This will be a multi-part series on how I transitioned from the typical office life to working from home. Everyone and every situation is different. Maybe you’re wondering how someone works from home and gets things done or wanting to leap into working from home. This series is also for those of you who already work from home but feel you can be more efficient. As with most things in my life I continually look at how I do things and what processes can be improved. If you feel you can teach me something on this topic, please share your insights as it is very welcomed.
Please, if you work from home and feel alone, loneliness, sadness, depressed, suicidal seek help. Talk to your family, friends, a doctor, me. You are not alone, you are loved I promise you.
Welcome, Part 1
That which you manifest is before you.
- Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain
I’ve been working from home for a few years now. At first, I was against the thought. I liked going into the office, seeing people, having a routine, keeping a routine. All my life I’ve been an early riser and there was a time I liked to wake up, do my morning ritual, get breakfast and coffee on the way to work. Get settled into my desk, review my tasks for the day, etc.
Some years ago I got a new boss. He encouraged working from home as a perk of the job. Maybe he saw that I was a self motivated individual? One day I might ask him. I’m thankful for the flexibility he offered me. I believe I told him something like, “thanks, but I like coming into the office”.
After a few weeks of stewing on it, I decided to start working one day a week from home. That one day afforded me a nearly distraction-free day of working. I came to enjoy it. No losing 30 minute chunks of my day to quick convenience meetings or office chatter.
One day turned to two and now I sit here wondering why anyone would choose working in an office full time. Don’t let this preface make you think routine is thrown out the window and I slog out of bed every morning in my PJs half asleep staring at Outlook like a zombie until the coffee I now have to brew myself finds its way into my bloodstream.
Routine is KEY
The hardest part to the journey of working from home is establishing your new routine. No single routine works for everyone, but there are a few key elements everyones routine should include.
- Boundaries
- Place to call work
- Reduce digital noise
- Reflection
Boundaries
It is important to establish boundaries with your family, roommates, friends, and co-workers. Working from home offers a lot of flexibility with time and you should nail down what your working hours are and you should relay those hours to everyone in your life. If you don’t place these boundaries, you’re liable to have others take advantage of your time or worse, you over-extend yourself.
Working from home afforded me an extra hour a day I didn’t have to spend in the car, not to mention the wear/tear on the car and gas money. It made me feel that I had so much more time to get things done during the day, and it does and you need to leverage that time wisely. My advice is to block out working chunks of the day and be vocal about when it is working time and when it is not. Your family, or possibly room-mates, will also feel you have more time to do things since you work from home now. Your honey-do list to your spouse may seem like something you can tackle more often.
The truth is, you owe dedicated time to work and needs to be treated as if you’re in an office setting, or better an island. I’ve placed boundaries as such that my family is not allowed to bother me during my morning and afternoon work blocks. If my spouse needs something from me during a work block, she must do what she would do if I was at the office, call or text me. It may sound a little harsh at first but this is important. You can’t have kids busting in like the Kool-Aid man while on a conference call, or worse, debugging. You can’t have a room-mate coming in during a work block to ask you where fresh batteries are. Ya’ can’t have your neighbor over for an Icehouse or 6 because you “work from home”.
You can’t work from home with constant distractions
7 AM - 11:30 AM is my morning block.
12:30 PM - 5:30 PM is my afternoon block
During these blocks it’s not 100% work, but the goal is. Part of my routine is the Pomodoro Routine. I suggest taking a look at it to help manage your time. I do 25 minute intervals during my blocks. I have a timer, Tomato Bar, which allows me to start a timer when I sit down at my workstation and it alerts me when the 25 minute interval ends. When I get the alert I take a short break, should be no more than 5 minutes. Sometimes I’ll take this break to…
- hit the bathroom
- shuffle laundry
- empty/fill dishwasher
- short exercises to relieve hand/arm pain
Really any short task you can complete within 5 minutes, even if it isn’t work related! If you’re having trouble keeping to a 5 minute break, you can set another timer on your phone or watch to alert you to start another 25 minute interval. Some pomodoro timers have this feature built-in. Find what works best for you. When I have to force myself to take a 5 minute break, I’ll set a timer on my watch and start cleaning in my office.
Conclusion
I hope this first part in my series clears up how I set and keep boundaries. The next part in the series I’ll go over the importance of having a dedicated work space in your home as well as escaping your home office.