Whether it’s due to the current health concern or your company is just giving you the option to work remotely, it’s not always easy accomplish. Here are some tips from someone who frequently works remotely. We’ll use “home” as the term for where ever you chose to remote work from.
Your home schedule has multiple variables to consider. What does your boss require/prefer? What does the official company policy require? Do you have kids, spouse and/or pet at home which could be a distraction?
First, identify what is required from your boss and overall company. It might be specific hours in a day (8am to 5pm), total hours in a day or total hours in the week. If it’s total hours in a week, don’t do like you did in school and wait until the last minute to get all of your hours in for that project. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
Next consider the home distractions that you can anticipate. The days I take my kids to school, I know I’ll be “out of office” from 725 to about 815. If I go to the gym, that’s an additional hour I’m away from my desk. How do I make up those hours? Do I need to?
Literally look at each day of the week and plan our your “working” hours. Communicate that to whomever else is at home so they understand your schedule.
When I first started my business I worked from the kitchen table, then moved to the dining room table. Both of these locations are near where the rest of my family is active during the day. Terrible idea. Pick a spot like a guest room and use it as your “home office”. If this is a temporary situation, just set up a folding table and chair. It doesn’t have to be fancy, just away from normal life to minimize distractions.
Two other great options are to either work with a coworker at their home to make it feel more “official” and to identify a few options locally you can work at. Coffee shops, cafes and restaurants which do NOT have waiters are great options. Think about the availability of a power outlet and avoid places like Starbucks which can noisy. Also learn how to use your smartphone as a hotspot to avoid open public networks.
It never fails. You get comfortable then think about laundry you could fold, Amazon shopping, social media…and it’s 3 hours later and you haven’t done anything yet. Keeping focus away from the office can be difficult. Create a “to-do” list which includes some built in time for non-work related things. This way you keep your productivity up while also getting things done during the day that you typically wait for nights or weekends to complete.
Do you have tasks you can do while mindlessly watching Netflix at night? You can do that. Prefer to work at 6am instead of 6pm? You can do that. Take a long lunch, try a spin class, take your kids/pets to the park, mow the lawn, you have a lot more flexibility when you’re not stuck in an office all day. Be mindful, however, of added risks. Want to work from Starbucks? Not only is the wifi not secure, neither is your screen from people sitting behind you. Thinking about e-mailing files to other employees? Contact your IT department to see if there are more secure ways to do so.
If you have people who report to you, talk to them about their plans and overall goals while working from home. Don’t micromanage, but keep in touch to ensure everyone understands expectations and responsibilities.
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