Are You Prepared to Work Remotely?

"Don't just plan to work from home. Plan to connect from home with others for your mental wellbeing."

This is a very important dialogue topic with the latest news happening much faster than I can type. So many of us have worked remotely and in the coming weeks, there will likely be a huge influx of people who will set up or utilize home offices for the first time. You will see us buying 48 - 96 more Keurig pods and stocking up on Cliff or Quest protein bars. Perhaps a dozen or two frozen Trader Joes easy-microwave meals.

We are living now in unchartered times, The coronavirus is making us question if it is safe to be out and about. Being a big planner, I think it makes sense to be prepared for a likely new normal with the same vigor put into making sure we have non-perishable foods, water and medicine when expecting a hurricane. It's like taking an umbrella with you and hoping it will not rain... and I hope it will not rain where you are. 

I remember when I had my daughter and was home on maternity leave. Sometimes I was alone for 18-hours and by the time my husband got home, I could feel my mental health declining. I was beside myself and felt bad that he had to deal with me. I quickly learned that as long as I had one or two social interactions a day with another person and got outside, I was okay. Big snowstorms in the dead of winter really isolated me. I couldn't go to the mall due to my daughter's lack of immunity at that stage of her development. 

TIP #1. Set up a buddy system for yourself before you start to work remotely. A Skype, Facetime or have a Zoom call over coffee every day with a team member or two (or five) to get your days off to a good start. Please commit to using the video feature, so you can see each other and make eye contact, even if you are having a bad hair day. The technology is ideal for multiple people to join in by video. Hopefully, your company has a video teleconference option available to you. If you are a manager, virtually walk the halls and connect as you would in the office. My team currently has a Zoom call weekly as several people work remotely. Just 15-30 minutes will help you to stay connected and keep the ball moving forward. Face-to-face interactions help a lot, even if it’s not in person. We come to the calls with big smiles, making our days and our company much more cheerful.

TIP #2.  Savor small wins. If working remotely is new to you, go easy on yourself. Set up a quiet good environment to work. Have something interesting for you to look at and enjoy. I put a picture of my older brother Tony and I laughing our hearts out when we were little. The girl that's cracking up, Julie (me) at age five reminds me to do the best, be my best for her, and find joy in the small things. When I first started my management consulting business I was struggling to determine if I was going in the right direction. I didn't like working from home and from time to time would co-work with one of my neighbors.

I put out a whiteboard in my office that served a few purposes:

·      To capture small or big WINS that I was proud of celebrating. It's easy to not track progress and feel you are stalling. I needed a visual representation and that made me aware that things indeed were happening. As an entrepreneur, we "live and die by the whiteboard."

·      To visually remind me of the next steps that had to be taken for client acquisition and retention, as well as meeting deadlines.

·      To motivate me to accomplish tasks.  I had a personal area with motivational quotes and to-dos that I could check off then erase "Get Stella + Chewy dog food for Naomi (our Chief Happiness Officer)." "Let Go and Let God." Remember that FEAR is "Fantasized Experiences Appearing Real." I also included a lyric- "Yo, I Got an MBA- a Masters of Being Amazing." which is a fun reminder to stay confident and not let fear seep in and control you.

To remind me that it was okay to stop for 15 minutes to do something enjoyable, I created a list of what I enjoyed on my whiteboard. Call a family member, have espresso with my wonderful husband, get on my power plate machine, play Broadway music or Jaz, listen to the Calm meditation app for 10 minutes, a TED talk or a Blinkist book to learn. Sing karaoke with my daughter. Swim and dance and enjoy what matters in life.  This is a great time to get more connected to people and better yet, to be the connector of people.

TIP # 3. Keep learning.  Ask colleagues who also are working remotely to mentor you on a topic or visa-versa. Bring people together with a focused and useful agenda. I have been running Virtual Flash Mentoring Sessions to bring people together where each person can help another. If you have had to cancel meetings, groups, conferences Flash Mentoring is a great connector. In fact, we have seen 97% engagement rates in these sessions. People feel more plugged into each other. Discussion topics can be focused around: Dealing with Stress, LeaderSHIP  (we have a nautical theme), Multi-Gen Workplace, How to Best Work Remotely, the Book Who Moved My Cheese, Having a Growth Mindset, Dealing with Challenges, Intrapreneurship, Meaningful Networking, LinkedIn, Mentoring  2.0 and more.

TIP #4.Take breaks, have boundaries and detox on technology or news for a while.. When working from home it might become hard to separate your personal from your professional life. If possible, work from an area in your house such as a  spare bedroom or basement, where you can turn off the lights and walk away from that area at a specific time. Create a structure for your day (sample below) and have a clean break when it becomes your personal time. This is a big issue for many. How and when to turn it on and off (especially the news).

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I'd love to hear some of your advice + tips to share here with others.

Julie Kantor is the CEO of Twomentor LLC- Her company creates corporate and organizational mentoring initiatives to drive employee engagement, retention and lower burnout.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

8:30 am Team Call and check emails

9:30 am - 11 am work on Project A

11 am Coffee Break

11:15 am Teleconference A

12:00 pm Call three prospects or read...

1:00 pm Lunch Break

1:45 pm Listen to Calm App for 10 min

2:00 pm Resume Project A or Move to Priority B

2:30pm Coffee Break Chat on Zoom/ Skype with ________ [enjoyable]

3:00 pm Set goals for tomorrow and add them to the whiteboard or calendar. Ask people I manage how they are doing against their goals. Check-in by phone with any team member struggling. Check off what you accomplished today. Set a big dream or action item for the next 7 - 30 days.

4:00 pm Listen to some music while working. Catch the news. Submit any project work that you are collaborating on by COB. Get a head start on something important.

6:00 pm TECH OFF. YOUR TIME. Walk away. Exercise. Play w/ loved ones. Shower. Change. If you need to, take a 15 minute period after dinner to check-in once. Read. Netflix. Sing Karaoke. Make a Meal. Breathe and always call a friend, parent or sibling.