What I learned from reading 100 work-from-home (WFH) advice articles last week

Never before have so many people worked remotely, and never has so much advice been given on how to effectively work from home (WFH). 

From solar installers to teachers, a huge range of people are trying to adjust to the new normal -- all experimenting with different tips, habits and technologies to work from home (WFH). Many of those people have little experience working every day from home and are running into the limitations of homes as work spaces.  

While I worked from home on a day-to-day basis several years ago, it’s been awhile since I’ve had to do it every day. Since then, a lot has changed (mostly because I didn’t have little ones back then).

Re-adjusting to working from home -- now with three kiddos -- I thought I could provide useful information to others in the same boat by reading 100 WFH guides, then curate the best tips for navigating family members, cramped quarters, barking dogs and neighbors. 

Why 100 articles on the topic? No reason, other than it seemed like a big number. Honestly, going through them wasn’t the hard part. Most were compelling and came from a range of backgrounds, from a home makeover expert to a psychology professor. It was producing the curated list that was tough. Here’s what made the cut. 

1) Designate a workspace and optimize it for productivity

This is actually a double-recommendation. One is to designate a work space to develop your mental association of a particular place with being focused on work. The second part was to make the workspace functional. The recommenders’ tech list varied widely, from the obvious (broadband upgrades) to external monitors and headsets that go beyond just those that come with your smartphone, as well as ergonomic furniture. 

The authors’ collective bottom line was to get and use enough office technology to replicate in your home office what you can access at your work office - while not giving you a backache.

Some went so far as to suggest creating two or more workstations, even if they are right next to each other. One for back-friendly sitting, one for standing and a little bit of room to pace while on calls. And then there was the all-important sound insulation. Many people are finding they have the equivalent of a call booth, even if it’s cramped, because it provides maximum sound insulation while on calls. 

Personally, I’ve had to make-shift an office space in my master bedroom which has meant creating a desk out of our old dining room table and playing with the lighting in the room, especially for optimal video conferencing. I’ve experimented with Zoom, WebEx and several other tools, as well as a couple of different headsets. My favorite home office tech is my LG Gram. It’s light-weight, converts to a tablet and has a long-lasting battery which makes it perfect for my current environment.

2) Work is a state of mind, so create brain triggers with routines and rituals

Set work hours and take a time-out every 75 to 90 minutes. When you take a walk, call a friend or meditate. These little breaks dramatically increase your productivity and allow you to return to the project at hand refreshed and focused.

Also, it’s important to establish pre- and post-work rituals (30 minutes before and after) for a sense of routine. For example, get your head ready for work by replacing your commute with activities like exercising, reading the news or making coffee. When you follow a schedule, your day will be structured and you will accomplish more.

3) Learn to fail and always experiment with different productivity methods:

If you struggle with completing your daily to-do list, explore different productivity hacks to see which ones work best for you. I’ve outlined some key methods below -- 

• The 20-20-20 rule says that for every 20 minutes spent looking at a screen, a person should look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This will help reduce eye strain from looking at a digital screen for a long period of time.
• The Pomodoro Technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, typically 25 minutes separated by short breaks. 
• The 90/20 Method is about fully focusing on a task for 90 minutes and then taking a 20-minute break -- this is said to promote intense focus. 
• Eat That Frog means to tackle your most-reviled task as early in the day as possible. By doing this, you build the momentum you need to crush the rest of the day. 

Your daily to-do list should contain only three Most Important Things (MITs) so establish deadlines and priorities at the onset of each day and assess progress weekly. Based on my reading, some workers are even finding success with organizing their days with recurring tasks: On Mondays, do X, Tuesdays do Y, etc.

As far as what’s worked best for me, I’ve created a master schedule for our family of five. That way, there are set times when we work, play and enjoy meals together. For example, lunch is at noon and it doesn’t matter what I’m in the midst of, I break and do lunch with the family. I’ve found that the schedule we’re following has really worked for me as I try to balance professional and personal responsibilities at home. 

4) Understand your work style

By the fifth week of this lockdown, many of us have gotten uncomfortably familiar with our individual WFH weaknesses. While some of us are tempted to pick up our phone every few minutes and should put the phone on airplane mode to complete a project, others are more distracted by surfing websites or catching up on a favorite TV series. 

Many authors suggested to take procrastination as a sign your mind needs a break by procrastinating productively with activities such as taking a power nap, doing yoga or meditating. You might even want to gamify your productivity by rewarding yourself after reaching productive milestones. 

A couple of weeks ago, LG conducted a survey to gauge how employees were faring at home. Surprisingly, 93 percent of LG employees reported that their productivity is at least equal to working in the office, with over 53 percent of those employees stating their efficiency is better or much better working from home.

A common thread between several articles was to focus more on applying the ROWE (results-only work environment) mindset by measuring productivity, not hours.

5) Keep your mental and physical health in check

During this time, it’s crucial to practice self-care and cut yourself some slack -- especially since many of us are working longer hours. To support developing the right habits, establish a weekday curfew or boundaries during the day to just step away from work and reset. Prepping meals ahead of time also sets you up for making time to eat during the workday and leads to healthier eating.

6) Over-communicate

Last but not least, err on the side of over-communicating, such as proactively contacting co-workers and clients to update them on progress, shifting deadlines and new challenges that have emerged. 

Remember that tools can mask intention and humanity, so work on checking your own preconceptions and treat people as a blank slate. Be empathetic, and always assume good intent - particularly when reading emails or text messages. Embracing the webcam also goes a long way to stay connected with people and have a more accurate interpretation of what the other person is actually saying.

And, as you work to stay in more frequent communication with your teams, I’ve learned the hard way that bluetooth headset batteries do not keep their charge for a full eight hours. Pro-tip: Have your headset charger close at hand in case you’re in the middle of that important conference call when the battery dies.  

If this topic interests you, I posted a list of the pieces I read here. Thanks to the 100 authors for their time and smart recommendations. In the comments below, please let us know if you’ve got additional tips. 

To end with the obvious, if we’re having to figure out how to best work from home, we’re the lucky ones (we still have jobs). To all those who are unemployed, I hope you find work soon and that this compilation might be useful to you then.