Working from home tips and tricks

As we dive into what for many is week two of enforced remote work, you may find yourself one of the thousands who are now crunching numbers and hitting sales targets in your pajamas.

People are calling it “the biggest work from home experiment” as more and more localities call for people to shelter-in-place, and families are driven indoors amidst the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

Many schools, from grade school through university level, are moving online to hold virtual classes, while school for the little ones is suspended until April, at the soonest.

Employers who may have been previously reticent to allow remote work are now forced to let their staff work from home indefinitely. Many believe that once companies realize how remote work can fit into their operations, it will simply become the new normal.

You might be wondering how to make this set-up work for the long term, or at least this indefinable length of time. Here's a few work from home truths to help you navigate this new environment.

Make a dedicated home office space

If you don’t have a home office, care out a little space where you can set up your work. Just as at the end of an office work day you are able to leave your unfinished tasks waiting for you in the morning, you don’t want to have to clear your kitchen table of work just to begin dinner prep, losing your flow in the translation from work to domesticity.

If you live in a small apartment and don’t have that kind of room, even a tray on which you can set your laptop, notes, and whatever else is part of your work landscape, will ease your transition from work to life and back every day.

It can get lonely

This isn’t for everyone. While introverts who don’t like small talk enjoy working on their own away from the noise and office chatter, others eventually feel loneliness settle in after a few days, weeks or months of working from home. You’ll have to be ready for that.

The lack of face to face interaction can take its toll on people’s emotional well being. While you never thought you’d miss hearing the clanking sound of your officemate’s keyboard, or hearing the interminable crunch of candy during the 3 p.m. sugar rush, you may find yourself longing to see others’ faces in person. Video chat meetings just don’t have the same effect. This is one of the hardest things to adjust to for many people, it takes a lot of energy to be able to power through the loneliness that comes with working away from your team.

Time management is crucial

You need to be able to manage your time well or you’ll risk not getting any work done. While it’s nice to be able to squeeze in a nap in the middle of a workday, you have to make sure those power naps don’t turn into whole stretches of snooze.

It’s also easy to get distracted when you work from home when you have new Netflix episodes, your dog who wants to play outside, kids who eat every 30 minutes, and everything else that could potentially keep your mind away from what needs to be done for work. Sure you can sneak in a quick run to the store but if you don’t manage your time effectively you’ll end up not getting much work done.

Software and apps are clutch

Everything is cloud based in the virtual office. Whether in online meetings, a shared databases, the remote worker depends heavily on software and applications that make working possible. Make sure you know how to get up to speed on the new apps quickly, so you don’t waste a ton of time trying to be your own IT person.

From messaging platforms composed of different chat groups like Slack, to project managing apps that help you assign and track tasks like Asana, or Workform for time management, there are a myriad of available apps to make your work life flow. Just make sure you don’t mix up your chat boxes.

Video Meetings Will Be A Challenge

Since classes have been suspended and kids will be home at least for the next couple of weeks, you’ll probably have a kid or two walking in while you’re on video call.

You’ll also be hearing a lot of cries for breakfast and squeals of fighting kids in the background while talking to colleagues. It’s going to be a challenge, but know that many work from home parents have pulled this off. Some mothers can even close a deal while breastfeeding.

You’ll Be Blurring The Lines Between Work and Home Life

When you are two dirty pajamas away from your children and literally a hop and skip away from the dirty dishes in the kitchen, it’s easy to blur the lines between work and your home life. It’s hard to find a clear demarcation line that will separate what for you is for work and your home.

It’s easy for work to spill over into your family time when you work from home. Your children can also easily hijack a meeting by storming inside the room and throwing a fit while you’re having an essential video chat.

But once you’ve got your routine down, you’ll be able to create a daily timeline that gives you the time you need to meet your work goals and to keep your kids from feeling neglected.

Given how far office tech has come over the past decade, working from home is actually possible, and it’s pretty amazing that so many people can be shuttered from going to work and still carry on their jobs.

Working from home involves a lot of adjustments—getting used to working alone, mixing up calendar days, and missing your office mates. With no clear end to the virus in sight, we had better get used to working from home.