Pushpins. Yeah, pushpins…pushpins in the wall. When thinking about what I miss the most from my cubicle dwelling days, that’s it. It wasn’t always that way. Originally, the idea of moving from cube-working, office politicking, 8-5 worker to that of an at-home, on-the-go teleworker was music to my ears. Then I did it.
The transition from cube to home was tougher than anticipated. It’s kind of like an impulse purchase; you get it home and you quickly begin second guessing yourself. After a ton of trial and error, mental highs and lows, and scattered productivity slumps, I finally perfected it. Today I have my ideal workspace, my ideal understanding of productivity, and my ideal rules. Without any one of those, I’d be toast.
Before you go begging the boss for some nomadic freedom simply because it’s the cool thing to do, consider how you will adapt. Think ahead to your daily routine. Here are my rules and lessons learned after 7 years of working at home for a corporation:
- Get used to solitude.
This is especially true if you are working in the capacity of a programmer, tech support agent or telesales worker. Results are expected and you have to perform and learn to ignore the lonely feeling you will encounter. Motivation has to come from your need to advance, make more money, win awards, etc. You will not get the ‘good job’ handshakes that you are used to. This is a serious one — come to terms with it if you want to work from home and not have ill-will towards your boss and/or team. - Be seen, be heard.
If there is an ultra-important meeting, go to the office — especially if several layers of executives are going to be present. When you have to express a deep opinion on something, nothing is stronger than someone seeing your facial expressions and conviction. Do not expect the same response from co-workers if you only choose to join the big meeting via an audio or web conference. - Designate THE spot.
This sounds obvious but many people are SO eager to work from home that they give this no real thought. If your plan is to toss your laptop on the kitchen table, you are in for a rude awakening because you will think of work every time you sit down to eat your Wheaties. It will lead to a misery. Even if live alone, you must consider choosing a spot that is not a ‘home’ area. This means no bedrooms, family rooms, or kitchens. Choose a place that you can actually depart from when the workday is over so you can shutoff your work-brain and turn on your personal-brain. - Equipment.
No, I am not going to tell you that you need a phone. However it’s worth mentioning the fact that working from home doesn’t indicate that company property becomes free to use for personal activity. You are still using a company laptop and most likely connecting through a VPN whose traffic is somehow monitored. The rule is simple — if you wouldn’t search for jobs at your office today, don’t do it from the company laptop just because you are at home. You would absolutely be shocked at the things I’ve seen teleworkers do. - Eat & Shower.
I really hate to admit this, but I am bad at showering. When I wake up in the morning, I grab some tea and I head to the home office in my sweatpants and t-shirt. Next thing I know, it’s 2:00 in the afternoon. Not only do I miss the shower but I miss two meals as well. Do that for 3 days in a row and the spouse will start to think you’re a bum. So, schedule in a shower and a meal. In all honesty, it wakes you up and it’s well worth the 15 minute time investment. Silly as it sounds, this is seriously an issue for people (including me)! - Dress the part.
In line with the showering bit, you should be keen to the notion that someone may invite you to a last minute web meeting with video. If you are able to work effectively in your shorts, fine, but have a business shirt handy. Some people need to dress up in order to get into the business mood. If you are one of them, dress as if you were really heading into the office. - Kids.
If you have kids, you must immediately establish a Do Not Disturb policy. It could be a sign on the door, instructions to the spouse, or anything that will tell everyone in the house that you are in the middle of something. My rule is simple. If I am not on the first floor of the house, I am not available. It helps that I built an office in the basement, but you get the drift. - Task Confusion.
Sure, the lawn needs to be cut, but 1:00 on a Wednesday is not the time to do it. Remember, you are WORKING, so during business hours, stick to business! I can’t believe how many people and neighbors I see outside frolicking when they should be working. - TVs.
I have a TV in the office but it’s only used when I am working at night. Aside from that, it is never on. When you are just beginning, choose a workspace that doesn’t have any TVs in view. - Weekend Working.
For a lot of people, working on the weekend is a must. You must set guidelines with your spouse that weekend projects are not weekend getaways. Your office time has to be just that, office time, regardless of the day. - Online Meetings.
Find a good online meeting service. There will be times that you need to go over a Powerpoint or an Excel document and clearly you don’t want to go into the office simply to show someone a graph. There are plenty of free services out there but choose carefully. My time is worth more than saving $250. If you are dealing and meeting with customers, don’t choose a garbage service. - Last but not least, the Sauce.
After a hard day I’d love heading to a bar for a beer with by co-workers. Well, when you work at home, happy hour cannot come early. Use common sense and stay away from alcohol until the real workday ends. If you started at 5AM that morning and want to end the day at 3:00, remember that no one else has that luxury so always expect a call at 4:45 that needs your attention. Drunk dialing your ex is one thing; drunk dialing a customer is not to be forgiven.
So that’s my take on working at home. If you can do it without watching TV or mowing the lawn, do it — for sure. You will get a lot more done and it will allow you to focus on things that actually make sense to your development.
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Nomad Contributors
by Workpost Foreman / October 16, 2008
Drunk dialing a customer/client is such a bad idea that you have to wonder if it’s even worth drinking at all. Especially if you work on weekends.
by Julie / October 16, 2008
Another thing about working from home….the lunches are only as good as what is in the pantry! I miss going out to a good meal, even though my waistline is in better shape. But, if you work at home, make sure you have the pantry stocked with some decent foods.
by Richard Harrison / October 16, 2008
Some points I agree with, but for me the big attraction of being a “digital nomad” is not having many rules about how I work. So if I want to spend some time working in my boxers from my sofa then I can.
Working from home should give you the flexibility to play with your kids during the day, to cut the lawn after lunch, to wear what you like and generally work the hours that suit you. The focus of your work is shifted towards being “results-based”, so as long as you’re delivering the goods, then you’re golden.
by William C Bonner / October 16, 2008
I live two timezones away from my office. Lunch is an annoying issue, because my coworkers in the office eat lunch at 10am my time. Sometimes it’s nice because I can actually take care of things without interruption for that hour, but when it’s noon my time it’s two their time, and they want to get things accomplished then.
I’ve not come up with a good solution, other than making sure that the refrigerator is stocked with lunch type food, leading to eating at the desk, which is a bad habit if you are working in an office or working from home.
Still, I enjoy most of the working from home benefits.
by Barbara / October 16, 2008
I think many of these things depend on the person. Some people need to get into “work clothes” to “feel like they’re working.” For me, the work clothes always felt like an uncomfortable distraction anyway. Being prepared for the 4:45pm call assumes that those are your office hours. In these days of multiple time zone work, “I return all calls within 24 hours” can take care of that! My dad had that TV rule for homework. Funny thing, as my mom liked to point out, he worked with the radio on and in his bed with papers piled next to him. Task confusion goes along with working to your own rhythms. I’m a writer. Sometimes the best thing for a block is to STOP and go do something physical.
by Chad Nuttall / October 16, 2008
Re: Task confusion.
One of the many benefits of working from home is the flexibility. Why fight (in some cases) for the right to work at home … just to emulate the office setting? I work from home most Fridays and start my day by putting in some laundry. It’s a task that takes work - but only for a few minutes and really frees up time on the weekend. I do the same with the dishwasher in the afternoon. When my partner arrives home Friday afternoon - the dishes are done, the laundry is done … we are ready to start our Friday night. All while I put in a full day.
by Cedric Solidon / October 17, 2008
RE: Dressing the part
I read the same line before and tried it a couple of times. But now, I’m back to working in my house clothes. I discovered that dressing up has little to offer me in terms of motivation for working. But that’s just me.
by Jim A / October 17, 2008
When my wife had our second son, we decided it was time for me to get off the road. I went from 100 percent travel to working from home with a global team. It is a very hard transition to make, but has been one that I have grown to love. I still get to travel several times a year, but being home with my family has challenges. I have found that if I get up, have a shower and dress (casually) for work, and then go out to a starbucks and grab a coffee, read the paper for a few minutes etc, and then return home to my office, I fool myself into believing that I have “arrived” at work. It just puts my head into the state I need it in to do my job.
Now, if I could convince my family that my office is not the upstairs playroom, things would be great.
by Joe Wallace / October 18, 2008
Jay—kudos for a great article, though I have to admit, when I want to knock off early and hit The Sauce, I just refuse to answer my phone. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, I consider myself officially out of the office…bottoms up!