Dave. The IT specialist with more than a decade of working from home experience.
Dave has been working from home as a database administrator for nearly 15 years. So when swaths of people were forced to work from home to stop the spread of Coronavirus, Dave’s initial reaction was, “What’s the big deal?” People’s “new normal” had been Dave’s every day. In fact, the first few weeks of sheltering-in-place were nice for Dave because his family gained a better understanding of what his typical work life was like.
However, as days turned into weeks, even Dave began to feel depressed. While he is an introvert, he still needs human interaction — something that is strongly discouraged as we try to bend the COVID-19 curve.
“The weight of the situation and lack of hope, the fears and limitations, the lack of closeness with anyone outside of my house are all slowly draining my life force.
Dave also realized he cannot supplement all the hours he spends inside his home the same way he has grown accustomed to.
“What previously was a quick errand to the hardware store to support my ‘puttering around the house’ turned to dressing for chemical warfare, to the point I give up on the project or see if I can order what I need online,” Dave said.
If Dave is feeling this way and he is someone with more than a dozen years experience of living and working under the same roof, then other less-acquainted nine-to-fivers must be struggling as well. To help, Dave has kindly offered some tips to those less experienced with working at home.
Perhaps this is the first time in your long career you are not traveling to an office. Maybe you are used to working remotely from time to time, but never for this many days in a row. Whatever your situation is, I hope you find these tips from Dave helpful.
TREAT WORKING FROM HOME LIKE A BUSY SATURDAY, NOT A SICK DAY
"So often I hear people talk about how great it’ll be to work in PJs, to have the freedom to work anywhere in the house and take breaks whenever they want. But consider a busy Saturday, where you have to get to the garden center by a certain time to order mulch, to run a few errands and get home in time to do yard work before it rains. Although you won’t wear a business suit, you also won’t wear PJs. Instead you’ll get up at a reasonable time and keep a decent schedule."
MAINTAIN A ROUTINE
"Having a routine affects you subconsciously and that’s important to be productive at work, regardless of where that is. For example, if before going to bed you always change clothes, wash your face and brush your teeth, your body adjusts according and prepares itself for sleep. The same goes for exercise. You typically change into work clothes, perhaps stretch a bit and go to the gym. That process prepares you for exercise. So when working from home, find a routine that gets you in your “office” at roughly the same time each day. For me it’s take out the dog, then sit by myself drinking coffee and having a bit of time to meditate, pray and look at nature before going into my office to start the day."
MAKE IT FUN
”Treating your work from home professionally doesn’t mean you can’t do things to make it more enjoyable. I hate meetings but they’re unavoidable. I can’t sit still so instead I have a list of somewhat mindless tasks I can do while on the phone for the meeting."
SEPARATE YOUR WORK SPACE
"Find some way to distance your work space from your home life. If possible, keep all work items in one area and ideally turn off any lights when you’re done so that work is ‘gone’ for the day."
DON'T SIT FOR 8 HOURS STRAIGHT
"Take breaks with the mindset of how activity works in the office. You get breaks while at the office. For instance, maybe you need to go to a different floor of your office building and stop to chat with someone along the way. It’s OK to do this at home, too. It is completely acceptable to take a break for a while."
DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
"Finding the right working from home set up with take some self-inventory and experimentation. Put all this advice in the context of your personality. If you’re an outgoing person, being stuck by yourself all day would drive you nuts so you need a lot of interruptions. I’m an introvert and a lot of my work involves deep thinking, so I hate interruptions, for the most part. I think you have to be willing to try a variety of things and if something is not working for you, don’t be afraid to try something else."