497: How to WFH Without Losing Your Mind During the COVID-19 Crisis

What It Covers

Steli Efti and Hiten Shah address the sudden shift to remote work during COVID-19, focusing on managing mental health, productivity expectations, and team culture during a global crisis rather than normal circumstances.

Key Questions Answered

• •Mental health priority: Cut yourself slack when productivity drops to zero during crisis days. Accept that circumstances outside your control will interrupt work, and being kind to yourself prevents psychological harm during extended isolation periods.
• •Information diet management: Limit news and social media consumption to once daily instead of constant updates. Excessive Twitter scrolling and article reading increases anxiety without adding value, reducing both productivity and mental well-being during the crisis.
• •Culture reveals weakness: If you worry whether remote employees are actually working, the problem existed before COVID-19. Crisis situations expose poor company culture and micromanagement dependencies rather than creating new trust issues with your team members.
• •Family-first mindset: Recognize that employees will prioritize family health over work productivity during a pandemic. When someone close contracts the virus, mental focus shifts entirely regardless of remote work best practices or productivity systems in place.