Working on my business from home can be much more challenging than going into my classroom. Home is my retreat from work, plus it’s filled with all my favorite snacks and couches.
In light of social distancing, here are my best suggestions for actually working from home: Signals for our habit-driven brains, Space for our concentration, Schedule for our productivity, and Safeguards for our self-control.
SIGNALS
We can follow our typical morning routine.
We can set our alarm clock for the same time, put our coffee in the usual to-go mug, eat the same breakfast, etc.
If we stick with all those habits that usually get us out of the door, our brain will default to “work mode” instead of automatically descending into weekend mode.
We can get dressed. No, like, REALLY get dressed.
If we linger in our loungewear, we’re signalling to our brains that it’s time to be comfortable and relaxed, not productive and focused.
We might not need to don our full pantsuits, but we should put on presentable could-leave-the-house-in-this clothing so we can better act the part.
Elastic waistbands should be used with EXTREME caution.
We can “commute.”
Commuting is a drag, but it also gives us time to ramp up for the tasks of the day.
Working from home can feel very abrupt, but we can add in a walk around the block or even a trip up and down the stairs to give our brain some version of that transition time. We can even say “I’m commuting to work” aloud like weirdos to start those work engines.
SPACE
We can set up shop in prime real estate.
Where’s the ideal place for our home office? A clear surface with a supportive chair, natural light, and a door. If we can’t get that total package, we should approximate it the best we can.
If we’re using a space that has a different primary function, we can use props to signal the transition from one purpose to another. For example, putting a mug of pens on the kitchen table means “work time” and swapping it out for a vase of flowers means “home time.”
We should avoid rooms with couches and/or televisions lest we fall prey to an accidental nap and/or Netflix binge. (See: Safeguards)
Working on our office is not the same as working in our office.
We should definitely optimize our home office spaces, and I will totally help you do that. This weekend is a great time to get your space ready for telework on Monday.
That said, our work-from-home hours are not the right time to reorganize, alphabetize, and label all of our files.
If we can’t complete our office overhaul before the workweek starts, we can clear all but the essentials from our work surface, stash the rest (temporarily!!) in a box in the basement, and tackle the optimization project later.
SCHEDULE
We can block time for batched tasks.
Flitting between various tasks is inefficient and frazzling.
We can get a lot accomplished if we group similar tasks together and assign them a block of time in our day. We can make all of phone calls during the 9-10 hour, send or schedule all of our emails during the 10-11 hour, update our CRM during the 2-3 hour, etc.
This is a useful practice when we’re at our workplaces, but it’s extra helpful when working from home so household chores don’t muddle our focus.
We can use the Pomodoro method.
We can set a timer for 20 minutes, during which time we must tackle a nagging task. 20 minutes is enough to get over the initial dread of it and move from procrastination to progress, and we often underestimate what we can complete in 20 uninterrupted minutes.
We can schedule breaks.
Planning when we take a break from work tasks will prevent those non-work tasks like lunch and laundry from slicing and dicing our work hours into useless bits.
And knowing we get to enjoy a brief respite at the top of the hour (eating all my leftovers) will help us focus on the final steps of the task at hand (finishing this blog post which is turning out to be much, much longer than anticipated).
We can plan for a quitting time.
Our home never closes, so we may have to tell ourselves when we’re off-duty.
We can set an alarm on our phones to serve as the closing bell, and then use that alarm as a cue to “commute” back home with a walk around the block, a trip to the mailbox, an exercise routine, a mug of tea,or whatever we typically do after work is done for the day.
SAFEGUARDS
We can add friction.
I work upstairs and the amusement park that is my phone is downstairs, silenced.
My TV remote is currently on top of my refrigerator, along with all the booze in my house. If I’m tempted to have an 11:30 AM happy hour/movie marathon, I’m going to have to get out the stepstool, which I’ve stashed down in the basement.
Adding these elements of friction will give our stalwart frontal lobes a chance to reel in our impulsive, pleasure-seeking lizard brains.
We can outsource our self-control.
In our home office, there aren’t any coworkers circulating, nudging us to close out of that 9th cat video.
Lucky for us, there’s an app for that. Several apps, actually, such as Freedom, StayFocusd, Self-Control, etc. We can tell the app what sites to block and for how long, preventing our future tired, bored, restless self from wasting two hours scrolling.
We can anticipate distractions.
We can implore/bribe the lovely children/child-like roommates we share our home with to leave us in peace, and hold firm when they attempt to sway us off course. A closed door is a clear but kind signal to buzz off.
We can add tasks that arise to the schedule during the appropriate block, not just tackle them then and there. What’s urgent is not necessarily what’s important. As stray thoughts enter my mind, I jot them down and dismiss them. If I don’t write them down, they will either be forgotten entirely or they’ll pester me relentlessly.
We can hold ourselves accountable.
We’re probably good at making to-do lists, but working from home may require us to make a Done list. In addition to our plans and priorities, we can record where our time actually went, warts and all.When I write down how I spent my time today I’ll get to write “Wrote and Published Blog Post, 1.5 hours,” but I’ll also have to write “Impromptu Chat w. Husband about Merits of Marmalade, 10 minutes.”
Knowing we will have to write all of our activities down might just discourage us from indulging in the most pernicious and embarrassing time wasters.
Stay healthy and productive, y’all!