5 tested rules for working from home

Twelve years ago, on a sunny Friday afternoon, I left my corporate career in financial services behind me. The following Monday morning my new gig as a self-employed executive coach and mentor, based at the dining table in my open plan warehouse apartment, began.

To say I was excited is an understatement. No more peak hour tram rides wedged into the armpits of Melbourne’s most unwashed. No more suits. No more presentations to write just because someone, somewhere in the hierarchy above me had a random question that needed answering IMMEDIATELY. I was master of my own destiny and I was ready to get stuck in.

In truth, I’d been planning this new direction for quite a while. I’d done some basic business planning and given myself a year to see whether or not I liked this new work (I did) and/or I could make a living doing it (I could). I had also spent time thinking about how to make the shift from an environment that had a rocket fuel-like momentum all of its own to one where I had to generate my own propulsion. In retrospect, my initial ideas on that weren’t too bad — but I’ve certainly learned more along the way.

With this morning’s news that the World Health Organisation has declared COVID-19 a pandemic, many schools closing and many companies advising their employees to work from home, I thought it might be timely to share some of the lessons I’ve learned about successfully working from home.

1. Pyjamas are my enemy

I am proud to say that in 12 years of working from home, I have never (not even once) gone to work in my pyjamas. I use the phrase “gone to work” quite intentionally here. I have always thought about my day as one where I go to work — even in the days where I walked 3 steps from the kitchen to the dining table. I’m not someone who believes that you have to dress up to go to work (as I sit here in my shorts and t-shirt), but my ritual does, among other things, involve a commitment to changing into clothes as part setting the intention to go to work. These days I have a room in the house that is devoted office space and, having made my morning coffee, I call my dog Augie and with a “let’s go to work”, we trundle together down the hall to start the day.

Augie’s not the most productive employee, but he’s good company!

2. Grazing is for goats

Having the kitchen in close proximity can be lethal if you’re not careful. Over the years I’ve experimented with many different ways of managing my food intake throughout the day. From the traditional, regimented breakfast, lunch and dinner to grazing all day to only eating when I’m hungry. These experiments have all had varying impacts on my mood, productivity and the ease with which I can do up my pants. Grazing used to be OK when I could pre-pack the quantities of carefully selected foods and take them to the office tower with me — but when permanently confronted with a Masterchef-like open pantry scenario, I just end up eating all day. Because I could. Whether out of boredom, procrastination, distraction…you name it, I’d find a way to wander to the kitchen for a snack. So, I know for me that the routine of breakfast, lunch and dinner is what works best. Personally I like the opportunity for the enforced break in the middle of the day. Stopping to make and eat my lunch certainly helps me take control of what I’m eating.

3. Procrasta-<insert chore here>

On my best days, I am incredibly productive. I get in flow and there’s no stopping me. Unfortunately, not every day is like that — and it’s easy to tell the difference. On the not-so-great days, the laundry is up to date, the fridge is clean and my lawn is manicured to within an inch of its life. Yes, I am a procrasta-mower, and while that has upside, it doesn’t get the job done. These days I try my best to capitalise on the benefit of being home — it’s great to be able to throw on a load of washing so that I don’t need to spend the weekend doing it — but I make it a reward rather than a distraction. If I spend 30 dedicated, focused minutes on a project I’ve been struggling with, then it’s OK to take a 5-minute break to put the washing on.

4. Silence is golden…conversation is platinum

Working in the quiet space of my home office is IDEAL for me when it comes to deep work. That is until I get stuck. At the stuck point, I have 2 choices — fall into the abyss of distractions (see point 3 above) or talk it out. There’s no doubt that “talk it out” is tougher when you’re working remotely. You can’t just look down the table and see who’s around for a quick chat. But that’s where communication tools like Slack and Zoom really come into their own. As my friend and colleague Phil Hayes-St Clair wrote about this week in his post Zoom In Zoom Out, they’re a great way to enable continuity whether that in response to a global pandemic or an individual mental block. I often find myself sending a “can I pick your brain for 5 mins?” Slack message and receive quite a few of those requests in return too.

5. Pack up and go home

You may have picked up by now that, for me, routine is a critical component of effectively working from home. I’ve talked about how I start the day — but actually how I end the day is equally important. I try to ask myself 3 questions:

  • What did you get done today? (nothing like a little self-congratulatory pat on the back)

  • Is there anything critical I need to do before shutting down? (just in case I’ve dropped the ball on something during the day or need to prep something for the next day)

  • What is my single most important priority for tomorrow? (so I can hit the ground running in the morning)

Once those questions are answered, I do my best to create separation between work and home. I put my computer to sleep and “leave the office”. In the days when the office was the dining table, I used to put my work files in a box and close the lid so I couldn’t see them. These days, luckily, I can close the door to signal the end of my workday…then it’s on to feeding the dog and making dinner.

Working from home is great once you set up the systems and processes that work best for you. I’d love to hear your suggestions for making it work — so please send them my way!

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