Comments on: In praise of remote work

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 13:04:48 +0000

In reply to Jamie.

@Jamie – I need to get better about the drinks. I get thirsty and then have to leave my office and…

By: Jamie

Jamie — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 00:04:06 +0000

I’ve worked from home full-time for 8 years – since my kids were quite young – and there are still aspects and boundaries that I struggle with!

My best advice echos many others – have a dedicated workspace and two monitors, have set times for chores, close the door, etc.

Most of all, make sure your space is comfortable – I have a space heater, plants, always at least two drinks, my calendar, and everything I need within arms reach. Being organized and having that dedicated comfortable space makes my work much more productive!

By: Lisa of Lisa's Yarns

Lisa of Lisa's Yarns — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 15:15:43 +0000

I work for a large financial institution and they moved away from allowing people to WFH in the last year or so. You can do it on an as-needed basis, but not on a regular recurrence (like once a week, for example). They are more permissive of WFH right now and have asked all Manhattan associates to WFH. But in general, they are against it. Rumor has it that they audited people who were working from home and the # of hours people were actually on their laptops working were pretty bad… But instead of addressing those situations, they just made a ban on all WFH arrangements… I will say that my industry is not super conducive to working from home as we have a lot of individuals who trade securities and need access to multiple monitors, extra high speed internet, etc. My job can be done from home but it’s definitely not optimal as I work on a trading floor and it’s really hard to replicate that dialogue that happens. All that said, I’m glad I have the ability to work from home since it’s pretty likely that we will be encouraged to if the virus cases start to increase.

By: Jenni

Jenni — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 15:14:57 +0000

These are all great tips. My kids are also teens so I don’t need childcare. I think the most important thing for me is taking breaks. I teach online, so the ending of a lesson reminds me to take a break, but on days when I’m planning/grading, I have to set a timer to get up and move. I also think doing something totally different from your work for your breaks is important. And now that the weather is nice, I really like the benefit of being able to sit in my backyard and listen to the birds for a break. Actually taking advantage of the benefit of being able to work anywhere and switching things up at a coffee shop is fun too.

By: Maria

Maria — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 14:38:59 +0000

As my employer looks to more remote work in the coming weeks, this is all extremely valuable and relevant. My biggest concern is daycare closing, and how my husband and I will work and parent a 15 month old simultaneously in a pretty small space if this happens. I suspect that we’ll need to switch off AM and PM, like you suggested, but I’m now feeling inspired to get creative on work space so the toddler can’t see me when it’s my work time (and I’m assuming it won’t be recommended to be in coffee shops, etc. given where we live and the virus). Thank you for addressing this!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:22:27 +0000

In reply to September Gerety.

@September – ah yes, the closed door. I may be availing myself of that signal today as everyone is home with school closures…

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:21:41 +0000

In reply to Elisabeth.

@Elisabeth – I agree on this separation – for a while I’d go to the library to write fiction because when I was sitting at my desk I felt like I should work on my (paying) non fiction stuff. I seem to have broken through that block now, but for a while it was helpful.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:19:51 +0000

In reply to omdg.

@omdg – it will be interesting to see how this plays out over time. We’ve used a virtual doctor service for some primary care stuff (like identifying pink eye in a kid…) and you’re right that a robotic surgery could definitely be done from somewhere else.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:15:41 +0000

In reply to Rebecca.

@Rebecca- having the daycare pick up at the end of the day would create a natural ending – which is not a bad thing! When I worked from home before having kids I sang in a lot of choirs for this reason – I had to end the work day around 6:15/6:30 to get to 7 p.m. rehearsal.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 12:13:35 +0000

In reply to Beth C. @BethC- totally agree on pushing household chores to one specific window. If it's always an option, you can be distracted. This isn't an issue for me either, both because I've worked from home so long and have a separate office but I do see how people who haven't worked from home regularly might think that, because they're there, they should be doing their chores.