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A quick guide to WFH

Mar 29, 2020
 

As I write and record this blog, we've been in two weeks of shelter-at-home here in California.  It hasn't been too different for me since I run my business from home anyways.  

The big thing that's different (other than all the anxiety from the news) is that my wife is home all the time, and my usual home-office escapes are off-limits.

I'm thankful my family is safe, and that my time in tech helped me hone my work from home expertise.  I hope your family, friends, and people are all well too.

With that, there are some unique opportunities and struggles when you "work" from home.  I use work in quotes because with the current lockdown, "work" could be managing all the folks at home so that people don't get on each other's nerves too bad.  

If you are new to working from home or been doing it for a while, there are six main things to consider to level up your productivity.

  1. Plan/schedule your day - When you are home 24/7, creating a schedule for yourself, with your family, and roommates can provide the structure to keep the day from getting away from you.  Some things to make sure are on your schedule are learning time, exercise/movement time, break and mealtimes, and work times. If you are quarantined (like I am), having time to skill up, reflect, and build for the future is a great way to break up the day. Knowing when there are breaks in the day can also help keep you motivated.
  2. Have routines to start the day, and transition into new activities - This is especially important if you work from home.  Having transitions with the folks in the house for when you start and stop work is a must.  Is it that you close the door when you work?  Is it you are at your desk with headphones on?  What time do you greet and hug your spouse to signal work is over?  Do you have a morning routine to help get you in the groove?
  3. Set boundaries and expectations - Communicating your schedule with work and your family helps keep you on track.  Working out what an emergency is ahead of time to help your family understand when they should interrupt you, or when you can address home things also helps.  People inevitably will push the structure you have for yourself, so what will you do when it happens?  Is it something you can ask for or have a discussion about with your boss?  Having tough conversations via video chat (for work) or in-person (for people at home) can help smooth over friction working from home.
  4. Manage your focus (and distractions) - Know what helps you focus, and what gets in the way of your attention.  It will be inevitable something distracts you, so don't beat yourself up if it happens.  Although do realize without work buddies, your distractions can last longer than at the office.  Does music help or TV in the background help you get into flow, or distract you?  Do you need to hide your phone or shut down social media until you are out of work?
  5. Plan for connection - Schedule and plan video conferences with your co-workers and family, or family time.  Virtual happy-hours, dinner parties, or game nights are a great way to keep physical distance without feeling isolated.

These five areas are the big buckets for what everyone is saying about working from home.  They also test out from my own experience.

What would you do if you could be 10x MORE productive at home?  The #WFHChallenge helps you figure out how to set up your home office, and apply high performance concepts toward working from home (or surviving the kids while you are stuck at home).

Sign up to take the #WFHChallenge: https://www.shawnbuttner.com/wfhchallenge

 

 

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