5 secrets of self-organization on self-isolation

The civilized world mostly has gone for self-isolation. Today we present the most useful tips from psychologists and coaches that will help both employees and managers to improve the effectiveness of the teamwork from home.

When all the processes of organizing the remote work are completed, collective communication platforms are selected (such as Zoom or Skype), plans and schedules are developed, people face usual domestic matters. After all, you have to work from home.

The family should also switch to an „operational“ schedule

Most married people face the fact that family members resist new patterns of doing homework. This is normal, as everyone was used to you being available to be distracted, given orders, asked questions. Even if a person works with a computer and does not make constant calls, it is very distracting. Therefore, you need to establish a clear understanding among your family members that you cannot be distracted during working hours. This concerns both children and grownups, who often can’t understand why someone is sitting at home at the computer instead of “doing proper work”.

1. Create a joint schedule. When you get together, it is easier to check out working or schooling hours and also family leisure time.
2. Divide the work schedule into several parts, if the employer allows, it would be much better to sit at home working with the computer twice for 4 hours than simply working all day long.
3. Check your emotional state. In the office, people contact each other, and when you switch to remote work, you might feel worried, alarmed, exhausted, or, being constantly distracted by other things instead.
4. Change into work clothes. Psychologists say that the right clothes help you to focus, as well as set up the household to the fact that you are at work.
5. Create a separate workplace. Of course, you can manage to work for 1-2 days without additional structure, but you can withstand weeks of self-isolation without efficiency decrease only in suitable working conditions.

How can you create a workplace at home, if there wasn’t any?

In ideal, you should allocate a separate room with a computer so you could work in relative peace and quiet. However, one does not always have a separate room and an additional computer at home. Although it is difficult to work in a shared living room with a shared PC, many companies have purchased laptops for their employees who have suddenly become remote. But this is quite an expensive measure to take, and retailers have almost run out of inexpensive office models in their warehouses. This is why employees have to adapt to the new conditions. This problem is also exacerbated by the fact that in many families, both adults have switched to work from home, and children are forced to study remotely, which means listening to the video lessons and completing tasks online.

Doing everything with a single computer is simply impossible. Purchasing the new hardware, which would not only be any longer in use, as soon as the isolation period comes to an end, but also occupy space is not a rational decision, so virtualization systems that allow several users to work with a single computer simultaneously, have been becoming more and more popular. There is an opinion that this would be a very difficult thing to do, as you need to install special „thin clients“ and customize the server. But in fact, there is a much simpler way. This is a multi-user system developed for working with a single computer „ASTER“. It requires only an additional monitor, mouse, and keyboard.

Additional workplace made on the basis of ASTER. How does it work?

To create an additional workspace, you only need to add an HDMI cable (or another interface that your monitor supports), a USB cable, and a separate desk. By the way, the table can be placed in the bedroom, where no one will disturb you, or on the balcony, if you have an insulated loggia or if in your region spring comes early.

Most modern computers have at least two interfaces to connect the monitor, which means that you can create a workplace without purchasing a second video card. As an option, you can use a webcam, a graphic tablet, or any other peripherals with a USB connection.

As you install ASTER on your computer, you simply assign one of the monitors, as well as a mouse and keyboard to do different tasks, and you get a full-operational desktop with all programs and utilities, Internet access, and files from your hard disk. If the monitor is equipped with speakers or headphones, you can also set up a separate audio stream for your workplace.

How much does the additional workplace cost?

The cost of the additional workplace created on the basis of a computer in possession will be 5 thousand rubles or more, depending on the level of the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other peripheral tools that you choose. But due to the massive decreasing economic situation all over the world, IBIK Company, the developer of ASTER SOFTWARE, provides a free license for the entire time of the quarantine, so that people could safely work from home, without interfering with their children's studies. After that, if the multi-user system proves useful, you can purchase a license for ASTER.

It is interesting, that in the future, with ASTER’s aid, you will be able to connect several desktops based on a single computer, creating not only a workplace at home but also a real entertainment center. You can connect a TV set as an additional screen and watch movies online, which makes it a replacement for the Smart TV. And, if you have a powerful video card, you can even play online games with the same computer. And all of this takes a minimum cost of software and hardware.