Work from Home 101

As many of you embark on this historic mass work from home effort, I wanted to take a moment to highlight some things I found that helped me transition from office worker to work-from-homer. I have been doing this on a full-time basis for almost 3 years but I can say it has not always been smooth. Day 4-7 are the hardest as the novelty of it starts to wear off and you haven't figured out how to be fully operational just yet. You are also likely hangry from skipping meals.

For some people in the coming weeks there is also the added effort of supporting your children's distance learning curriculum some schools are implementing. For now, I am not considering that as my spouse and I will be embarking on that journey for the first time in a few days. Will have to write a follow-up post after a week to cover what worked on that front.

Get ready for work

• Get up at the same time you would for work as if you were commuting in. Use this time to get ready, plan your meals, and get some chores done. No PJs allowed.
• Eat breakfast, catch up on some news, check in on family

Replicate your desk setup

• You will miss things you had at work like your large computer monitor. Ask your employer if you can take it home with you temporarily or acquire one. Don't forget the relevant docks or cables.
• Notebooks and pens, don't forget the same notebook you carry from meeting to meeting you will be lost without it.
• Prefer a keyboard or mouse - follow the same guidance in the first bullet. Ultimately, your company wants you to be successful at home and at work therefore hopefully they can support you here.

Manage expectations

• Stop by the desk. Well since you can't do impromptu updates live make sure you either message over your fav chat platform (text, email, Slack, Teams, etc) anything you would have typically stopped by someone's desk for even if it just that good morning hello.
• Check in with your team. If you are not on a team that has adopted agile practices, there is one practice that may be worth starting now, a daily standup. It's a quick 15 meeting where you cover what you did yesterday, what your focus for today is and mention anything blocking you from moving on your task. If an issue arises then it is up to the parties involved to take if outside of the standup meeting to discuss and resolve. If you can't do this over the phone due to time zone differences or keep it to 15 mins due the large size of the team you start a chat group where you answer the same questions each day so everyone has a good idea of what is going on.
• If you have a camera on your laptop, use it for video calls. It's amazing what a face to face conversation can do to increase connection between teammates.

Eat lunch and move

• When I started working from home (some days it still happens) I skipped lunch or ended up eating way off schedule because there is no one around me giving me social queues that it is time to take a break. If you can block your calendar for lunch or at least a couple half hour breaks please do.
• Go for a walk even if it is 5-10 laps around your house or apartment. To stay focused you need to get a change of scenery even for a little bit.
• Work from a table, desk, or sofa - alternate if you can based on the work you are doing.

If other work from home professionals have suggestions, please leave them in the comments!

Stay tuned for a "Learn from Home" edition as my elementary age children embark on their first distance learning experience this week as well as my attempt at an entire weekend EMBA residency remotely comes up next week.

Be well and wash your hands even if you are at home.