Computer, Internet Access & Maci

Achieving a work-life balance is tricky at the best of times and now with the shelter-in-residence entering its 6th-week, for me, it's become even more of a challenge. Working with my teammates at eCapital Advisors for nearly 18 years, I'd grown accustomed to being surrounded by people each day. While I see and hear my colleagues via video conference and phone calls, it's just not the same as seeing them in person. So this weekend I researched some best practices regarding working from home. Many of the suggestions I read I was already doing, such as having a designated workspace (I do have a home office), as well as dressing as if I was going into the office - check and check.

However, what was I not doing that I wished that I was? After all of my reading I came up with four things I'm committing to starting this week to help me stay focused and healthy:

1. Setting & Keeping Regular Office Hours 

Like most people who work from home, I was tending to work far more hours than I normally do, so this week I'm going to set and keep my normal office hours.

So starting promptly at 8:00am this morning I found that my colleague Maci hadn't received the new office hours memo and was waiting for my arrival.

The first order of business today, review the 4 new working-from-home guidelines with the dog!

2. Keep Everyone Connected And In The Loop

I miss the in-person collaboration with my clients and colleagues so this week I'm reviewing each of the messaging platforms I use to establish clearer communication channels that enable the transparent, relevant, frequent, and on-demand flow of information.

Maci and I are looking for channels that support team members in doing their best work and feel connected.

LinkedIn is fast becoming our favorite channel!

3. Taking Breaks

Rather than working straight through the day, I'm going to schedule frequent breaks.

I'm stretching and taking a walk around the house or down the street.

Maci is choosing power naps.

4. Avoid Distractions

One challenge of working from home is the abundance of opportunities to be distracted.

There is always an errand that needs to be run, some chore that needs completing or someone simply driving past the house (Maci's biggest distraction). These can all wait until I'm "home" at the end of the workday.

I'm also avoiding online distractions as well by only having open the applications or systems I need to complete a specific task.

I feel that to achieve a work-life balance it's a process vs. an event. From my research, I was feeling good about what I already had in place; however, there were certainly some areas I need to work on. Maci is currently asleep on the chair next to me and is clearly demonstrating his commitment to taking breaks.

As a partner at eCapital Advisors, I'm responsible for the go-to-market strategy and solution delivery for clients and prospects.

My favorite part of the job is the perspective of the “before and after” for prospective customers—hearing about the success of analytics and what it did to improve their business in a meaningful way.

For more information about eCapital Advisors, please visit:

https://www.ecapitaladvisors.com/