Mandatory self-isolation will continue until May 31st in the Chelyabinsk Region. This means that South Ural State University academic staff and students will continue to work online. What changed over the last month of self-isolation, how to survive three more weeks and successfully complete self-isolation – these questions were answered by Head of the SUSU Department of General Psychology, Psychodiagnostics, and Counselling, Candidate of Sciences (Psychology), Associate Professor Svetlana Morozova.
The self-isolation has been in place for more than a month now. Have the academic staff and students adjusted, or is their patience wearing out?
“On the one hand, students and teachers are bored and want to return to the in-person classes in their university. On the other hand, they have already adjusted to the new form of work and rest. The question is a bit different: which good and bad habits have been formed? A habit is a behaviour which has become commonplace for an individual. On the one hand, this is an unconscious ability, on the other — laziness of the mind. A habit is developed after repeating the same actions many times. Different situations require a different amount of time, but in the end a person gets used to everything. At the same time, good habits help you complete your work methodically and quickly, thereby freeing up time for rest. Harmful habits interfere with expanding your worldview. For example, the developed stereotypes about work do not allow us to implement forms of remote work and study. It is important to remember that changing the usual rhythm of your life and introducing something new is always a test — a load on the psyche and intellect.”
What issues do people have in self-isolation and how can they overcome them?
“Everything depends on an individual’s self-organisation. For example, some people complain about “groundhog day”, but you won’t have this feeling if you have a well-formed routine for work and rest. Those who don’t have an issue with this won’t notice any special changes.
There is another issue— the motivation levels. For example, students had a high level of motivation for remote classes in the beginning. They wanted to learn these new forms of work; it was a challenge for many of them. Especially for those with a high level of self-organisation. But now, remote classes have become routine, and when that happens, motivation always decreases. This invariably leads to reduced productivity. And now, teachers need to use all their skills to motivate students for future work.”
Work and schooling problems are not the only issues people are facing, there are more complaints about family members, fellow citizens, and the situation itself. How can we manage negative emotions in self-isolation?
“Self-isolation is likely testing the strength of families. After all, even a 24-day vacation with the whole family can be a source of frustration. For a close-knit family, self-isolation is an opportunity to create, invent, dedicate more time to communication with the family members, but it is important to allow everyone to remain in their “personal space”. Of course, dealing with negative emotions is not easy. But, as the famous American cognitive psychotherapist Aaron Beck said: ‘People are not driven by events themselves, but by people's attitudes to them.’ Negative emotions arise from negative thoughts, so you first need to work on those. The independent method is laborious, not always effective, and time consuming. Alternatively, you can keep a diary and track your negative thoughts in it. Check each statement, for example, ‘It will never end’, by asking questions. ‘Really, never?’ We often over-generalize situations and draw baseless conclusions from one erroneous fact. This must be fought against. If you feel that you are not able to work out the situation on your own, then it is better to contact a professional psychologist. The result of such work doesn’t always come quickly, but it is definitely effective.”
When working remotely, a lot of time is freed up. Some are using it for continuing education. Is this good, or is it better to save up your energy?
“That is a great investment of time. What situation do you need to save resources up for? It is better to accumulate experience; it will definitely come in handy. I myself took the opportunity to learn from fellow psychologists and completed several webinars. It always provides new resources for work. But teachers have less time, because most of it is spent on mastering these new forms of work, checking assignments, and creating materials for distance learning. Therefore, we become upset that there are more learning opportunities than possibilities. We have to abandon something. On the other hand, we take responsibility for our own time resource and distribution of energy.”
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Svetlana Morozova, Head of the SUSU Department of General Psychology, Psychodiagnostics, and Counselling, Candidate of Sciences (Psychology), Associate Professor
It is always difficult to work and study when it is warm outside. But right now, we cannot even enjoy that weather in our free time. How can we continue to work well and study, despite all the issues?
“Let's remember our usual way of life before self-isolation. It is hard to keep to your study notes when it’s a warm spring or summer outdoors! But for a lazy person, even rainy weather can be a reason not to work productively, but rather to lie down and fall into despair. Self-isolation is an occasion to learn how to work productively from home. It is important to be able to adapt to these conditions in order to remain in the work flow.
My first piece of advice is to follow your typical work and rest schedule. Wake up at the same time as usual, have breakfast, and do not forget to dress in business clothes. Instead of the “road to work” as a bonus, devote time to self-development. After work, do fitness at home; this will replace your gym workouts. At the end of the day, have a light dinner and go to bed. Do not change your habits! Everything has remained the same for us, not counting the reduction in socialization, which we can compensate for by communicating through social networks. Organize your workplace so that nothing distracts you. It is necessary to distinguish between your spaces for work and relaxation. That is why your sofa should not become your workplace.
Another tip is to organize your time. If you have not mastered time management, then this time of remote work is a great opportunity to fix it. Start with simple tasks, alternating them with larger tasks. Otherwise, you will get the feeling that you are not doing anything, although in fact, you are working on completing a large task. To prepare for tests or exams, start learning easy questions and topics. Do not use remote work as a vacation! There are many offers on the Internet now, from visiting virtual museums to watching new TV shows. Put it off until the evening after your main planned tasks. Do not accumulate work tasks that, like a snowball, will then “suddenly” fall on you. I repeat, only a high level of conscientiousness and internal motivation leads to efficiency in work, including academic work. Of course, here we must take into account the socio-psychological traits of an individual.”
How does knowing these character traits help during the period of remote work?
“We obtained these data experimentally while completing the thesis on the Manifestation of the Socio-psychological Properties of an Individual in Remote Working Conditions. Last year, my student defended this thesis. In short, we came to the following conclusions: remote workers believe that they are satisfied with their professional activities, and, in general, do not feel a lack of communication. Remote workers are emotionally stable, self-confident individuals with a high level of integrity and control over their internal impulses, with a focus on team work and conscientious performance of their duties. In carrying out their duties, they are primarily motivated by internal motivation, that is, personal interest and the emotions received from work. The age of a remote employee does not affect their perception of themselves as a significant and sought-after employee, or their satisfaction with the results of their work. They clearly manifest personality traits such as neuroticism, good faith, and extraversion, regardless of age. Remote workers with high emotional stability and integrity will consider themselves significant professionals who are satisfied with their professional activities. Remote employees guided by the performance of their work for the sake of interest in the process of work itself will not feel that they are not in demand as professionals.”
After work you always need rest. But how can we properly rest if we are forced to do so in the same place where our work day or classes were held?
“If everything is taking place in the same room, then you need to put your “work” things in the closet and free up space for rest. After work or school, many people like to chat with relatives, watch TV, go to the theatre or museum — now it can be done virtually. But there is no movement in such rest, and it is extremely important to bring that to remote everyday life. Therefore, my advice is to allocate time for physical activity. Training, if you do it every day, will become a habit, and you will be able to rest your body and mind every day.”
When self-isolation ends, how do we pull ourselves out of this way of life properly?
“If you didn’t change how you worked in the remote format, then going to class or work will be a familiar and even a joyful, long-awaited event. But if you made self-isolation into a vacation, then it will be difficult to enter the working rhythm. In this case, you can start getting up and going to bed, as you normally do on working days, beforehand, and start planning your time so that you can switch over to serious work or study in just a few days.
Not long ago, I asked my students a question: ‘Will self-isolation change us?’ The answers varied. But most importantly, they said, the attitude to communication in real life will change; personal meetings will be valued more highly. There will be a different perception of viruses and diseases, and medical masks will become a protective equipment rather than a whim. Remote work and study, once considered a distant idea, are now our reality. Well, and, of course, many joke about this situation and ask whether it would be possible to somehow maintain this 2-meter social distancing even after the quarantine is lifted, and codify it by law, too? Humour can help us cope with all changes.”