are handling the outbreak.