So Let’s Talk About Working From Home
So, as Covid-19/Coronavirus rolls on, those of us that can do our jobs remotely will probably be required or asked to do so (for at least some part of the time).
Working From Home (WFH), Telecommuting, Remote Work… whatever you call it, will be a big shock to your regular daily routine. While it’s a large dose of liberty and generally awesome, It’s also important that you recognize what your regular work day in the office does for you, and how skipping out on that means that you’re going to take stock of what those things are. You should spend some time considering what you’ll need to do to make sure you supplement accordingly. Here are some tips I can offer, after working fully remote for over a decade.
Structure:
This is the big one. When you commute daily, there’s a rhythm to your life. You get up at a certain time of day, to make sure that you can get dressed and eat breakfast, so you can leave in time to make the train/bus or drive the commute in, so you can get to work at your normal starting time.
It’s so tempting to just sleep in, roll out of bed, and walk up to your laptop at 9am with a cup of coffee. I’ve been working exclusively as a remote worker for over a decade, and I can tell you that this way lies madness. Without that structure to keep boundaries between your personal life and your professional life, you will go bonkers. Everything will become work, or nothing will. You’ll start working too much & being unable to stop thinking about work, or you will endlessly screw around. Here are the things you can do to maintain structure:
Set a routine and stick to it: Get up at the same time every work day. Eat your breakfast at the same time. Got medication? Take them at the same time. I like to make sure that I get up at 6, start stretches at 6:40, which leaves me plenty of time to get showered and dressed, and walk up to my desk with my breakfast at 8am. I have my lunch hour bricked out on my calendar, which I often use to get out of the house (more below). I stop at 5pm, because it’s too easy to just say “oh… one more thing, I can just get something else done since I don’t have to commute”. Nope, stop - it can wait until tomorrow (it really really can).
Have an actual office space: I know this isn’t something that everyone can do, but if you can carve it out, you’ll be happier if you do. Having a dedicated area where you work means that it’s easier for you to disengage at the end of the day by having a clean boundary between your work space, and the rest of your home. If you have a hard or terrible day, it’s easier to compartmentalize some of it in the “work” section of your brain when it happens in your office space. Please remember: You won’t be able to leave your work at “work” if work is happening while you’re in the areas you usually go to to relax or de-stress (like your bed or on the living room couch).
Get Dressed, Dammit: Even if it’s just cargo shorts, a ratty t-shirt, and sandals (I’m really just telling on myself here), make sure you get out of those bed clothes. You’re not going into the office, but you are going to work. Make sure you help reinforce that line by getting even the most casual of clothes on. Just like the previous point, you’ll find that if you’re wearing your sleep/chill wardrobe when you’re at work, you will have a surprisingly much more difficult time letting go of work when it’s time to.
(Optional) Invest in your home office space: If this crisis breaks the seal on remote work for your company, and you find yourself working from home more often, then it’s smart to take some time to really invest in your space. I don’t mean just getting a chair that’s comfortable, or a good work light… make sure you spend time making it a healthy and functional space. Ask yourself how much natural light you’re getting, how functional your task lighting is, if you can add some easy to care for plants around your workspace.
Socialization:
FREEDOM, right? No more Jeff walking up and talking to you, right as you were mid-stream conceptualizing a complex solution to a tricky problem. No more Barbara showing up at your desk and just talking at you, even though you’re clearly on a phone call already. God, finally no more interruptions - you can just get down to work. It’s just you and your thoughts. You. Your thoughts.
And no one else. Oh no.
Most of us need some sort of regular human contact so that we don’t turn completely inwards. Before I worked remotely, I was that person in the department. You know the one… the person you go and ask because they’ve either been around for awhile, or have partially integrated into the nervous system of the office to the point where they can inevitably get you at least pointed in the right direction (if not resolving things outright).
Finally being free of all of those distractions meant I was able to really keep my train of thoughts on the rails. It also meant that I wasn’t really interacting with people very often, and I noticed that I was getting a little… excitable on conference calls, out of the sheer joy of simple human contact. This gave me enough pause to realize that those previous interruptions, as frustrating as they usually were, sometimes forced me to take a needed mental break.
Unless you’re a top-tier misanthrope, you’re probably going to find yourself missing even the basic chats you had picking up your morning coffee. Here are some things you can do to replace some of that:
Keep interacting with your teammates via whatever internal messaging system you use (Skype, Slack, etc): You can chat on your terms, and if you need to actually have a voice call, you can do it. You really can foster good professional relationships over simple chat.
Dedicate some time to healthy usage of social networks: I’m not talking about rage-checking up with world events on Twitter, or getting into verbal scrapes with anti-vaxxers on Facebook. Instead, make time to interact with friends and non-toxic family members in small, but meaningful ways. This may seem counter-intuitive, as it’s deliberately not working while at work, but this is a small interaction. It will help remind you of the world outside work, and buff up your serotonin a little bit while you take a break and think about happier things. Send an email or a note. Shitpost on Tumblr a bit. Tell your friend how much they’re rocking it on their last post.
Make lunch dates with local friends: Working from home may be perfect for the natural misanthrope, but you might want to reach out to anyone else you know and offer to grab lunch together somewhere. Even if you both box-lunch it at the local park, it’s another way to interact with folks. Granted, this may be a little daunting right now, but if you feel comfortable doing so, this can help.
Staying Moderately Active:
I am not now, nor will I ever be an athlete. The odds are good that this is the same for you as well. I never wanted to run a marathon, and I think there was only a hot 5 minutes where I wanted to be able to bike a days-long marathon. But that walk to the transit stop? Keeping your balance on a packed bus or train? Walking from your stop to the office building? All of that adds up to at least a little bit of activity, and at least moderate exposure to the sun (and natural Vitamin D).
Even when I worked in an office, I’d end up taking breaks to go to the corner drug store, or to walk over to someone else’s desk to get their input on something. Staying seated for hours at a stretch can have some really cumulative negative effects on your posture and muscles. In turn, that can have some knock-on effects on your ability to get a good night’s sleep, which then can really snowball into other problems.
I’m fortunate enough to live in an area where I can get a quick bicycle ride in on most work days, and if not, I try to at least get outside for a quick walk around the block (sometimes I even see A Good Dog). Here are some suggestions that might help:
Get yourself a stretching routine: No matter your physical activity level, stretching is a good idea. But, when you’re telecommuting, you’re spending a lot of time in a single position. That, along with work stress can really lead to some clenched and stubborn muscles.
Take regular standing breaks: Even just standing up will help with blood flow. Remember that unless it’s a video call, no one is going to know that you’re standing. Got a wireless headset? Go pace a little bit, it actually does help you concentrate (and get blood moving).
Schedule some physical activity: It doesn’t have to be worthy of a training montage. It doesn’t even have to be much more than a walk around the block. But for most people, getting some physical activity in will help invigorate the brain. And it provides a hard stop from work, which will not just help you be more productive in the long run, but most importantly help boost your mood and energy level.
Other Tips:
Check for uptime agreements/SLA’s with your ISP: As a dedicated remote worker, I made the budget choice for my ISP once. Once. One unpleasant night, I ended up working through a critical emergency with my mobile phone stuck to the window with packing tape, so I could get the best possible signal, using my laptop in tether mode. The local small-town ISP was incredibly apologetic, but when I needed them the most, they failed. If you have the choice of a professional or business class tier with your ISP, it’s worth at least checking it out. You do not want to be dropping off mid-presentation or lose part of your work day due to flaky service.
Think about keeping a log of accomplishments: This is pretty much always a good idea, especially if you get regular performance reviews. But your management may be old-school enough to just assume that everyone who works from home is secretly goofing off and playing video games. And you know what? Once in awhile, you’re going to be that person (you’re only human after all). But if you’ve been working with your team(s), and noting the things you’ve completed, you should be ready for any paranoid manager. But also, if your manager is like that, you’re probably working in a bad environment anyways, and it’d be a good idea to move on if you can.
Working from home definitely has benefits. I have more flexibility with my schedule, and with a partner that has a progressive & degenerative health condition, it means I can be a bit more engaged in their care. You’ll find that it allows you some extra time to plan meals more, save some money on your commuting costs, and get the odd load of laundry done here and there. All of this adds up to a bit more free time, and right about now we all need some of that to help assess what we’re going to do with Covid-19.
But being a remote worker does mean you’re going to have to put some thought into it, engage with more discipline, and set some boundaries around your time. It’s likely that after we’re through this current crisis, a lot more companies are going to take a friendlier look at working from home. If that’s the case, you might want to take the time to have a healthy relationship with remote working.
(Any edits/additions/changes will be added to the original, here: https://runcibility.tumblr.com/post/612333439485706240/so-lets-talk-about-working-from-home)
I’ve been a telecommuter off & on for almost a decade, and full-time for about the last five. This post is phenomenal. Thank you!
Please feel free to repost it anywhere and share with your co-workers/colleagues. This is going to be a transition for many people.
