WFH Tips From an Old Pro

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Issue 37 | March 25, 2020 | WFH Tips From an Old Pro

I know this email finds you coping with seismic shifts to your working conditions. Not only are you cranking out frantic market alerts, your dog won’t stop barking and your kids want more snacks (and an education!). Your neighbors watch TV too loudly. Why are so many lawns being mowed? The dirty kitchen is taunting you. Your household environment frequently interrupts your concentration, and when you’re not in the mood to concentrate, your household environment provides a bottomless menu of distractions.

Welcome to working from home (WFH)!

In contrast to the typical reader of this newsletter, my working environment hasn’t changed all that much. My hours have shifted as our family copes with the situation, but my workday routines have been a beacon of stability. Honed over nine years of working partly or fully outside the office, here are some tips for keeping the gears turning when you need to shelter in place. I’m sorry I can’t help with your kids or your dogs.

1. Start your day by tying your shoes.

I’m all about routines. Start the day by signaling to yourself, your spouse, your children and your dogs that you are Going to Work Now. I’m a devotee of this morning routine from the FlyLady – getting dressed and ready down to the shoes, tidying up the morning chaos, and settling into your workday.

2. Work and home: never the two shall mix.

Once your workday starts, don’t touch the house. If your “workday” for coronavirus purposes is a 2-hour childless window, do not tend to ANYTHING in that window that you wouldn’t do at your office. If you can’t follow this rule to a T, at least try to set aside intervals when you will follow it. It’s not a measure of will and discipline. It’s a way of releasing your brain from multi-stream to-do lists. It also hopefully relieves you of the false idea that you can unload a dishwasher or fold laundry while on a call. You can’t. It’s stupid to try. And it will make you more miserable to FEEL like you are doing work and life all the time.

3. Don’t work from bed.

Along the same line of signaling to yourself and your “roommates” that you are At Work Now, don’t sit in bed to work. It’s too cozy. Maybe save that for the last hour of your day while you mindlessly wrap emails. If you do work from bed, don’t eat bagels in there. If you do eat a bagel, definitely don’t have a poppy seed or sesame seed one.

4. Set alarms to take mandatory walks.

Make yourself leave your workspace completely for some periods, 2-3 times a day in a full workday. Office environments do that for us naturally, but at home you can fall down an internet/document vortex and it’s days before anyone will find you. Bonus: allow 3 minutes of your walk to think about your stupidest work problem. It will miraculously solve itself.

5. Save your flopping clothes for “after work.”

This isn’t just about the workday signal. This is also because your flopping clothes earn some of their awesomeness from their scarcity. If you can suddenly wear them 24/7, their delight factor fades quickly. Save that treat for later.

Good luck to all of you. I genuinely hope you and your families are healthy and safe. Be well.

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