Tips for working from home from a 20 year veteran

Tips for working from home from a 20 year veteran

I’ve been working from my home office for the last 20 years. I’m sure you all thought it would be fun and an adventure when you first started out. And I’ll bet that feeling lasted about 2 days.

Our homes are our refuge. It is where we go to unwind and escape the pressures of work, to nourish our spirits. This is antithetical to our work space.

Working from home is really hard and requires planning and discipline. Hopefully you will find these tips helpful. Please share any discoveries you’ve had.

First, you need to designate a space that is “where you work”. Hopefully you have enough space to carve out an area that is NOT where you eat, sleep or watch TV. When you are in that space, you are “at work”; when you are not, you are “at home”. It may sound silly and pedantic but this is a very important first step.

Next, find a comfortable chair. Most dining room and kitchen chair look great but are not made to sit in for hours at a time. Many companies rent office furniture (stand up desk systems, too). Make the investment. Your back will thank me. (Ask your supervisor if you can sign out your own desk chair?). You will not only be more comfortable but also more “in the office” when you sit in an official office chair.

Third, establish a routine. It should not be the same routine as when you are in the office. For instance, your commute is surely a lot shorter, so sleep in a little. But get into the habit of getting to your home office at the same time and do the same things regularly. This will provide structure and continuity to your day. The days are all running together as it is.

I am not a believer in working in our PJ’s. I think dressing in work-like clothes helps ground us in the task ahead.

If you have housemates, set some boundaries. If you are lucky to have a separate space, keep the door closed. Set a signal on the door to remind your housemates that you are in the room and at work. Tie a scarf or put a ball cap on the handle as a reminder. Remember that “Do Not Disturb” sign you stole from that hotel on Spring Break? Use that.

You must take lots of breaks. In the office, you don’t sit and stare at a screen all day (I hope). You are getting up to ask a colleague a question, to pick up copies, to go to and from meetings. At home you don’t have those natural breaks, so make them.

People ask me how I have time to do the things I do. My simple answer is that I don’t work in an office and don’t get pulled into a lot of meetings. We all know meetings are a huge time suck and since we are all working remotely, there are even more meetings. If you are stuck in a virtual meeting that has marginal impact on your work, drop out.

If you are in a large group meeting, there are two critical things: Mute Your Damn Phone and Remember if your camera is on. There are already horrific tales of things folks did on WebEx calls. FWIW, I don’t turn my camera on unless I am actively participating in the call and sometimes, not even then.

You must also decide when your work day ends, and Shut It Down. Constantly checking in on email into the evening makes your workday longer and more stressful. The opposite is also true. Don’t send out a lot of messages in the off hours. It is unfair to your colleagues.

Now, some mental health suggestions. Connect somehow with the outside world, even it is just standing in the doorway, waving to the mail person. Walk around the block if you can. Working from home can be very lonely. We all crave human contact.

Take sick days. Maybe better to call them mental/physical health days, but when we are ill, we need to rest and recharge. Being at home is not an excuse to work sick.

Don’t be too hard on yourself. You did not spend every moment in your office working. You don’t need to at home either. Daydreaming is allowed. Naps too.

Check in with your work friends. If all we see of our friends is in a group meeting video, we are not connecting. Take a few minutes to call or send a text. Folks need folks checking in on them right now. The advisors did a “virtual Happy Hour” on Friday. It was silly but still great to connect informally.

I hope you found this helpful and fun.

Be careful out there!