1. Estabilsh a routine. 2. Start your day doing something from yourself. 3. Have a designate work space. 4. Does your company have a work from home budget? If so buy supplies: ergonomic chair, wireless mouse and key board, sit stand desk, noise canceling head phones. 5. Take your breaks...away from your work area. 6. Eat lunch aways from your desk. 7. Stick with your work hours.
8. Time blocking 9. Silence your notifications 10. Creating a priority list 11. Schedule and attend meetings when necessary 12. Get / put everything in writing - when in doubt, write it out! 13. Set boundaries 14. Set timers for focus work 15. Intentional communication 16. Get ready for work 17. Ask for support
Under Australia's new right to disconnect legislation an employee may refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from their employer or a third party outside of their working hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable
Silencing notifications is a big one for productivity. I recall reading something that being interrupted from a task ends up costing 45 minutes as that is how long it takes to get back into the flow of a task.
Right, but being blocked because you can't complete your task by yourself and the only person who can help you has silenced notifications can also cost a lot of minutes. You wouldn't blank someone in the office, so why ignore notifications when working from home?
@@barneylaurance1865 There is a big difference between being blocked and setting your notifications to silent (ie no chimes, no popup messages). The person will still get the message and respond in due course. The overuse of group instant messaging apps have to be among the worst things ever invented for business. How in the world did things ever get done in business before them?
@@barneylaurance1865I agree with you on that one - love the notifications! Otherwise, I can get so hyperfocused I can miss meetings or critical emails. Sometimes, people email me with questions, and delaying my response can delay the project from moving forward.
I find that fresh oxygen is super important at my workspace. I also like a lofi beat playlist in the background. If I get sluggish, I do jumping jacks😂 I know it sounds funny but getting your heart pumping is so useful! When I got super low and demotivated I create a thankfulness list. I wrote 5-10 (...on a particularly bad day I push to 15!) things I'm grateful for about my job and then I read them out loud for my brain to hear them. Not every day is easy and I'm grateful that Laura started this conversation with all of us. ❤
Division of workspace and personal space is HUGE. When we first started WFH in 2020, I set up my workspace on a desk that I had in my living room, just steps away from the sofa. Even when I was relaxing, the presence of my work area nagged at me. After a few months, I decided to redecorate some loft space that I was using for a rarely used guest room, and created an office space that was separate from my living space. It meant that at the end of the work day, I was able to literally walk away from my office. I was SOOOO much happier. I've since moved to a new apartment, and don't really have a separate space for my office, so I created a separate space by setting up cube bookcases as a "wall" between my living room and office. It's still close by, but the visual barrier helps to establish that separation.
Great advice. I used to have that but had to move home as well. Now my work area is by default also where my personal PC is, right in my living room, it is not ideal but with property rental prices so high these days, moving again is a risk and likely would cost an additional £2-300 a month.
One thing I do is schedule buffer time. I’ll look at how much time outside of meetings I have to focus and then estimate what I can get done in 75 ~ 80% of the time. It’s made a huge positive difference in how I feel at the end of the day. When I filled the focus time with tasks, inevitably there would be interruptions or I’d underestimate the time it takes for some tasks. Rarely would I finish a day accomplishing everything planned. If I plan for 80% efficiency, that leaves the room for urgent tasks that pop up or misestimation. If neither of those happen, I’ll get to the end of my list with time to spare and then I can pull ahead from the tasks I didn’t expect to get to today. I went from ending nearly every day frustrated that I didn’t get everything done to ending nearly every day satisfied that I accomplished a realistic amount of work. I actually get more work done because I spend less time rescheduling and it feels great. It also means my commitments to my colleagues are much more realistic and frequently enough, I beat them. Under promise and over deliver!
Great advice. Frankly I think the division of work and other life is the most important. It really lets your brain “context switch” into and out of work mode
I get up super early and go running for an hour. It completely makes my day physically and mentally! Since I'm a writer, having a regular routine really helps! Sometimes I don't feel up for it, but still get out there and try, it is a huge boost to my mental health! I get home thrilled and energetic since I've already accomplished a goal and feel oxygenated and positive. These are incredibly important reminders to not be a slave to a computer (or the job!)....😊
The tip about leaving the workspace for breaks & lunch was a game changer for me! I'm so glad it's included in your video!! I do not answer work communications when I'm on my breaks/lunch. I either go outside or just sit in a different room.
As a teacher I don't generally work from home but at the height of the pandemic we were teaching remotely. I had an established routine before work. I would start by taking my dog for a walk (1/2 - 1 mile), then I would make breakfast, after that I would check through the news, and finally before logging in to teach my classes, I would spend half an hour grading work that had been turned in over night. My workday ended when I logged off my last class and left the house to give my dog and I a longer walk.
Great tips! I worked from home for three years before I retired last year. You mentioned gray areas between home and work that come with WFH. I would add to that to accept those gray areas and recognize that work/home is no longer black/white. When I worked in the office, I had a lengthy commute to separate work and home - no gray. Knowing that the gray area is to be expected and is OKAY helped make the transition a little easier for me. Love your videos!
Super agree with most of these. Especially the ergonomic chair - I didn't do a whole chair, but I got a good quality seat cushion and lumbar support and it made a WORLD of difference. One thing I'll add... If you're allowed to set your own schedule, DO IT. I spent a couple years after going remote with my boss telling me, "Just get to meetings and I don't care about the rest. If you feel like working at 3am, go for it." And for some reason, I still made myself get up early and work "normal" hours. I think I've just been influenced by our culture celebrating early birds and denigrating night owls, so I felt like it looked bad if I wasn't online early. The thing is... I'm a night owl. Always have been. I used to joke in college that I did my best work after midnight. And I started seeing more research online that countered the notion that everyone should get up early and be productive first thing in the morning... In fact, our circadian rhythm - our "chronotype" - is built into our genes and fighting your natural cycle leads to perpetual social jet lag. No amount of forcing yourself to change will get past that. If you're a night owl, you can't make yourself enjoy mornings. So, if you don't have to... why do it? That finally clicked for me a few months ago and I now sleep in and get up at a much more comfortable hour. I no longer feel like I'm dragging myself out of bed, exhausted and grumpy and mentally foggy. I do my regular meetings (we have folks across the country, so meetings are never earlier than 10am my time), take the afternoon for myself, and do my most thought-intensive work in the evenings, often until one or two in the morning. My focus is SO MUCH BETTER, I'm producing better work, and I no longer feel so much like I'm struggling to stay awake. Obviously this won't work for everyone... like, I don't have kids, so I don't have to worry about being distracted once they get home from school. But still. You don't HAVE to do anything that isn't strictly asked of you. If your workplace is flexible, take advantage of that flexibility. Like Laura said, do set a routine, but that routine can be whatever you like. Figure out what works best for YOU and everyone involved will be happier!
Designating my work space made a huge difference for me, especially with my ADHD and being on the spectrum. My brain recognizes "this is work" and places that are not work. Helped hugely with being able to comfortably step away from work and not focus on the many personal things I need to do. ❤
My biggest problem is a designated workspace- I say this as I'm drinking coffee in bed while reading emails and listening to this video. But Friday afternoon meetings? Oh no, never. That's one thing I can't tolerate, especially if it's nonessential. That's when I wrap up my work for the week.
See I think of it as the opposite. Friday afternoon is the time to leave anything critical well alone and have the non-essential meetings with employees or contractors or whoever to just touch base and catch up. It may be due to being in IT, where if we try to push a critical update on a Friday and break something we can't just come back to it on Monday morning, it will need to be fixed before we can relax for the weekend, so you never do anything important when there is very little time left in the week. I don't force that kind of schedule on anyone else, but people who work with me know that my door is wide open every Friday afternoon and I am happy to have any sorts of "distractions" during that time with anything that maybe I'd be too busy for the rest of the week...
When Covid hit, many people went WFH and had never done it. I had a friend post on FB about his long-time WFH habits. Many you mentioned here. Thank you!
I really like your content. I’ve been officing from home for 20 years. Not tied to a desk like your talking about. Time management some people are crap at. I love your advice for work load and responses that anyone could apply. Some things you suggest will get you fired. There are other ways to negotiate work load. Maybe offer those options. Remember what is more important. Loving what you do and becoming an expert . Negotiating vs being aggressive or flippant is going to keep you employed. Xoxo❤❤ Lauren My background is 2 degrees, International Sales Director. 20 years in Beauty. Keep up the good work. Kids and dogs in background in a corp job is a no no. Be honest in interview about having a quiet space.
I have a mandatory 30 min lunch break, But if I take a 40 minute lunch, I can go walkies up to the top of the Rowley Hills near, me see the far off hills in the distance, get my heart rate and steps exercise in for the day, hear the birds singing and come back to work a happy bunny for the afternoon. Yay for flexitime..
I often will step away from my computer and will go outside and just surround myself in the nature surrounding my property. We are out in the country, so taking in all that greenery and the fresh air is such a relief.
On making lists, one thing I do is start making my list the night before. I can set something aside better for the day if I have written down that it needs something to be done tomorrow. Really great tips on working from home. Thank you.
Love the video. All points are spot on. I will say though, asking for help is one thing, getting it is an entirely different ball game in my workplace.
Thank you. I work hybrid in an event based role. I work from home when I don't have major evening events, and that Time Blocking trick was an perfect idea I will be trying first thing on my next WFH day. I send most my WFH answering those MS team chimes!! Thanks for that tip.
I have discovered that if a rotate through desk chairs I feel better. I have a stationary chair, an adjustable wobble stool, a kneeling chair and an ergonomic chair. I will use a different chair each day.
Love all of these! I have also found that similar to having that me time before work, I find it nice to do something similar right when I log off. Like you say doesn’t have to be this big to do, but I find having something I do for myself right after logging off helps me kind of mentally be like okay, work is done and we’re transitioning to the next part of the day. Also meal planning to me is just as critical as when I was commuting, especially with respect to lunch. When I first went remote I would waste half my lunch break just trying to figure out what I was doing and having that meal sort of spoken for is just a weight off my shoulders.
I relate to so much of what you say. Silencing notifications is something I did in my private life, and it just carried over to work. I find it so obnoxious that the notifications imposes themselves onto me. I feel so much more in control when I consciously decide when it's time for mails, messages etc. Also a good chair and a desk at the proper height... didn't have that and I will do all I can to have it better next time.
I have retained the notifications on my computer, but on my iPad I have switched off all notifications so that I never got anything work related on my iPad that I do not actively look for, this has been very helpful. I retained the notifications on my computer as there are certain people that provide me essential information that I might otherwise miss. This is the problem with Google workspace email, which is browser-based and frankly as just a giant mess.I detest it Alas, the company I work for is in the thrall of Google and doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to make a change back to a Microsoft Office based environment.
This video is so accurate. I have been working from home for a good while now and EVERY point spoken here is spot on. You have to remember that when you work from home, you also live at work. Also pro tip, invest into some good indoor house shoes so you are not walking around barefoot the entire time, your arches will thank you lol!
Of course, this is important no matter where you work and your personal life, but worth mentioning for those of us who WFH because we don’t have those community “cues” being by ourselves. Stay hydrated, related to the other important things mentioned on taking care of yourself for best mental focus and agility. This is actually a challenge for me personally as I get focused and loose track of time. The one about looking up and thinking, “OMG, what time is it?” Hit home with me! lol! I, fortunately, am not required the same level of interaction with colleagues so interruptions are not a major issue for me. Laura’s advice to take care of those types of things particular to you are right on!
Love all your videos! As an I.T. guy though #4 office supplies - Yes, No, yes and yes! Wireless devices are almost always a pain in one way or another be it either the consumption of batteries and the problems it causes or just odd connectivity issues which are more rare but I still deal with on the regular it's just a matter of time. Wired will always be better for stability / reliability. Maybe have a wired keyboard and mouse as a backup. Thank you for all of your wonderful advice you've definitely helped me.
Amen! I had to set a boundary that my youngest can’t have friends over while I’m working. Covid-era kindergarteners are off the wall crazy and my focus was always on “what are they doing now!?”
Been working from home for over 4 years, also, and this information was what everyone was spouting. I tried it all like a good little worker bee. Doesn't work for me, and might not work for others. Just know that these tips are not rules, and it's okay if they don't work for you. My day rarely looks the same any two days in a week (my company doesn't care what time I work as long as I get it done and am available for half of the 'office hours'). My workspace changes when I feel like being in a different space, whether that's outside, a different room, or bed (if I'm having a day where I can't even). Time blocking doesn't work for my profession at all. Length of my workday fluctuates based on my energy levels and how much work I have for the day - some days it's six hours, others 16. FLEXIBILITY has been the key to successful remote work for me, and might be for others, as well. The key to working from home is not to recreate the office.
Ahh the timing of this is perfect! In a few weeks I'm starting my traineeship and even though I've worked from home before for internships, this'll be my first office job! So I'm sure these tips are going to be mega helpful right from the start😊 great video, great tips and I'm excited to start! Thankyou for sharing this!
Change Lighting if you can For instance more light in the morning 🌄 and start to soften it at night 😅🌉 Maybe use Pepper mint during your day and start shifting over to Lavender about 3 in the afternoon Side Tip: Airlines do this on Overnight flights- Lavender to put you to sleep 😪😴 Peppermint as the flight ✈️ starts entering local sunrise 🌄!
Thanks for this review! I have appreciated your videos over time. This is a good summary. I am sending it to my younger family and friends who would benefit from this….
I’ve been working remote for about 6 months now. Money is tight but I got a really nice desk for free and it’s in the corner of my craft room. Even if my job didn’t require my workspace to be in a room with a door that closes I would have put my desk there anyway because having it separate from the rest of the house is necessary for a good work/life balance. I love working remote! I had an hour drive each way to the office so working from home gives me an extra 10 hours a week. My fiancé and I share cooking duties so our relationship has improved as well (he gets home at 3:30 whereas when I went to the office I would get home at 6:00). I wash dishes and do other little cleaning tasks done on my breaks. I’m saving $60 a week on gas and I was terrible about buying take out or cafeteria food at the office so I am saving so much money! There are so many great tips here and it’s a great place to start!
I've been working from home for 2 years now, and the biggest thing I learned was getting ready for the day. Even if I did not leave the house, it still sets me up for a productive day. ❤
Something I had to really become disciplined about was getting to a stopping point with a work project before I look at that Slack message that was sent to me/my team. In the beginning I would go back and forth and shift gears. This was maybe the most mentally exhausting bad habit of any job/career I've ever had! It was like switching trains of thought constantly. Now I can register the "red dot" and know that I need to look at it once I complete the work in front of me.
My remote job is very strict. I am tethered to the computer by a headset and it monitors everything. Breaks are strict. They count every second and listen to all calls.
I have been watching your short for a while and next week i will start a new job, that has me working remote ( i got back to college, trying to finish my degree). Somehow the god of the algorithm decided to show me your long form vid. Talking about privacy...
I agree with these tips completely. For me the thing is that living in a tiny space (30 sqm) with my partner (who also works from home) makes it difficult to have a space just for work. Also the table we share for work is pretty big so it is comfotable but it basically takes up the entire living room. I hope we can move somewhere with a bit more space to solve this issue somewhat soon 😊
Well, my employer finds work-life-balance very important. For those, who have kids for instance, they can plan their workday around the needs of their families. Wemare also civil Service, so working on weekends and feast days is frowned upon and only allowed if it benefits the employee. There is no work allowed during pto, if that iß found out, there will be consequences (restriction of access for example). As a civil servant, I have to work 8 hours, 12 Minutes for 5 days a week. But, I can start from 6.00 am onward and until, I believe 10.00 pm, though it-support ends at 7.00 pm. Personally, I find it easiest to start at 6.00 on the dot, take a 10 Minute screen- break every hour, but have my "lunchbreak after work, by about 3.00 pm. Those 10 minute breaks are among the things my bossnoften reminds us off. We are to take good care of our health at home, as in the office. We do not have a lot of office space, so I mostly work from home. Thank you very much for this, I will implement that ffom my next workday on. Right now I am on sickleave. But hope to be back on Wednesday.
I have had my personal notifications silenced for many years. I do this for work as much as possible, I don't really need the group teams chats to notify me when someone talks. I have teams up on a screen, so I do not need a ping. When I first started working from home I thought I "owed" work for the time I wasnt spending commuting was the companies. Silly me, that was my time all along!
I really just can't get into a rhythm of working from home. I need a schedule, and I am really bad at setting one myself. Having to be at the office by 8am gives me a reason to get out of bed on time. Being in the office is less distracting. I also have a better setup with multiple monitors, which very much matters for the kind of work I do. I always have a ton of tabs open, and trying to go back and forth on a single laptop monitor would be incredibly annoying. It also helps when I can talk to people directly for faster responses. My biggest issue is the lack of sunlight. I work in a cubicle in the corner of the office. No windows. Just fluorescent lights and screens.
Any tips on hybrid meetings? I work from home because I also have to stay close to my sick partner. I work in different projects with different people, and more and more, they are together in the office and I am home. In meetings this can get very awkward, due to bad hybrid etiquette. Any tips?
Dress for work Not so formal but as a guy shave put on a Golf ⛳ shirt Khakis Give yourself rewards Like when you get to a certain place in your work take a break!
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I spent two years working remote where my boss was quite painful. Listening to some of your content makes me cringe...
I'm curious why you think it's important to have wireless mouse and keyboard. Wired devices seem to work fine as long as the cables are long enough to each where you want them. And with wired I don't have to worry about running out of battery.
I don't really like the idea of silencing notifications. I don't think there should be notifications for email, but I also think some of the responsibility should be on the people creating notifications to create notifications too often - e.g. in slack people should avoid using the @here and @channel tags when things are not urgent or don't need many people's attention. I do think Slack could have better tools for this though. Silencing notifications seems like wearing earplugs and blinkers in the office, intentionally blinding yourself to any urgent situations that could come up, which seems a bit anti-social. And in the office even if you did that you'd still not be able to ignore literal taps on the shoulder, and you could only block them by hiding.
I wish Slack would allow posting in a channel without being a member of it though. I'm in the development team, I'd like a non-developer to be able to post in our channel but not then get notified if I do an @here alert later when something breaks in production or I'm ready to deploy a change. I suppose maybe we should use a custom user list to notify instead of @here.
Love your videos, especially the shorts. For the love of god, though, please stop saying “impactful.” It’s an abortion of a word, and it falls under the Bullshit Bingo biz-speak category. It’s amateurish. How about “effective,” “consequential,” or any number of other appropriate words available in our wonderfully expressive language?
Tip number one: Get a useless liberal arts degree. Tip number two: Have a parasitic useless corporate paper pusher job. Work from home. No one's going to miss your "added value" anyway.
1. Estabilsh a routine.
2. Start your day doing something from yourself.
3. Have a designate work space.
4. Does your company have a work from home budget? If so buy supplies: ergonomic chair, wireless mouse and key board, sit stand desk, noise canceling head phones.
5. Take your breaks...away from your work area.
6. Eat lunch aways from your desk.
7. Stick with your work hours.
8. Time blocking
9. Silence your notifications
10. Creating a priority list
11. Schedule and attend meetings when necessary
12. Get / put everything in writing - when in doubt, write it out!
13. Set boundaries
14. Set timers for focus work
15. Intentional communication
16. Get ready for work
17. Ask for support
thx @@smudge8882
#6 eat lunch AWAY FROM your desk
If not #4, buy them anyway and write them off your taxes.
Under Australia's new right to disconnect legislation an employee may refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact (or attempted contact) from their employer or a third party outside of their working hours, unless the refusal is unreasonable
Silencing notifications is a big one for productivity. I recall reading something that being interrupted from a task ends up costing 45 minutes as that is how long it takes to get back into the flow of a task.
Right, but being blocked because you can't complete your task by yourself and the only person who can help you has silenced notifications can also cost a lot of minutes. You wouldn't blank someone in the office, so why ignore notifications when working from home?
@@barneylaurance1865 There is a big difference between being blocked and setting your notifications to silent (ie no chimes, no popup messages). The person will still get the message and respond in due course. The overuse of group instant messaging apps have to be among the worst things ever invented for business. How in the world did things ever get done in business before them?
@@barneylaurance1865I agree with you on that one - love the notifications! Otherwise, I can get so hyperfocused I can miss meetings or critical emails. Sometimes, people email me with questions, and delaying my response can delay the project from moving forward.
I find that fresh oxygen is super important at my workspace. I also like a lofi beat playlist in the background. If I get sluggish, I do jumping jacks😂 I know it sounds funny but getting your heart pumping is so useful!
When I got super low and demotivated I create a thankfulness list. I wrote 5-10 (...on a particularly bad day I push to 15!) things I'm grateful for about my job and then I read them out loud for my brain to hear them.
Not every day is easy and I'm grateful that Laura started this conversation with all of us. ❤
thank u for this😭 i’ve got ADHD and im thankful for the fact that one of my jobs is remote, but sometimes i struggle. i’ll take any tips i can get
Division of workspace and personal space is HUGE. When we first started WFH in 2020, I set up my workspace on a desk that I had in my living room, just steps away from the sofa. Even when I was relaxing, the presence of my work area nagged at me. After a few months, I decided to redecorate some loft space that I was using for a rarely used guest room, and created an office space that was separate from my living space. It meant that at the end of the work day, I was able to literally walk away from my office. I was SOOOO much happier. I've since moved to a new apartment, and don't really have a separate space for my office, so I created a separate space by setting up cube bookcases as a "wall" between my living room and office. It's still close by, but the visual barrier helps to establish that separation.
Great advice. I used to have that but had to move home as well. Now my work area is by default also where my personal PC is, right in my living room, it is not ideal but with property rental prices so high these days, moving again is a risk and likely would cost an additional £2-300 a month.
One thing I do is schedule buffer time. I’ll look at how much time outside of meetings I have to focus and then estimate what I can get done in 75 ~ 80% of the time.
It’s made a huge positive difference in how I feel at the end of the day. When I filled the focus time with tasks, inevitably there would be interruptions or I’d underestimate the time it takes for some tasks. Rarely would I finish a day accomplishing everything planned. If I plan for 80% efficiency, that leaves the room for urgent tasks that pop up or misestimation. If neither of those happen, I’ll get to the end of my list with time to spare and then I can pull ahead from the tasks I didn’t expect to get to today.
I went from ending nearly every day frustrated that I didn’t get everything done to ending nearly every day satisfied that I accomplished a realistic amount of work. I actually get more work done because I spend less time rescheduling and it feels great. It also means my commitments to my colleagues are much more realistic and frequently enough, I beat them.
Under promise and over deliver!
Great advice. Frankly I think the division of work and other life is the most important. It really lets your brain “context switch” into and out of work mode
I get up super early and go running for an hour. It completely makes my day physically and mentally! Since I'm a writer, having a regular routine really helps! Sometimes I don't feel up for it, but still get out there and try, it is a huge boost to my mental health! I get home thrilled and energetic since I've already accomplished a goal and feel oxygenated and positive. These are incredibly important reminders to not be a slave to a computer (or the job!)....😊
The tip about leaving the workspace for breaks & lunch was a game changer for me! I'm so glad it's included in your video!! I do not answer work communications when I'm on my breaks/lunch. I either go outside or just sit in a different room.
As a teacher I don't generally work from home but at the height of the pandemic we were teaching remotely. I had an established routine before work. I would start by taking my dog for a walk (1/2 - 1 mile), then I would make breakfast, after that I would check through the news, and finally before logging in to teach my classes, I would spend half an hour grading work that had been turned in over night. My workday ended when I logged off my last class and left the house to give my dog and I a longer walk.
Great tips! I worked from home for three years before I retired last year. You mentioned gray areas between home and work that come with WFH. I would add to that to accept those gray areas and recognize that work/home is no longer black/white. When I worked in the office, I had a lengthy commute to separate work and home - no gray. Knowing that the gray area is to be expected and is OKAY helped make the transition a little easier for me. Love your videos!
Super agree with most of these. Especially the ergonomic chair - I didn't do a whole chair, but I got a good quality seat cushion and lumbar support and it made a WORLD of difference.
One thing I'll add... If you're allowed to set your own schedule, DO IT. I spent a couple years after going remote with my boss telling me, "Just get to meetings and I don't care about the rest. If you feel like working at 3am, go for it." And for some reason, I still made myself get up early and work "normal" hours. I think I've just been influenced by our culture celebrating early birds and denigrating night owls, so I felt like it looked bad if I wasn't online early.
The thing is... I'm a night owl. Always have been. I used to joke in college that I did my best work after midnight. And I started seeing more research online that countered the notion that everyone should get up early and be productive first thing in the morning... In fact, our circadian rhythm - our "chronotype" - is built into our genes and fighting your natural cycle leads to perpetual social jet lag. No amount of forcing yourself to change will get past that. If you're a night owl, you can't make yourself enjoy mornings. So, if you don't have to... why do it?
That finally clicked for me a few months ago and I now sleep in and get up at a much more comfortable hour. I no longer feel like I'm dragging myself out of bed, exhausted and grumpy and mentally foggy. I do my regular meetings (we have folks across the country, so meetings are never earlier than 10am my time), take the afternoon for myself, and do my most thought-intensive work in the evenings, often until one or two in the morning. My focus is SO MUCH BETTER, I'm producing better work, and I no longer feel so much like I'm struggling to stay awake.
Obviously this won't work for everyone... like, I don't have kids, so I don't have to worry about being distracted once they get home from school. But still. You don't HAVE to do anything that isn't strictly asked of you. If your workplace is flexible, take advantage of that flexibility. Like Laura said, do set a routine, but that routine can be whatever you like. Figure out what works best for YOU and everyone involved will be happier!
Designating my work space made a huge difference for me, especially with my ADHD and being on the spectrum. My brain recognizes "this is work" and places that are not work. Helped hugely with being able to comfortably step away from work and not focus on the many personal things I need to do. ❤
I'm a work-from-home team lead with ADHD, and I just shared this with my team. :) Thanks so much!
I’m also a WFH lead with ADHD! ❤
My biggest problem is a designated workspace- I say this as I'm drinking coffee in bed while reading emails and listening to this video. But Friday afternoon meetings? Oh no, never. That's one thing I can't tolerate, especially if it's nonessential. That's when I wrap up my work for the week.
See I think of it as the opposite. Friday afternoon is the time to leave anything critical well alone and have the non-essential meetings with employees or contractors or whoever to just touch base and catch up. It may be due to being in IT, where if we try to push a critical update on a Friday and break something we can't just come back to it on Monday morning, it will need to be fixed before we can relax for the weekend, so you never do anything important when there is very little time left in the week. I don't force that kind of schedule on anyone else, but people who work with me know that my door is wide open every Friday afternoon and I am happy to have any sorts of "distractions" during that time with anything that maybe I'd be too busy for the rest of the week...
When Covid hit, many people went WFH and had never done it. I had a friend post on FB about his long-time WFH habits. Many you mentioned here. Thank you!
I really like your content. I’ve been officing from home for 20 years. Not tied to a desk like your talking about. Time management some people are crap at. I love your advice for work load and responses that anyone could apply. Some things you suggest will get you fired. There are other ways to negotiate work load. Maybe offer those options. Remember what is more important. Loving what you do and becoming an expert . Negotiating vs being aggressive or flippant is going to keep you employed. Xoxo❤❤ Lauren My background is 2 degrees, International Sales Director. 20 years in Beauty. Keep up the good work. Kids and dogs in background in a corp job is a no no. Be honest in interview about having a quiet space.
I have a mandatory 30 min lunch break, But if I take a 40 minute lunch, I can go walkies up to the top of the Rowley Hills near, me see the far off hills in the distance, get my heart rate and steps exercise in for the day, hear the birds singing and come back to work a happy bunny for the afternoon. Yay for flexitime..
I often will step away from my computer and will go outside and just surround myself in the nature surrounding my property. We are out in the country, so taking in all that greenery and the fresh air is such a relief.
45 min of yoga and 15 minutes meditating has helped me not lose my ish within an hour of meetings and emails and constant messages
On making lists, one thing I do is start making my list the night before. I can set something aside better for the day if I have written down that it needs something to be done tomorrow.
Really great tips on working from home. Thank you.
Love the video. All points are spot on. I will say though, asking for help is one thing, getting it is an entirely different ball game in my workplace.
Thank you. I work hybrid in an event based role. I work from home when I don't have major evening events, and that Time Blocking trick was an perfect idea I will be trying first thing on my next WFH day. I send most my WFH answering those MS team chimes!! Thanks for that tip.
I have discovered that if a rotate through desk chairs I feel better. I have a stationary chair, an adjustable wobble stool, a kneeling chair and an ergonomic chair. I will use a different chair each day.
Love all of these! I have also found that similar to having that me time before work, I find it nice to do something similar right when I log off. Like you say doesn’t have to be this big to do, but I find having something I do for myself right after logging off helps me kind of mentally be like okay, work is done and we’re transitioning to the next part of the day. Also meal planning to me is just as critical as when I was commuting, especially with respect to lunch. When I first went remote I would waste half my lunch break just trying to figure out what I was doing and having that meal sort of spoken for is just a weight off my shoulders.
I relate to so much of what you say. Silencing notifications is something I did in my private life, and it just carried over to work. I find it so obnoxious that the notifications imposes themselves onto me. I feel so much more in control when I consciously decide when it's time for mails, messages etc. Also a good chair and a desk at the proper height... didn't have that and I will do all I can to have it better next time.
I have retained the notifications on my computer, but on my iPad I have switched off all notifications so that I never got anything work related on my iPad that I do not actively look for, this has been very helpful. I retained the notifications on my computer as there are certain people that provide me essential information that I might otherwise miss. This is the problem with Google workspace email, which is browser-based and frankly as just a giant mess.I detest it Alas, the company I work for is in the thrall of Google and doesn’t seem to have the wherewithal to make a change back to a Microsoft Office based environment.
This video is so accurate. I have been working from home for a good while now and EVERY point spoken here is spot on. You have to remember that when you work from home, you also live at work. Also pro tip, invest into some good indoor house shoes so you are not walking around barefoot the entire time, your arches will thank you lol!
As an aspiring digital artist, I found this quite helpful. Thank you.
7:21 Absolutely. This was a major change I made a few years back and it's made such a difference.
Of course, this is important no matter where you work and your personal life, but worth mentioning for those of us who WFH because we don’t have those community “cues” being by ourselves. Stay hydrated, related to the other important things mentioned on taking care of yourself for best mental focus and agility. This is actually a challenge for me personally as I get focused and loose track of time. The one about looking up and thinking, “OMG, what time is it?” Hit home with me! lol! I, fortunately, am not required the same level of interaction with colleagues so interruptions are not a major issue for me. Laura’s advice to take care of those types of things particular to you are right on!
Love all your videos!
As an I.T. guy though #4 office supplies - Yes, No, yes and yes! Wireless devices are almost always a pain in one way or another be it either the consumption of batteries and the problems it causes or just odd connectivity issues which are more rare but I still deal with on the regular it's just a matter of time. Wired will always be better for stability / reliability. Maybe have a wired keyboard and mouse as a backup.
Thank you for all of your wonderful advice you've definitely helped me.
Great video, I just have to say that: It's easy to know what you should aor shouldn't do, whats hard is actually doing it.
Amen! I had to set a boundary that my youngest can’t have friends over while I’m working. Covid-era kindergarteners are off the wall crazy and my focus was always on “what are they doing now!?”
Been working from home for over 4 years, also, and this information was what everyone was spouting. I tried it all like a good little worker bee. Doesn't work for me, and might not work for others. Just know that these tips are not rules, and it's okay if they don't work for you. My day rarely looks the same any two days in a week (my company doesn't care what time I work as long as I get it done and am available for half of the 'office hours'). My workspace changes when I feel like being in a different space, whether that's outside, a different room, or bed (if I'm having a day where I can't even). Time blocking doesn't work for my profession at all. Length of my workday fluctuates based on my energy levels and how much work I have for the day - some days it's six hours, others 16. FLEXIBILITY has been the key to successful remote work for me, and might be for others, as well. The key to working from home is not to recreate the office.
Ahh the timing of this is perfect! In a few weeks I'm starting my traineeship and even though I've worked from home before for internships, this'll be my first office job! So I'm sure these tips are going to be mega helpful right from the start😊 great video, great tips and I'm excited to start! Thankyou for sharing this!
Change Lighting if you can For instance more light in the morning 🌄 and start to soften it at night 😅🌉 Maybe use Pepper mint during your day and start shifting over to Lavender about 3 in the afternoon Side Tip: Airlines do this on Overnight flights- Lavender to put you to sleep 😪😴 Peppermint as the flight ✈️ starts entering local sunrise 🌄!
Thanks for this review! I have appreciated your videos over time. This is a good summary. I am sending it to my younger family and friends who would benefit from this….
Amazing tips. Number one was a game changer for me when Covid hit.
I agree with everything you are saying. I've worked from home now for over 20 years.
I’ve been working remote for about 6 months now. Money is tight but I got a really nice desk for free and it’s in the corner of my craft room. Even if my job didn’t require my workspace to be in a room with a door that closes I would have put my desk there anyway because having it separate from the rest of the house is necessary for a good work/life balance.
I love working remote! I had an hour drive each way to the office so working from home gives me an extra 10 hours a week. My fiancé and I share cooking duties so our relationship has improved as well (he gets home at 3:30 whereas when I went to the office I would get home at 6:00). I wash dishes and do other little cleaning tasks done on my breaks. I’m saving $60 a week on gas and I was terrible about buying take out or cafeteria food at the office so I am saving so much money!
There are so many great tips here and it’s a great place to start!
Great video keep up the awesome work you do.
I find that a routine is number one thing. Get up have breakfast get ready get dressed
I've been working from home for 2 years now, and the biggest thing I learned was getting ready for the day. Even if I did not leave the house, it still sets me up for a productive day. ❤
Thank you this video came in perfect timing ❤️💯
Everyone ready to take notes💯
Something I had to really become disciplined about was getting to a stopping point with a work project before I look at that Slack message that was sent to me/my team. In the beginning I would go back and forth and shift gears. This was maybe the most mentally exhausting bad habit of any job/career I've ever had! It was like switching trains of thought constantly. Now I can register the "red dot" and know that I need to look at it once I complete the work in front of me.
My remote job is very strict. I am tethered to the computer by a headset and it monitors everything. Breaks are strict. They count every second and listen to all calls.
I have been watching your short for a while and next week i will start a new job, that has me working remote ( i got back to college, trying to finish my degree). Somehow the god of the algorithm decided to show me your long form vid. Talking about privacy...
On the topic of ergonomic desk chair; some companies lend them and in some cases even allow the employee to keep them. Ask away! ❤
I agree with these tips completely. For me the thing is that living in a tiny space (30 sqm) with my partner (who also works from home) makes it difficult to have a space just for work. Also the table we share for work is pretty big so it is comfotable but it basically takes up the entire living room. I hope we can move somewhere with a bit more space to solve this issue somewhat soon 😊
15:58 That Texan accent caught me off guard, I just can't
Donna Sue has entered the chat 🤣🍵
Your characters on your shorts are really good! Love that 'Toodaloo!'. Thing that you do! Is that Canadian?
looking good Laura!
Great info🎉
Great tips, thank you. What field of work are you in?
Well, my employer finds work-life-balance very important. For those, who have kids for instance, they can plan their workday around the needs of their families. Wemare also civil Service, so working on weekends and feast days is frowned upon and only allowed if it benefits the employee. There is no work allowed during pto, if that iß found out, there will be consequences (restriction of access for example). As a civil servant, I have to work 8 hours, 12 Minutes for 5 days a week. But, I can start from 6.00 am onward and until, I believe 10.00 pm, though it-support ends at 7.00 pm.
Personally, I find it easiest to start at 6.00 on the dot, take a 10 Minute screen- break every hour, but have my "lunchbreak after work, by about 3.00 pm.
Those 10 minute breaks are among the things my bossnoften reminds us off. We are to take good care of our health at home, as in the office.
We do not have a lot of office space, so I mostly work from home.
Thank you very much for this, I will implement that ffom my next workday on. Right now I am on sickleave. But hope to be back on Wednesday.
Very helpful video.
I have had my personal notifications silenced for many years.
I do this for work as much as possible, I don't really need the group teams chats to notify me when someone talks. I have teams up on a screen, so I do not need a ping.
When I first started working from home I thought I "owed" work for the time I wasnt spending commuting was the companies. Silly me, that was my time all along!
Thank you for sharing your information
It’s like house arrest for me 😭.
Good video
I really just can't get into a rhythm of working from home. I need a schedule, and I am really bad at setting one myself. Having to be at the office by 8am gives me a reason to get out of bed on time. Being in the office is less distracting. I also have a better setup with multiple monitors, which very much matters for the kind of work I do. I always have a ton of tabs open, and trying to go back and forth on a single laptop monitor would be incredibly annoying. It also helps when I can talk to people directly for faster responses. My biggest issue is the lack of sunlight. I work in a cubicle in the corner of the office. No windows. Just fluorescent lights and screens.
I’d work from home, but I’m a pilot. That kinda makes it difficult. 😞
What headphones do you use? I need a good one with a microphone for video calls at work
In use 30 mins of my lunch forna nap when i worked from home. Needed it. But I would nap on the couch
Any tips on hybrid meetings? I work from home because I also have to stay close to my sick partner. I work in different projects with different people, and more and more, they are together in the office and I am home. In meetings this can get very awkward, due to bad hybrid etiquette. Any tips?
If I watch this video during my workday does that count as procrastination or work?
my vote is work
Dress for work Not so formal but as a guy shave put on a Golf ⛳ shirt Khakis Give yourself rewards Like when you get to a certain place in your work take a break!
I've learned I need to get ready and wear real clothes. Otherwise, my mood just suffers.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. I spent two years working remote where my boss was quite painful. Listening to some of your content makes me cringe...
Aaaand, where did you buy that unt mug....
That's a weird name: Loe. Toodaloo!!!
7:46 an unmuted woof notification! 🐕
What is your opinion on the employee who recorded be fired/terminated?
Working remoteLY
I'm curious why you think it's important to have wireless mouse and keyboard. Wired devices seem to work fine as long as the cables are long enough to each where you want them. And with wired I don't have to worry about running out of battery.
I personally don’t love the clutter of cords and prefer my workspace to be very minimal but if wired devices work for you that’s awesome :)
Where do you find remote work
I don't really like the idea of silencing notifications. I don't think there should be notifications for email, but I also think some of the responsibility should be on the people creating notifications to create notifications too often - e.g. in slack people should avoid using the @here and @channel tags when things are not urgent or don't need many people's attention. I do think Slack could have better tools for this though. Silencing notifications seems like wearing earplugs and blinkers in the office, intentionally blinding yourself to any urgent situations that could come up, which seems a bit anti-social. And in the office even if you did that you'd still not be able to ignore literal taps on the shoulder, and you could only block them by hiding.
I wish Slack would allow posting in a channel without being a member of it though. I'm in the development team, I'd like a non-developer to be able to post in our channel but not then get notified if I do an @here alert later when something breaks in production or I'm ready to deploy a change. I suppose maybe we should use a custom user list to notify instead of @here.
Seriously, what is it that you do??!!!
How high you are 😂
What does toodles mean?
Your mirror (hard surface )is reflecting your voice back to your lapel mic, slightly delayed, which is where the echo is coming from
Why work when you can get unemployment. Just sayin.
Love your videos, especially the shorts. For the love of god, though, please stop saying “impactful.” It’s an abortion of a word, and it falls under the Bullshit Bingo biz-speak category. It’s amateurish. How about “effective,” “consequential,” or any number of other appropriate words available in our wonderfully expressive language?
Tip number one: Get a useless liberal arts degree.
Tip number two: Have a parasitic useless corporate paper pusher job.
Work from home. No one's going to miss your "added value" anyway.