“Take time to recognize the positive, life-changing benefits of working from home.”
Having worked from home for 2 decades, I cannot tell you how many people have said how great it would be if they could work from home as well. It is ideal, but it wasn’t always that way. At first, very few companies would allow remote work. I even started a company at one point to build a remote workforce where people could live anywhere, be at work tomorrow (LABAWT). Still most companies trying to hire contractors require them to be onsite, but that is about to change.
COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) is going to change everything about business, resources, locations, requirements, meetings, etc. and a large segment of the workforce is being forced to work remotely. Life (and work) will never be the same.
Symptoms of being a telecommuter
When you are at the office, people walk by, you hear office chit-chat, you run into people on the way to lunch or the bathroom, in-person meetings may happen all over the building and there is constant activity; none of this happens at home:
- Too quiet or interruptions
- You’re always alone where it can be too quiet or you get interrupted if other people are in the house.
- Extra busy
- More meetings occur because everyone is out-of-sight.
- You can also feel like you should be busy. There’s no more pressure at home vs. office, so don’t put more pressure on yourself.
- Changes
- Meeting etiquette changes over the phone; you can’t just raise your hand or make eye contact.
- You also have to pay closer attention to the topic
- Can be harder to understand people when you cannot see their face or read lips.
- Not paying attention is also VERY apparent
- Lonely
- You might get down or depressed, so pay attention to how you feel and take steps (literally & figuratively) to change your focus.
How to still get work done
In order to not only get work done, but do it better than in-the-office try these ideas:
- Stand up
- You may be immobile at the office, but at home you can virtually get stuck in your chair; stand up at least every 15-mins – set an alarm too!
- Stretch and exercise. This will keep your mind active and focused on work, not the quiet
- Walk
- At the office you have to walk to meetings and you might have a good walk to the bathroom, so make yourself get up & move.
- Take time at lunch to walk (treadmill if it’s raining). Not only is walking healthy, it’s also a great way to relieve stress; sometimes you’ll get new ideas or find an answer to the most difficult problems too.
- Schedule time away from your desk (and keep the appointment)
- Mark your calendar for lunch every day
- Also, make appointments for a 15-minute break – at least 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon and get active .
- Take time to talk
- To ward off boredom and keep your sanity, call the people you regularly chat with at the office; just a minute or two can change your attitude.
- Pay attention to what & how much you eat
- It’s easy to get a snack, so be sure to clean out the easy-to-grab, low-nutrition foods
- Be rigorous with meal and snack times; you can easily lose track of time and find yourself stationary for 5 or 6 hours with no exercise or nutrition.
Learn to love the person you’re with when you work remotely, don’t be too hard on yourself, and take time to recognize the positive, life-changing benefits of working from home.