Let’s get straight to it:
Okay, get up is simplistic - but I’ve started my days working at home at the same time as I would when working from the Front Studio. No ifs, ands or buts - I’m at my desk at 9am, or before, as I would be when working with the team in person.
I’m lucky enough to have a separate room where I can work, just work. I don’t spend too much time in this space when I’m not working, so I’m physically and mentally away from work when I’m not in the home office. Work lives in there, not everywhere else - it’s okay to leave it there at the end of the day.
Last year I was lucky enough to hear Gentry Underwood of IDEO talk about the company’s approach to collaboration and team working. The company uses always-on video conferencing, a rich Intranet (based on ThoughtFarmer) and other tools to stay connected with eachother across time and geography.
We are clearly not IDEO, but I’ve tried to keep some of the advice from Gentry’s talk in mind. I do a scheduled call with Patsy, our Project Manager, every morning, and I’m available via landline phone, mobile phone and video chat/instant messanging throughout the day. I’d like to experiment with some always on video collaboration - maybe in the next few weeks.
I’m also increasingly reliant on our own wiki, Basecamp, Google Docs and the other collaboration tools we use.
I take a quick break in the morning, a quick break in the afternoon, and a lunch in the middle of the day - pretty simple. I’m not allowed to take my lunch at my desk when working at home. I broke this rule last week, just the once, and by the end of the day I had been sitting at my desk for the vast majority of the day. Crankiness ensued. So, lunch is an outside of the office, preferably outside of the house break.
Being stubborn enough to focus on doing a small number of things reasonably well is not really highly valued these days - I sometimes feel as though maintaining focus in the midst of the many tweets and pings and mails and calls is as big a challenge as the work itself.
I’m finding it increasingly important to focus quietly on one thing at a time, before I move on to something else when I feel I’ve made significant progress. I find this incredibly difficult, harder than it used to be, but it’s never been more obvious to me that this is how I work best. I wish I was able to multi-task really well; flitting between tasks and making progress on 5 fronts - but I’m not built for it; when I try to work like this I spend as much time transitioning between work as I do working.
At the end of the day, I walk home. I finish work at the same time as the guys in Belfast, log my time, leave the office and try to go outside for a while. I’ve noticed that when I don’t take an outdoor/out of the house break between finishing work, and being “at home” I think about work well into the evening because I haven’t had time to decompress - time I’d usually spend on the bus or walk home in Belfast. I’m trying to maintain the illusion of “going home”, even if it’s just a trip to the shops to buy milk.
This is one I’ve been particularly bad at in the last few months; I’m not getting nearly enough exercise, which is making me restless and sluggish. Not exercising has just highlighted how much I enjoy it and need it; time spent thinking of nothing, breathing, running, cycling, swimming. This maybe isn’t true with you, but for me doing light training through the week brings a bit of order and focus to the other parts of my life. So, very keen to get back to a training routine.
So, these are some of the things I’m starting to see are important to working from home. I’m far from perfect, or even half-good, at these of them yet - but want to work on them over time. I’d love to hear if you could offer me your own advice/thoughts on working from home.
Fantastic List :) Over time, hopefully the above will become routine, and you can break the less productive habits, think you’re doing really well. x
I spend enough time working at home too, and I fully agree with your points about making it as much like a day at the office as possible. Have a “work space”, start at your normal time, stay in touch, take your normal breaks and find time to decompress at the end of the day.
At lunchtime I’ll usually go for a walk or cycle - the human body was not designed to hunch at a desk all day!
Plenty of bells rung here Paul! I’ve been working (ineffectively) from home for years so I know all the pitfalls. One of the main problems with working from home is how LONELY it is. Hence the temptation to immediately reply to every mail, facebook comment, text you receive (or blog you read, ha!). Not good for the workflow.
I’d like to add 1 thing to your list: No Jammies!
Try to wear the same clothes in your home office as you do in your real office. My best home days come in a pair of slacks and a nice shirt.
Thanks for the input :) Ciarj, the No Jammies one is good. I’ve tried to dress as though I was going to work. Umbrella, bowler hat, briefcase :)
I’ve been working from home full-time for about 5 years now. I’d agree with Ciaran - isolation would be the main issue for me also. You come to miss the office banter or the ability to head out with a colleague for a coffee when you get a bit stressed. With that said, would I trade a little isolation for sitting in traffic for up to three hours a day (My old commute)? Not a chance.
You definitely need to start at a normal time and get dressed. I have a morning call with the office which helps keep me “plugged in”, and I try to meet people for lunch occasionally to keep up a level of social interaction during the day. Exercise is definitely important, especially if you can join a club which has a good social aspect, or even if you can meet a friend for lunch for a jog etc.
Your level of discomfort with working alone will depend on your personality, but if you’re getting cabin fever after only two days working from home you just might not be suited to it. :)
I fully agree with all these point. If I could sum it up, I’d say, separate work-life from private-life and you can’t go wrong! Good post Paul.
Great list, Paul. I think the most important one, for me personally, is having a work space that’s separate from living space. If you’re used to relaxing in a particular room, it’s really hard to switch into “work mode” in that same room, because your whole habitus in that space is different, especially if you’re as lazy as I am. And, as you said, the opposite also pertains, so that you need a space at home that’s not tainted by the contagion of work, haha!