Want to stay productive working from home? You’re not alone. Recent global events have only accelerated what we saw across several predictions and studies: that remote work and working from home would soon be a new normal for the majority of the labor force. However, because the shift to remote work was so sudden because of the rapid spread of COVID-19, many employers might not have been able to help their employees transition seamlessly for work from the office to work from home.

It’s odd – we’re always talking about the healthy work-life balance and know that working long hours can lead to stress, anxiety, and depression. Yet, we continue to dedicate more and more time to our jobs. In fact, research shows that 80% of workers answer emails and return phone calls after hours. For one, people believe long hours on the job to be proof of their work ethic.

The uncertainty fatigue is real. Those “how we’re handling COVID” emails from every business we’ve ever patronized have died down and many of us have settled into something resembling a routine, but most of us are still isolated from friends and family. We’re gearing up for a long summer of, yes, more uncertainty, with only the dim hope of an ambiguous return to “normal life” to cling to.

Remember that movie Groundhog Day? Where Bill Murray experiences the same day over and over and over and heartwarming hilarity ensues? Working from home can feel like a lot like that (minus the heartwarming hilarity). The hours meld together because there’s no natural divider to separate work time from personal time.

When you hear the word “transparency,” project management software probably isn’t what comes to mind. Maybe you think of the window next to your desk. Unless the blinds are closed, you can see clearly into your yard. It’s not much different in the work context: Unless you have a reason to block the light, you should be able to watch what’s going on from where you’re seated. Project management software is that transparent window.

One of the most common frustrations we hear from team leaders who don’t have robust project management practices in place is a feeling of constant firefighting, leaving them unable to complete projects on time or within budget. In fact, in a recent PWC poll, only 2.5% of companies successfully completed all of their projects. Firefighting is a natural human response to a chaotic workload as a means of “getting more done”.

What began as a joke about how convenient it would be to eat coffee on the way to class became somewhat of a dorm room experiment that led to the creation of Eat Your Coffee. Since then, we’ve grown our team and EYC (Eat Your Coffee) has scaled tremendously. We also moved to being a 100% remote company a few years ago with the help of a handful of tools, including Asana.

Here at Monitask we have always been fans of the teleworking model that allows people to work a few days a week or full time through a virtual office. Since the situation regarding Coronavirus changes every moment, and with the extra burdens of education-in-home and care of children, we know that this is easier said than done. Now that working from home is a reality for most of us, we have compiled a series of resources to help you adapt to your new work-from-home schedule.