For many the idea of working from home sounds like bliss. You get up in the morning, brush your teeth, put on a sweater and jeans (or stay in you PJs), grab a cup of coffee and bang, ready for work. No makeup or shaving, no dressing up, no stressful morning commute.
Before you say a wholehearted “hell yes, that’s for me! I’d love to work from home,” hold on for a sec. Have you ever given it some thought what the “perfect” work environment is for you? As tempting as it may appear, working from home has its challenges as well, and it very much depends on your personality and/or work situation if this dream is a dream come true or turns into a nightmare.
Join me on a little imaginary tour and have a look at some of the most common situations I’ve encountered or heard of to find out more and help you make the right decision.
The Detour Morning
You’re ready to start your day. You have your coffee and go straight to your computer and start planning your day… and out of the blue you realize you have to wash your gym clothes because you want to go to the gym later that day. You quickly get up, put your gym clothes in the washing machine, and while you’re at it, you also sort the rest of your laundry. It will be so much quicker to put it in the washing machine later, and it’ll only take a minute or two.
You go back to work. Oh, where were you? Ahhh right, planning what you need to do today. You finish your list and are ready to get to work when you see today’s date. It’s Feb. 20th and your Mom’s birthday is coming up. Oh no! You wanted to get her that book she mentioned a couple of times. No big deal. You quickly go online and order the book. But stop, wasn’t there this book your friend mentioned the other day that you absolutely must read? What was the title? Something like…. You’re sure it won’t be difficult to find it, and off you go searching for it on Amazon. While searching you come across some very interesting titles. You quickly read their summaries and add them to your wish list.
Back to work. Darn, what was it that you wanted to do? It takes you a couple of seconds but finally you remember that you wanted to finish the copy for the newsletter and find some images for it.
By the time you start your day it’s not 7:00 am or 8:00 am, it’s already 10:00 am, maybe even later, and you may have wasted some of your most productive and creative time. Please don’t get hung up on the specific time. It could be any time of the day that is your best and most productive and creative time. It’s about getting distracted and taking a lot of detours before doing the work. It could be procrastination (more about that in a future post) or just plain lack of discipline.
I know, discipline is not a sexy word, but without it making progress will take much, much longer. Do you have what it takes to stay focused, even when the laundry or your conscience calls because you almost forgot your Mom’s birthday? A good policy I found is to plan for these interruptions. Set yourself a “focus time” for 45 minutes, an hour or an hour and a half. Whatever works best for you, and do the work. If a thought or idea comes up, have a piece of paper and a pen ready to jot it down and return to your work immediately for the remainder of your focus time. Then take a break. Wash your gym clothes, get that gift … and keep an eye on the time. You’ll be surprised how quickly ten minutes pass, especially on social media.
The Run-an-Errand Scenario:
Your spouse is at the office and sends you a text. She just remembered that she forgot to go grocery shopping. Unfortunately, she has to stay late and can’t possibly do it. Since you’re working from home, it surely isn’t a big deal for you to quickly run to the grocery store and get a few items for dinner.
Working from home does allow for a lot of freedom and flexibility, and running an errand may not be a big deal. Just make sure that your partner or spouse, or anybody else for that matter, don’t take it for granted or expect that you’re always available when they need you. You have to set boundaries and stay in control of your day. Remember, your work is equally important, and you may have to say no. You call the shots!
The Little-kids Scenario:
I found this to be the most challenging one. And as you can read, it’s based on my own experience. I have a room that is my dedicated office. Yes, I feel very fortunate and consider this an advantage. But – and I don’t write this lightly – I also have a son. Kids, no matter what age, don’t necessarily differentiate between you “being at home” and “working from home.” If something important happens in their lives, they want your attention, and they want it now. When they’re little they may need a hug, or someone to console them. When they’re older they may need to talk something over, help with their homework, or just tell you about the injustice at school, you name it.
There is no one-solution-fits-all to this type of interruption. At least I haven’t found it yet. It depends on your kids, their age and your type of work. With little kids I believe you have to take the time. If you try to rush them, you just prolong the situation. They instantly feel that you are not available to them, and that makes it even harder to console them. With older kids you can set rules. We only had a few, but these were non-negotiable. For example, when I was on the phone, no interruptions were permitted, except for emergencies. That worked pretty well. You could use a do-not-disturb sign or close the door. In that case, they’re not allowed to enter and/or disturb you. Plan your most difficult and important work when your kids are not around and reserve less intense work for times that may not be uninterrupted, and I’m not just talking about kids.
Let’s take a break here. There are a million other things that I could have mentioned: checking social media, getting something to eat, making a quick phone call… you name it.
The point I’m trying to make is, do you have the discipline not to fall for “quick” interruptions and detours? Can you resist the “call of your spouse” to go shopping? Can you arrange your day around your kids so that you can do the work you need to do? How about social media? It’s common knowledge that we greatly underestimate the time we spend on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn.
Take some time and consider your situation, your personality, and your work environment. What works best for you? What is your ideal workplace? What gets your creative juices flowing? When do you focus best?
Tell me about how you dealt with some of the challenges while working from home or what made you decide to go to the office instead.
See you next time!
Regine
Regine Albrecht-Strategies with A Kick 