Background
I've written in the past about remote work and working from home. I'd like to share a few tips for folks who might have found themselves recently working from home.
Tips
- Keep a routine
- Have a space just for work
- Take breaks
- Be aware of household noise (HVAC/AC, dishwasher, others, etc)
- Internet connectivity
- Get outside
- Stay social
- Stop working
The Deets:
- Keep a routine
- Get up and follow your normal work routine. You don't have to commute, so either get a little extra sleep or do self-care
- If you're accustomed to a long commute, go for a quick walk to 'get out of the house', and get right to work
- Have a space just for work
- Don't work from bed
- Have a space you only work in, you need psychological separation between 'work' and 'home'
- If you don't have a separate room, take out and put away your work laptop each morning and evening
- Take breaks
- It's easy to focus in; after all, no one is going to be stopping by your desk
- Take a 5 min break each hour, even if you just stand up, move around, and sit back down
- Get outside during lunch
- Be aware of household noise (HVAC/AC, dishwasher, others, etc)
- Especially true when on calls/video conferencing
- Be aware of your background sounds during video calls
- Internet connectivity
- Upload speed tends to be more important for quality video & audio conferencing, most internet is advertised and sold as download speed
- Use 5 GHz wifi if available-- it's less prone to interference from neighbors, less buffering, lag, video/audio breakups, etc.
- It's best to physically plug into your router if you can
- Get outside
- You'll thank me on day or week 3
- Stay social
- It's easy to get isolated
- Instant messaging (aka Slack) is good, but sometimes a phone call is better
- IM/Email/Phone/Video
- Text communication should be clear
- Don't forget you can call people, even a couple minutes can be more productive than instant messaging or emailing
- Don't imply tone or meaning -- when in doubt get on the phone or video chat
- Always mute when 3 or more people are on a call/video conference
- Be wary of many-people video/audio conferences, like many in-person meetings, often too many people are included and don't need to be. This amplifies when digitally conferencing. Keep conferencing small, and meetings specific
- Stop working
- It's really easy to just keep working, you need to stop at some point
- Constant small amounts of work will eventually weigh on your long term, it's ok to have the ability to work, but not use it 😬-- don't get burned out
- Work out of the house
- Normally I'd recommend getting out of the house, but with the current circumstances of COVID19, I can't recommend that at this time.
Final Thoughts & Opinions
Working from home can seem fun. Working from home can seem daunting. At the end of the day, you're still working, it's just a different context.
I'll probably be writing some more detailed posts in the near future concerning how to measure & manage remote workers; so stay safe and stay tuned!
About the author:
Andrew lives in Portland, OR and has worked in tech for over 15 years. With a foundation in philosophy, political theory, and communications, he is an avid thinker & tinkerer, constantly learning and exploring the world around us.
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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://andrewjneumann.com/how-do-i-work-from-home-notes-from-8-years-of-that/