For the last year, my commute was a grueling 20 feet. I showed up to work early to fight for the best parking spot (location: the couch...opponent: my dog) and put in a solid 8 hours of work (also consisting of naps, laundry, & video games). I work from home (WFH), and I'm a lot better at it now than I used to be.
It's an alluring lifestyle. No commute. No coworker food theft. No passive aggressive notes about 5 page printing limits. At first, it lived up to the hype and more. Then I noticed my productivity, performance, and overall mental/physical health drifting off like I used to when prepping for daily 2pm meetings with Vice President Blanky & Senior Manager Pillow (I took a lot of naps). The road to productivity while permanently or occasionally working from home has many pitfalls, and in the beginning I fell into most of them.
The information age has brought with it an increasingly remote workforce. 1 in 5 Americans find themselves dialing in versus commuting in, and that number is expected to increase by 63% in the next 5 years. This shift comes with a steep learning curve when competing with in-office work quality and productivity. If you are fortunate enough to wear the WFH crest, please pause your House of Cards binge to learn from my mistakes (then get back to work you lazy oaf).
How to WFH and get $#%@ done
Through trial and error, I've learned a lot in the past year about overcoming many of the productivity pitfalls that often stem from working from home. Most of these issues resolve themselves when you take ownership over the 4 big WFH factors: your workspace, your time, your body, and your career path.
Own your workspace
- Don't work from the bed or couch -- Have a dedicated workspace where creativity, productivity, and stress can fester and remain when the workday is over. A bed is for either sleep, sex, or work. Choose 2.
Own your time
- Plan out your day -- At the start of each day, write down what you NEED to accomplish. Block time off on your calendar inbetween meetings to accomplish it. This is good to do even if you work in an office. Set daily goals, have a plan, and accomplish them. When your day is winding down, clean up your to-do list and move remaining items to tomorrow.
Own your body
Own your career
Please tweet me any WFH tips you have (@jgvandehey). I'd love to see any 'start something new' projects from those working from home right now ☺. If you work remotely in SF and want to work with me @ a coffee shop, DM me on twitter. Thanks for reading!
Kudos to @mollybugler, my dream girl, for putting up with me while I was mastering this routine. Things got a little messy during the learning phase. Thanks to Justin, Kayla, and Molly for providing ideas & feedback on this piece.