How to Adapt to Your Hybrid Workplace

Change is a constant is a statement that has characterised our understanding of how life can throw challenges at us and the concurrent need to maintain flexibility in our ways of looking at and doing things. Adaptation is a key skill that is required in today’s times to be able to pivot from what the reality of our life is today, to any potential circumstances that may present themselves tomorrow. This need is far more prominently situated currently than it has ever before. 

Post-pandemic, the biggest shift that we are currently looking at is the incorporation of hybrid models in workplaces. They bring with them unique challenges, requiring people to accommodate the need to simultaneously work through personal and professional spaces, while managing the back and forth between working from the workplace and home. Many may argue that the time during the pandemic has in itself been sufficient to have taught how this needs to be managed. However, the balanced approach needed to keep switching between working from the office space to working from home can and does in fact continue to pose significant challenges for many. 

Here are some key aspects to keep in mind when looking to maintain your state of balance as you navigate your way through the changes instated in your life by a hybrid model of working:

1. Fix a routine as per days of the week – As far as possible, fix the days that you would be going to the workplace and the ones where you would work from home. Predictability in routines is helpful in ensuring that you can plan your tasks and organise your days in a comprehensive manner.

2. Create a vision for yourself – Build a vision for yourself and ensure that you have a sense of direction of what your targets need to be. Having clarity in how you want to see yourself progressing in both the short and long term is helpful in allowing you to keep aligning your routines in ways that facilitate the accomplishment of your goals.

3. Determine consciously which tasks need to be done at which place – Make a determination about which tasks are done best at the workplace and which can be accomplished easily at home. Take steps to ensure you are building your schedules around this understanding so  you can maintain your productivity. 

4. Share what you need in order to be able to work well – Discuss with your manager how you can enhance the quality of your work through consideration of the ergonomics at the workplace.  Having a good understanding of what kind of physical environment may work well for you can help you adapt better to the switch that you need to make with regularity between working from home and from your workplace.

5. Be willing to assert boundaries – Avoid being polite and not stating when you need the space to be able to focus on work or on the chores at home. It is important that when following hybrid work practices you clearly express when you need to switch off from work, or alternatively, from home responsibilities, to be able to focus on what you’ve designated for that time.

6. Maintain relatedness – It is important to continue to build on your social connectedness at work. However, be mindful of what works best for you. Everyone has their own requirements in the kind of social contact they may desire at the workplace and it’s imperative you operate in accordance with what your needs are.

Adaptation is a process that requires consistent effort from your side. It requires you accommodate the new emerging realities of your life with the currently existing scenarios. However, it is important that you align these to what your needs, goals and vision are.