Home is where the work is

At the time of writing this, in the UK we are on day 8 of an official lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For many people, if they can work from home, they are. Perhaps they’re thinking that the dream of working from home isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. 

As I’m sitting here writing this, I’m at my desk in my office, in my garden, at home. Like many freelancers or small business owners, I’ve been working from home for years and have cobbled together a semi-perfected routine that suits me, albeit with seasonal adaptability (think school holidays). But for many people, it’s completely new. They’re grappling with new technology and juggling the demands of a job with family and homeschooling along with the worry and uncertainty, for many reasons, that accompanies a global health crisis. They’ve been thrown headfirst into a new regime. 

Life feels a bit like it’s on hold right now in some respects, but business carries on if it can. I feel grateful to be continuing to work with a few of my clients through all of this. There are many people who don’t have the option to carry on working as they are hands-on with clients. 

If you’re one of the people who is new to working from home and finding it hard, I don’t have any pearls of wisdom. Instead, I’m going to share a few things that I’ve worked out along the way – they work for me. 

Be realistic

Working from home is not the same as working in an office. In an office or formal work setting, you are stuck to set hours of the day. You are expected to be available 9-5. Honestly, though, how many hours of that were you actually working ‘on task’? Generously, I think on a regular day at the office, once you’ve taken an hour out for lunch, time for coffee chats etc…is 5.5-6 hours. (If you’re missing your daily coffee-shop fix, check out these home-brew basics.) 

I aim for about 6 hours’ work and there are days I work more, days I work less, but I’m lucky to have that flexibility. Hopefully, you’ll be looking at overall productivity and completion of work as an output rather than time spent ‘logged on’, but every job is different. From experience, I know that working from home is a more time-efficient way of working. It can be very intense and focused as there are fewer distractions and you can work at a time when you are at your most productive. I know I’m much more focused in the morning, you’ve totally lost me after about 8 pm. There’s also no commute or work wardrobe needed! 

Go to work

I like to try, where possible, to keep work separate even though I always work from home. If you don’t have a dedicated office space, then just clearing a space somewhere else can create a sense of work, a place that you can go ‘to work’. For me, this also means getting dressed and ready for the day. I put on clean casual clothes, pencil in my eyebrows and put on some mascara as a minimum, shoes are optional. 

Getting ready and ‘going to work’ makes me feel ready to get stuck in and less likely to be distracted by other house stuff that’s going on. At the end of work time, work can either be left or packed away if you’re not able to have it physically in a different place. Of course, it may mean that you do several shifts throughout the day. Currently, with one child at home who is pretty self-sufficient with her schoolwork, my days have shifted a bit, so I’m aiming for 2-3 hours’ work in the morning rather than 4, a long lunch break between 12-2, and a couple more hours in the afternoon. 

Multitasking is a myth

Oh, but I’m good at multi-tasking, I hear you say. Good for you. I’m not so good. One task at a time for me, but I am good at switching between tasks. To do that I prioritise by writing everything down that needs doing. The act of writing something down helps me to make sense of what needs to be done and I try to base this on deadlines and clients’ needs rather than personal preference. 

Any plan needs to be realistic and achievable, considering any other commitments on your time. Distractions are part and parcel of that; when do your kids need help with schoolwork, snacks, meals, snacks, exercise and more snacks, as somewhere in between all that the work still has to be done. Finding those little golden opportunities of time – the early hours before anyone else gets up, an hour late afternoon when the kids are slumped in front of a movie or swapping with your partner, so they cover lunchtime leaving you to do some work will all help. A few bits of time across the day can soon add up to a lot of work getting done. 

Get yourself connected

General communication is still relevant when you’re working remotely. It’s important to stay up to date and feel involved. Schedule in conference calls or phone calls as talking helps to replace some of the lost workplace camaraderie, and generates ideas and problem-solving. 

I was going to add a list of online tools that I use every day, but everyone’s probably already had a baptism of fire into whatever online tools of choice their company is using, whether it’s Teams or G Suite, Skype or Zoom, Asana or Trello, Slack or WhatsApp. I was pleased to see that Calendly is including the Zoom integration FOC in their basic subscription until June, to make it easier to book and schedule appointments. 

There are a ton of resources already online about how to use each of them if you know where to look. I’m not an expert in any of them (except Toggl), but I’ve used most of them at some point, so if you have any questions, let me know. If I can’t answer it, I’ll be able to point you in the right direction.