WORKING FROM HOME – 10 TIPS

1) Designate a space, ideally a room with a door, for work: if you don't have a home office or an extra room, set up a table or desk with an office chair and decent light. Not near a bed, couch, sofa; preferably with decent daylight and a view to the outside. Don’t take meetings outside this space (definitely not in the restroom, that goes without saying!); plan your breaks just like you work in an office. Important: use an external monitor (not as a second but as your primary screen), a keyboard and a mouse instead of just your laptop. Prevent unnecessary strain on your neck or back.

2) Treat every day like it is a normal working day (just without a commute): get up and workout at the usual times; shower + dress for the day (no PJs’s – shout-out to Chris - you know who you are); eat breakfast and lunch away from your "virtual office"; keep regular business hours.

This is "work" - some level of routine is key.

3) Because this is “work”, you'll go nuts if you don't create boundaries - physical, mental, schedule, between work time vs home time. Get out of the house, talk to other humans at 6ft distance. Take a walk, enjoy having the chance to walk your dog or someone else’s dog. As John Henkel says below, put the dog in another room after the walk. Also, I'm not suggesting you go to mix with groups of people; just don't stay home 24-7. It will mess with you.

4) Expect friends and family to behave as if your work-from-home is not actual work. You will have to tell them. People will ask you for favors, to run errands, and expect you to be available for school functions, family functions, picking people up from train station or airport, etc. Be stern but fair - this is no different from you being in an office. It is the same whether you are in your cubicle or at home. Expect some people to have some level of resistance (or at least time to realize they need to stop bugging you). Hence the mention of a "door" in item 1).

5) Mimic the quick communication with people walking by your cubicle - by keeping a chat app open that mentions your status/availability. What app are we using? Do you want a group thread open? Engineering asks for Slack, for example, but other groups use Teams or Skype. You may not have something for just your own group – figure this out. From Maxine: Schedule virtual coffee breaks with colleagues to keep up the social side of office life.

6) If you manage people, remember that lack of small interactions during the day means you need to be far more intentional and structured about scheduling time to build and maintain relationships. Lots of 1:1’s and small team sessions. When your reports call you - break away from what you are doing and give them your full attention. Remember to use a camera.

7) I can’t say this enough: working from home can be very lonely. I don’t think people realize that it can be pretty rough. I usually make it to the office enough for baseline sanity but an entire day just in my head is tough.

8) Electronics & video conference setup are important: realize that a decent setup is respectful to your peers. Use video and buy a decent camera, microphone and speaker. Practice video conference hygiene. Understand how the tools work. Don’t breathe heavily into a headset. Mute the mic when not speaking. Don’t turn your speakers up to the maximum volume, that causes an echo. Don’t hammer a keyboard with your mic on. Use your camera as much as possible. Use HD video as much as possible. Test your setup in a 1:1 call with a friend who is brutally honest.

Oh, shameless plug: fix your WiFi for decent video streaming capability and separate your work from your private network, may I recommend NETGEAR's Orbi Pro?

9) Get up and move around 5 minutes per hour (or more). Mimic the physical activity from the office – like walking around to meeting rooms, going out to lunch, walking over to another person’s cubicle, picking up your Amazon packages, chat to your pals, etc.

10) Don’t become a #ZOOMpotato – don’t fall into the trap of sitting and eating all day behind your computer, what you shouldn’t do in the office either.

Other tips? Let me know in the comments, I'll update, with credit.