How to work remotely without losing your job, your relationship, and your sanity
If you have a daily commute kind of job, you may fantasize about working from home, thinking, “Wow. That’s the life.” But ask any professional who does it, and you’ll get an earful. Now that the Coronavirus is forcing all sorts of people who generally drive to an office to shift their workspace, here’s how to navigate what Craig Faustus Buck, a novelist, calls “the potpourri of procrastination opportunities provided by the lack of supervision.”
- Who shares your living space? Kids? Spouse? Roommates? Pets? Elderly parents? Start with a conversation, explaining that working from home isn’t the same as being on vacation. Just because they can see you doesn’t mean you’re Available Arnie, there to help with homework or rustle up a pot roast, or any of the ten zillion things you do after hours. When you’re in work mode, your co-habiting humans need to pretend you’re not there. Put up a sign on your office door, and if your office is the kitchen table, maybe put a sign on your t-shirt: I’M WORKING. SAVE YOUR EMERGENCY FOR MY COFFEE BREAK. (This tactic will not work well with pets.) Then be very patient, and very sensitive. Your new office, perhaps formerly known as the family room, can wreak havoc on others’ daily life. You’ve literally brought your work home, besides being underfoot, and as the old saying goes, “I married you for better or worse, but not for lunch.” Express sincere appreciation, at least once a day, for how your family members are rising to the occasion. This puts money in the relationship bank account, which will be increasingly important if the quarantines keep increasing.
- Maintain a wake up/shower/meal schedule, and get dressed even if it’s your casual Friday clothes. Hanging around in your pajamas is not (yet) a proven cause of depression, but it can increase the perception that you’re depressed, in the eyes of others. Who needs that? Your housemates, not to mention your own brain, will accept your new routine more easily if it is, in fact, a routine.
- You probably know the ping! of email, internet, and text kills your productivity. Add washing machines that sing to you and dogs that whine at you, not to mention leaf blowers and laughing toddlers, and you might want to think about noise-canceling headphones. Our brains are highly distractible, and we’re absurdly susceptible to visual and sound cues, especially when a work project hits a bump. Or, in the case of writer Andrew Rubin, when his Roomba hits a bump, audibly calling to him to come rescue her. This brings up a parallel problem, what novelist Bonnie Macbird calls “the siren call of unfinished housework,” where your Inner Distractor tells you a beautifully vacuumed living room matters as much as finishing that spreadsheet. Clearing your space of non-work-related clutter does help, as does turning off notifications on your laptop and phone. But do this in non-office hours, or you’ll find yourself decluttering the garage when you’re on deadline to write the company newsletter.
- Isolation and loneliness, unlike pajamas, are correlated with depression. If you’re accustomed to the camaraderie and social stimulation of a bricks-and-mortar setting, it’s vital that you find ways to connect with your colleagues. Invite a coworker to share your home work space, or trade off between your place and theirs. Lugging a laptop to libraries, shared workspaces and coffee shops has long been a self-employed or remote employee's best defense against solitary confinement but public spaces of all sorts may be less available and/or desirable in the current environment. Consider asking your CEO about starting a weekly support or work group via Skype or Zoom. These can keep company culture alive, and employees emotionally connected to one another. I do performance coaching for a highly successful tech company and can attest to the enormous power of video support groups, individual coaching, and Slack channels in keeping teams not just productive, but happy. Helping to set up these new ways of relating has changed the way I think of technology and I’m convinced it holds the key to getting us through these interesting times.
- Lastly, reframe this new way of working, seeing it for what it is: an adventure, a chance to strengthen your relationships, move beyond your comfort zones, and discover the joy of time not spent in a soul-sucking commute.
