Working From Home: Managing Ourselves
Whether we like it or not, whether we are office creatures or secretly longed to escape the cubicle, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic working from home suddenly became our only option. Now we need to figure out how to manage ourselves and how to lead our teams in this new setting.
This weekend, I have spent time looking for resources that help better figure out this transition and have reflected on my own recent WFH experience. I'm sharing my key takeaways here. Part I will be about managing ourselves, Part II - about leading our teams.
But before anything else, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those for whom working from home these days is NOT an option. First and foremost, to the healthcare professionals who are making incredible sacrifices right now. And also to people working in packaging, transportation, delivery, law enforcement, to cashiers at the supermarkets, to pharmacists, to cleaners - to all those who help fulfill our essential needs, while exposing themselves to an increased risk of catching the virus. Whenever we feel tempted to complain about difficulties working from home, let's think about all these people and be grateful.
Part I - Working from Home - Managing Ourselves
We’ll talk about:
being mentally ready for a long haul
creating working space at home
importance of a daily routine
staying focused and motivated
maintaining social connections
I would love to hear about your challenges with adjusting to working from home and how you overcome them.
Prepare for the long haul
It's wishful thinking to believe that things will go back to normal just in a couple of weeks from now. And it's equally wishful thinking to believe that we will be at our best working from home from day one or even week one. Let's be kind to ourselves and others. Let's give ourselves and others grace and patience to adjust. Let's observe what our main pain points are, address them one at a time, and try to gradually improve.
Workspace at home
That's the area where the advice on remote work under normal circumstances might not work in lockdown times. "Have a designated workspace in a calm area" sounds great and works if we live alone or in a bigger place and have the luxury of a home office or at least a desk. But what if our place is small and not really adapted? What if kids are at home and our partner and/or roommates started working from home too? Suddenly there is a shortage of "designated and calm working spaces". We have to figure out the right configuration and set the boundaries. Working from home with kids is a big topic in itself, so let's focus here just on the ergonomics.
Try and see where it works. In the absence of a home office/desk, we have to try and see which spots at our homes we can comfortably work from. It can be the dining or kitchen table, the sofa in the living room, and even the bed (yes, I have tried that too! Bathroom has remained my only work spot unexplored :)). Once we have found what works, it's good to stick to it and make it a habit. For example, while working from home I move between the desk in our bedroom when I do my day job and the dining room table when I switch to side projects, just as I was switching between our office and a co-working space on normal days. Switching places helps switch focus.
Remote gear. In my Firm, we are lucky to have all the necessary equipment for working remotely, including laptops and wireless headsets. However, some of us don't like the small laptop screen. One of my colleagues, since she had started working from home, decided to invest in a larger screen and is super happy. Besides IT equipment, it’s a good idea to have a lasting supply of pens and post-it notes.
Get up and move around. During the day, it's a good idea to move between our working spots. To get up and move around when we are in a call. Our backs will say thank you.
Technology. Above all else, we need working wifi. While the exact set of remote tools depends on our company, a good idea is to keep it as simple as possible and define some rules appropriate for times of crisis. When more than 90% of your company goes remote, it can stretch the networks and key systems. We should stay tuned and follow our IT recommendations, for example, stick to audio calls instead of video or share the documents ahead of the call instead of sharing the screen.
Daily Routine
A routine brings calm and peace to our day, and creates a sense of normality, even if the circumstances are anything but normal. Working from home can be an occasion to create new rituals that we may even keep when one day life goes back to normal.
It all starts with getting enough sleep. These days, anxiety can get in the way. I remember two sleepless nights while we were still awaiting the COVID-19 test results for my husband, who returned from the US and self-isolated in the home office (he tested negative). We need to sleep enough to function well. The biggest advantage of working from home is that we can take a quick nap after lunch if we did not get enough sleep at night.
No pajamas. Working from home, even from our bed, is really not an excuse to hang around in our pajamas. I tried and tested staying in pajamas one morning. A definitive no-go.
Working out. When gyms are shut, and jogging, biking, or walking outside might no longer be an option, we have to adapt workouts to our home setting. I was a fan of Down Dog app before the outbreak and loved it, even more, when they made their other apps - HIIT, 7 Minute, and Barre - available free of charge. No equipment is required.
Commute without commuting. Not having to commute is one of the biggest and undeniable advantages of working remotely. Yet for some of us, a commute is the time to get mentally ready for the day or to decompress at the end of it. For example, as much as I dislike commuting, I appreciated it as my reading time. An interesting idea I take away from a recent Quartz "Remote Control" workshop is to "fake" a commute and create new rituals to transition to and from work by doing something meaningful for you - meditating, reading, catching up with friends and family. It can be even something you have not had time for, like taking time to make yourself a really good tea.
Lunches. One of the things I miss the most from the normal days is lunches with friends and colleagues. Even here, we can find a solution - virtual lunches when we grab our food, connect online, eat together and catch up.
Healthy eating & staying hydrated. Speaking of food, working from home when we move less than usual, is definitely not the time for junk food. Instead, it is an opportunity to seriously upgrade our own cooking skills or support local places that still deliver. Drinking a lot of water is a great idea, it's good for our health and also makes us move more. My personal favorite these days - plenty of water with a bit of lemon juice.
Normal working hours. Depending on our situation, we can stick to our normal working hours or we might need to shift them - for example, if kids are at home and need our support for distant learning. Either way, it's good to stick to the same routine - old or new - every day. If we shift our working hours, it's a good idea to let our team and other colleagues know and make sure we have sufficient overlap with them.
Focus and Motivation
The biggest challenge of working from home is how to keep ourselves motivated and organized. There is plenty of advice out there that shows us to binge-watch while on lockdown, yet working from home is not a vacation, and we have our jobs to be done. While the office can be an interruption factory, the home comes with its own set of distractions. I like how the authors of "Remote: Office Not Required" take it:
"between soap operas, PlayStation, cold beers in the fridge and all the laundry that needs doing, how can you possible get anything done at home? Simple: because you've got a job to do and you're responsible adult. Okay, we're all human and we all occasionally fall prey to temptation. We may as well admit that, yes, the home may contain more distractions and temptations than the average office cubicle. But having recognized the problem, we can work to do something about it. Keep in mind, the number one counter to distractions is interesting, fulfilling work. Sometimes, distractions can actually serve a purpose.
Like a proverbial canary in the coal mine, they warn us - when we feel ourselves regularly succumbing to them - that our work is not well defined, or our tasks are menial, or the whole project we're engaged in is fundamentally pointless. Instead of reaching out for the video games controller or turning on soap operas, it is perhaps time to raise your voice and state the obvious? If you are feeling like this, chances are others are too.
Of course, sometimes it's not the worthiness of the work task that's the issue - rather, it's that we've set ourselves up for failure. If you're working on the couch in front of the TV, well, it's tempting to reach for the remove. But if you're sitting in a dedicated place intended for work with the door closed, you stand a far better chance of staying on task.
Again, with all the ongoing communication about the COVID-19 in the media, and with all the temptations of social networks, focus can be a real problem even for the most responsible adults among ourselves. What can we do? We can observe ourselves and try to understand what disrupts our focus the most. A great piece of advice in Remote Control workshop is to focus on delivering at least 4 hours of great work and build it up from there. If nervousness and anxiety prevent us from sticking to our usual methods of getting things done, we can put a post-it note with just one thing that we want to get done today and fix that.
Distancing: Physical, Not Social
Working from home can bring a sense of isolation and disconnect, especially if we live alone and especially in times of crisis.
At these difficult times, it’s a good idea to over-communicate, to check in with each other more frequently, to seek and give feedback. The two keywords for me are care and clarity.
If we call or write to someone, before getting down to business, let's show care, check in, and find out how our colleague is doing today. Chances are, we are all going through the same or similar struggles.
The greatest gift we can give to each other in these times of crisis is clear communication. If we need help from a colleague - who may be, same as you, in the process of adjusting to working from home, - let's make her life easier by crafting a message as clear as possible.
It can happen that our clients or our boss may feel uncomfortable at the beginning with the whole team going remote. A few recommendations from the "Remote: Office Not Required" book: provide proactive updates on the work you have done. Be very available. Since you can't meet face-to-face, you better return phone calls, emails, instant messages, etc.
As for the office culture that you might miss when going remote, a great idea from "Remote Control" workshop is to try and mimic our office culture using digital channels - standup meetings, dedicated channels for "watercooler chats" or special chat for parents on lockdown or quarantine with kids.
If your team used to go for lunches a lot, virtual lunches will help to keep this habit.
If you have thought that great ideas come only when you see someone face-to-face, you might be excited to learn that brainstorming can happen virtually by sharing our screens or using dedicated online brainstorming tools.
And most importantly, let's always stay calm, stay kind and stay human.
I would love to hear about your struggles with adjusting to working from home and how you overcome them.
(Art: Ping Zhu)