Working From Home—Ad Hoc Office Space Creation in the Age of a Global Pandemic

For a total of almost 10 years, I’ve worked “from home”—meaning, I’ve worked from a home office, co-working space, or ad-hoc office space. 

Some of you have attempted it, but it’s "never worked." 

Some of you have never tried it.

But now you are suddenly being thrown into it and you have no choice.

There has been a flurry of very useful articles on best practices of how to work from home recently. This is not that. This is a phase-by-phase guide on how to adapt to working from home, suddenly…and with everyone else home with you…. 

Here are the phases in the order of importance:

Phase 1: Create your office space physically OR in your mind

Phase 2: Coping with constant interruptions

Phase 3: Coping with boredom

The aim is this: Create a work space where you can concentrate, mitigate extra interruptions, and figure out how to do this for the long-term.

But in this strange time when you are holing up with everyone else or just with yourself, there seems to be so many obstacles to that simple task!

Read on if you don’t have a home office and might never have one, but you do have to get work done. 

Phase 1: Create an office space physically OR in your mind 

The principle is simple: Create a work space where you can concentrate and zero-in on your work.

You: “Ugh!! I know, but I can’t!! I don’t have a spare room, my partner/roommate/child/parent is also home and needs work space.”

The point of this is to create a place that reminds you of work so you can get into it. If you have no space to exclusively designate for your work, then learn to create that space in your head. You do that by giving yourself the cues: the material objects, sound stimulation (or lack of it), and visual stimulation that puts you in the mood to work. 

To figure out what those things are, start with a list of what you have at your office. Then, cross out what you think you don’t need.

Or, if you have too much “stuff” at your office and remembering all of it is overwhelming, start with a list of the essentials. The questions you want to ask are:

“What is essential for getting my work done?” 

AND

“What gets me in the mood to work?”

Combine these together and you get the question: “What are the components that make a workspace for me?”

For me, what makes a workspace is my laptop, mouse pad, external mouse, smartphone, computer cord, notebook, flashcards, pen, and earphones.

What is essential is actually this: My laptop, mouse pad, external mouse, smartphone, earphones, and computer cord. 

What I like having, but rarely use is: My notebook, flashcards, and pen.

Earphones/headphones help to block out the sound around me to expand the space in my mind to just focus on my task at hand.

If you are more visually sensitive, find a window or wall that you can face. There, put up a photo or picture that helps you focus. This will also add a piece of art or memento to brighten up everyone’s living space too! 

What is essential and what do you like to have in your workspace? Circle what you need from below or write up a new list:

Computer, power cord, smartphone, external keyboard, external mouse, pen, notebook, paper, earphones/headphones, photo/picture, books, printed articles

Now that you know what’s essential and what’s not, you know what you can leave out when time or space doesn’t allow it. And if you notice that something was actually “essential,” “a nice to have,” or completely unnecessary, then switch the category on your list for the next time. 

For Phase 1, concentrate on finding out the essentials. There are many things you thought were essential but weren’t and vice versa. It’s great to have a place where you can leave everything so that you can come back to it anytime you like, but if you have to pack up each time to allow the space to be used for other things, then have your written list of essentials ready, always put your stuff away in the same bag and in the same space so that you can just pull it out, lay it out, and be ready to get down to work. 

Additionally: 

• “All of this stuff seems a little excessive? I just need my computer.” → Great! Try moving everything out. You might be one of the lucky ones who needs very little. If you find yourself reaching for stuff or looking for things during your work time though, keep track of that. Those little bits of lost time looking for things can be a welcome break or a time-sucker.
• “I’ve gotten the objects, the sound, and the visual elements all set up, but I still feel like I’m missing something….” → Is the smell right? Working in a place where there is a constant smell of cookies baking can be tough… Try incense or essential oils (lemon and citrus smells often help with concentration although they don’t work for me). If you still feel like you're missing something, check out what you might be lacking in the taste department. Are you craving some “warm drink” you usually have in your office? 

Recreate your optimal workspace in your mind by using a few cues. 

Phase 2: Coping with constant interruptions

Live with a chatty roommate or significant other? Or have a child who is also suddenly at home with you?

It’s really hard to get work done if you keep getting interrupted. The time you work is not a simple sum of the minutes you “worked,” but the sum of the blocks of minutes/hours you’ve been able to work—without interruption. So, getting uninterrupted time is crucial to this working from home thing. 

Go for this: Get blocks of uninterrupted time throughout the day. The optimal “block” of time depends on you and the nature of work. Generally, 25, 40 or 50 minute blocks work well, but explore if you already don’t know what works best for you.  

Not getting interrupted comes down to setting clear boundaries. Doing that feels different with people you live with. Being “professional” in this context may or may not work. Let me offer three ways to think about this:

1) The rational adult who also has to work, but is getting distracted; 

2) The older child who can basically take care of themselves, but sometimes needs help; and

3) The younger child who needs constant attention. 

Numbers 2 and 3 have overlap with adults who require varying degrees of care-taking needs too. 

First, #1 which can also be termed, the rational adult who keeps getting distracted and keeps trying to pull you into Procrastination Land with them. (Full disclosure, I am often this person.) If this person is not your co-parent in regards to the young child who needs constant attention (#3), turn this person into your on-site colleague. 

No, you don’t have to work on the same thing. No, you don’t have to talk to each other. Simply set a timer for 25 or 50 minutes and say, “Okay! Let’s concentrate for 25/40/50 minutes and take a 5/10 minute break together after that.” 

Look, this person likes you and wants to spend time with you, that’s why they are trying to pull you into Procrastination Land with them. Don’t get tempted, but also figure out a way to turn them into a work buddy instead of a nuisance.

With #2, the older child who can basically take care of themselves, but sometimes needs help, come up with a daily schedule with them and confirm with them when they can talk to you and when you need to absolutely be locked in and not bothered (except for emergencies). Make sure you check in with them when you are taking breaks. 

If you have a younger child who needs constant attention (#3) and have a co-parent and/or a nanny or two around, decide on a schedule when each of you will work and each will caretake. 

It is unlikely that the caretaker for the designated time will be able to do anything else so don’t build in that expectation. If the caretaker gets to work during that time because of a surprise nap time, great! Don’t think that they “didn’t caretake (like we agreed)” during that time and try to negotiate extra 'work time' for yourself. Just keep to the agreed upon schedule. If you are lucky, you might get that surprise bonus time too!

If you are co-parenting and switching off care time and work time, try to know how you are going to set up your workspace in a minute so you don’t lose any precious work time when you are handing off. If you have a reserved physical space, know how you get into that work mindset immediately. 

If you are completely on your own and you are managing, you are truly a superhero and have the respect of the world. If you are truly on your own with a younger child, the only thing I can offer is the standard, have a good structure/schedule, try to work while child(ren) nap(s), do not feel guilty for the increased screen time, and make sure you take care of yourself well. I know many single parents (some by choice and some by not) and it’s hard, but they come through it. They also have many helping hands. Even in this surreal time, I think it’s a necessity worth trying to figure out how to incorporate.   

In summary, figure out productive ways to create boundaries with others who share the space with you and make sure you get those “blocks of time” in. This is the hardest part about working “from home” when non-working people are around...

Phase 3: Coping with boredom

The principal here is: Keeping a sense of purpose (remember why you are doing this) and create/find a virtual community!

I’m hoping you’ve come back to this after a few weeks since you’ve got all of Phases 1 & 2 figured out. Your office space is set up, the scheduling with other people in the space is rolling, you feel like you are all handling this well. And then it hits you…. Boredom: “That wall that I’ve been staring at the past two, three, four weeks? Ugh, can I get rid of it? Why can’t I go to my favorite cafe? (Oh, right. Shut down because…. Corona….)”

Try this when you are stuck in the same place: 

First, the obvious: Change your scenery.

If you can repaint the wall, repaint it. If you want to put up a different photo or picture, choose one carefully (the choosing is part of the fun), and put that up. Take a whole day to change your scenery. You might want to change up the scent in your work space. If you can move your work space—maybe exchange it with someone else—it will change your arrangements, but it may work to combat boredom. 

If nothing works and you can, just take the day off. Sometimes, that’s what you need to reset and refresh. 

Even if you are still locked in and every day seems to be the same, just acting as if it’s a day off on a regular workday has a nice thrill to it and it can refresh you. 

Second, remember why you are here. Think about the bigger picture and then relate it back to the now. 

You are working from home because you are practicing social distancing. 

You are practicing social distancing to keep the number of infected people down. 

You are keeping the number of infected people down because you don’t want to contract the virus or pass it onto someone else. 

You don’t want to contract the virus or pass it onto someone else because you want to try to keep as many people healthy as possible. 

If you almost forget the why, go look at this simulator.

Third, create online communities. Increasing screen time is not great. Many of us need to be more offline than online. At the same time, we are social animals and this social distancing thing—which is really, physical distancing—is hard. If we haven’t started feeling the tolls yet, we will soon. Yes, even you introverts will! 

Ideas:

-Move your real-life friends online. 

-Strengthen your ties with your social media contacts. Make sure to check in with your community there. 

Be present virtually if you can’t be IRL (in real life). We all need it right now. The beauty of the virtual communities is that you are not bound by geographic location. So if you have a friend who lives across the country or globe that you’ve been kind of out of touch with? Now is the time to reconnect. If your friend has no online access, but has a phone line, call them to say hello. 

Apps that help create virtual communities: WhatsApp, LINE, Slack, WeChat, etc. 

Platforms that help you check in by video, voice, or phone check-ins: Zoom, Google Hangout, Skype, FreeConferenceCall.com, etc. 

If you are feeling bored…. Change things up! And remember why you are doing this (keep a sense of purpose) and make sure to be in touch with your communities. Use the technology that we developed! 

Finally...

Did you read all of this in one sitting and get overwhelmed? Go back to Phase 1 and ignore the rest. Bookmark this page and come back when you feel like you’ve gotten your work space figured out and then, see if Phase 2 or 3 applies to you. 

Thank you for reading and wishing you a calm and less-stressful transition to Working-From-Home.  

If you find this article helpful or useful, let me know by sharing, commenting, or messaging me. I will update and edit it as necessary.