This is a special 5-part series designed to help individuals who have been forced to transition from on-site work to working from home. During this series I will share my best practices of being effective while working from a home office. I have worked from a home office for over 30 years. There are essential habits you need to develop in the areas of office setup, discipline, time management, organization, and communication. During this difficult time, I want to help you master this part of your work life and aid in coping with this specific challenge brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many of you dreamed of this moment. Your boss just told you to work from home. Until further notice.
No, these are not the circumstances any of us wanted. We are all learning new habits. Trying to stay healthy. Caring for our family and friends the best we can. It is my sincere hope that you and your family are well, and you are navigating our shared reality as best you can.
If you are fortunate enough to have the ability to continue working under a work from home directive, especially for the first time, you will certainly need to make significant changes. You may have worked an occasional day here and there from home. Maybe the kids were sick. Maybe the carpet guys were coming. You set yourself up with your laptop and your smart phone at the kitchen table. You dialed in to a few conference calls. You got some of your project work done. You wore your sweatpants and a baseball cap all day.
This is different. You will be now conducting your entire work week from your house. This isn’t a gap day. This is your new reality. For some of you, work after the global pandemic has passed may stay this way. Or perhaps it will now be a combination of on-site and remote workdays. In either case, this is the ideal time to get off on the right foot by establishing solid work from home habits.
Today we’ll focus on setting up your workspace.
Establish a Dedicated Workspace
There is a basic physical element to your on-site workspace. It is the place you go to do your job. There is no ambiguity about it. When you go to your office, your plant, or whatever form your employer’s location takes, you are there to do work. Nothing else.
Your home is different. While you sometimes do some of your work there, that is not what it was designed for. That needs to change.
If you happen to have a home office where you live, that’s great. You can utilize that space for your job now. You’ll need to clear out a space where the only thing that happens there is your job-related work, but you’re 80% there.
If you don’t have an office in your home, you need to make some decisions.
Don’t treat your new reality as an endless string of sweatpants days at your kitchen table. There is a good reason for this. Your family or housemates don’t want to go to work with you. When you park yourself at the kitchen table and take calls and attend meetings all day, you are disrupting other activities that normally occur in that space on a typical day. That’s not fair. Especially in this difficult time when each of us is trying to hold on to areas of our life that provide continuity to our normal routines. So just consider your kitchen table closed for business.
Find a space in your home that you can declare your office. It might be a corner in your basement or a spare bedroom. Perhaps you’ll need to designate your least used space such as a dining room or formal sitting room as your dedicated workspace. It must be an area where you can actually go to work. Physically. You must also agree with your housemates that when you are in that space, work is happening. The normal activities that may have taken place there before cannot happen there now. This is very important. Both from a work effectiveness standpoint as well as your mental orientation. A physical space dedicated to your work is a must.
Get the Essential Equipment
If you had it at your on-site office, you need it at your home office. To the extent that is feasible, you should duplicate the functional workspace you had, in your home. Let’s start with the basics. You need a desk or a table and a chair with good ergonomics. You will be spending hours in this space. You won’t have the occasion to walk around the office or head across campus for the next meeting. You need to make sure that your physical environment does not exhaust you. If you don’t have these items, get them. Ask your employer if you can borrow them. Check Nextdoor or craigslist for items people are offering. Often you can pick these items up cheaply or for free. Move your own furniture out of the way and install your work furniture.
You’ll obviously need the essential electronics. Your computer, a smartphone, a printer with scan and/or fax capabilities. If you are doing any video meetings, you’ll need that functionality on your computer or phone. You’ll need file folders and a cabinet or stand to organize them. Don’t start making piles. Get organized from the beginning like you would if you were at your main worksite. A supply of printer paper, writing paper, pens, a stapler, paper clips. If you had it at your worksite, you need it here. Don’t scrimp. Just get what you need from the start so you’re not in a constant state of scrambling for things.
For your phone, you need a headset. You’ll be talking on the phone a lot more. Save your elbow, even if you are used to talking on the phone that way. You’ll probably want to stand, walk, or pace when you’re on all these calls. Make sure your headset allows you to do that.
Put a prominent, visible clock somewhere in your workspace. I know, every device we use has a clock. But you are likely to get a little lost in your work in your new environment. And nobody is going to tap you on the shoulder to head to that next meeting anymore. Get a clock that you can see easily so you can tap yourself on the shoulder.
Watch Your Back
It’s inevitable. You’re going to be doing some video conferencing. I’ve noticed in the first few days of social-distancing, work teams are holding video conferences that look like party chats. I’m sure this novelty will wear off, but until it does, and even after, you’re going to find yourself, and your workspace on camera.
If you’ve been binge watching news throughout the crisis as I have, you’ve seen all your favorite reporters broadcasting from their homes. What’s the first thing you do? Admit it, you check out everything in their office. Or living room. Or bedroom. What’s on the walls? What’s on their bookshelf? What’s that trophy behind them?
You can be sure that as soon as you show up on a video screen, nobody will care how great your hair looks. 50% of everyone’s attention will be on what they see behind you. What room are you in? Is it clean? What’s up with that art on your wall? Is that what you’re into? And if you have a bookshelf behind you, you can bet everyone is reading the titles on the spines to try to figure out what makes you tick.
Make sure the space behind you is as clean as possible. If you must remove items, do that. If you can put a simple photo or painting on the wall behind you, do that. Make sure people are looking at you and focusing only on you. If you like to have things in your workspace for your own enjoyment, put them on the other side of that camera so only you can see them. It might be fine in the office, where holding eye contact is a natural thing. It is different on a video conference. You must be intentional if you want to capture and hold everyone’s attention.
These are 3 of the most basic physical elements you should establish when setting up your home office or temporary workspace. Make sure you spend your first few days creating a proper physical environment so you can quickly begin operating effectively in your new reality.
Next: Working from Home – A COVID-19 Guide – Part 2: Discipline
Be smart. Be safe. Be healthy. Be kind.
Lead well.
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