Work from Home - How's it Work?

[RobertD]

I work from home 90% of the time now. I like it but it is an adjustment, as I've done some work from home before but never for whole days at a time or multiple days in a row.

I know some of you work from home. What habits or actions do you use to help yourself be as productive as possible, besides "don't look at HuntTalk"? I just want to know what everyone has done to help themselves be efficient and disciplined.

 

[BirdManMike]

Take breaks. 50 minutes of focus plus a 10 minute walk ends up being more productive than 60 minutes straight staring at a glowing rectangle, maybe refreshing hunttalk (or other) every few minutes. Just an example - I find breaks helps my productivity, especially if there is fresh air involved.

 

[Zach]

I've been home officed for over 8 years now, can't imagine going back to a cube farm. Now I'm remote home office.

I have an actual office at home, pretty much treat it like a separate work space. It's funny, I actually put in more hours from home than when I went to an office.

 

[madtom]

I worked from home for about 13 months before returning to the office last spring. I actually found it easier to get stuff done at home without coworkers always wanting to bs. Distractions like social media are equally available to me at home or the office, so I’m used to managing that. Not really helpful to your question - other than to say it was easier for me to be more productive at home.

 

[TexAg09]

I try to set deadlines for myself even if it's just as simple as I need to get this done within the next 30 minutes, by EOB or by the end of the week. It seems to help me to work against a deadline.

 

[44hunter45]

When the house is empty it's great. When Mrs, kids, or grandkid home, not so much. It helps to have a door you can close for "do not disturb" moments like WebEx or Skype calls.
I use Trello to stay on task with projects and I have to practice a time management system.

 

[MarvB]

Dunno, old retired guy here, but I see it putting a strain on at least one of my kids. She’s a training mgr for a firm out in TX that’s has gone to a hybrid schedule where “most” of their employees have the option of working from home two days a week. Her trying to coordinate training with everyone of diff schedules is a PIA. Add to that mgrs only get one day a week at home and she’s got two little ones (1&3) that she has to pay full time daycare for whether they go or not. Plus trying to wrangle them while working from home is also rough. Add to it her hubby is a fireman so he’s on his own weird rotating schedule. Definitely NOT for everyone!

 

[A207X2]

I've been doing it full time since 1996. For it to be successful you must do three things:

1. Have a separate office in the house - with a door that can close.
2. Start work every morning at the same time, take a few breaks throughout the day, and stop work at (nearly) the same time. Resist the urge to go downstairs in the evening to "catch up". You wouldn't drive into the office in the evening to do that, right? Same here. Don't forget about your family just because you can "go downstairs for a minute".
3. Leave the work in the office. Don't bring it "home".

It takes some time to develop the discipline to actually work at home. At first it's easy to "cheat" or play hookey. Eventually though you realize that you've got to get the work done, so you'll fall in the groove. If you get it right, you'll find that you actually get more work done this way, since you won't have people walking in to talk about the game over the weekend, or show you their new baby pictures, or whatever.

It's not for everyone though. Some people need the physical interaction with others.

 

[NEWHunter]

I put alot of stuff in my calendar and then set the appropriate reminder. Helps keep me on track and makes its look like I’m busy all the time.

 

[chilidog61]

I feel like I am more available to coworkers and clients now then I ever was in the office. Setting a lists and due times/dates is crucial for my production. It allows me to lay out work days without worry of people interrupting me. Plus eliminating the commuting is so great. I didn't realize how much time I gained back just from that.

 

[KB_]

I'm a automation engineer that works in a software development environment. I'm very productive

I do not work from home much anymore unless I need to. I don't really like it that much.

 

[noharleyyet]

Correspondence from home & phone naturally...but's it's construction and that's predominately
face to face, boots on the ground for me. We were very lucky, as preventative as possible, and proactive during the hysteria.

 

[CycleFishHunt]

To echo what BirdManMike and A207X2 said:

- breaks are critical, no matter where you work
- separate work and personal time

I've been a freelance software developer for about 16 years, and have been working remotely from home for just about all that time. In the beginning, I did not keep clear boundaries between work life and home life, and it was a mess. I'd wake up and check email, maybe do a few small work things, eat breakfast, do some more work, maybe run an errand, then more work, and so on, and the work day ended up extending from when I woke up until I went to bed, and all aspects of my life suffered. Now I keep more or less standard office hours, and it's altogether a better situation.

Padlocking the fridge and panty pantry are a good idea too!

(Lightly edited to correct, but leave in comedic typo.)

 

[noharleyyet]

To echo what BirdManMike and A207X2 said:


Padlocking the fridge and panty are a good idea too!

Man, you ain't kidding...

 

[Nameless Range]

I am free to do whichever I want, and probably spend 25% of my time at home. This is due to the fact that I am less productive at home. Just am.


I'd say and echo the above things:

-Dedicated area for your work - an office, a closet whatever
-Hard stop times. A lot of studies have shown folks who work from home actually spend more time working than those in the office
-Start early. For me, this is huge. I am required to work 40 hours a week. I am an early riser. Being able to get up at 4:30, start my coffee, and instantly be working hours before anyone else who can bug me is is when I am most productive. Nice to put in an honest 8 hours of work and be done by 2 in the afternoon.
-Good internet. I do heaving processing and analysis and network speeds are my bottleneck. When I started working from home I forked out the extra $ to increase our network speeds and it was money well spent.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Some great ideas have already been mentioned, and I’ll echo them.
-Make lists, put them on your calendar to remind you if that helps you.
-Don’t be afraid to make a phone call outside of a meeting if you need to ask a question, make a clarification, or work something out that a meeting or email won’t cover clearly enough.
-If you have a phone conversation, follow up with an email for documentation/clarification (this is good practice regardless, but even more so when some parts of communication by facial expressions or body language are lost in this environment)
-Over communicate; don’t take anything for granted
-If you or someone that you are responsible for starts to slip, confront the deficiency immediately and seek resolution. Be careful to do this in a professional way that addresses the action and is not personal
-Eliminate distractions as much as possible
-Create and maintain a routine
-Get up at normal time, and get fully ready for the day. Don’t let yourself fall into the PJs and crusty body routine that makes you feel underprepared or less than human (at least when you aren’t in the field)

I’m sure that I’ll think of a few more later, but this is how I stay productive when I work from home (50-50 for me)

 

[CycleFishHunt]

Man, you ain't kidding...

What a difference a letter makes.

 

[noharleyyet]

What a difference a letter makes.

Still, I like the way you think.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Still, I like the way you think.

That can lead to productivity in some cases… clears the mind when you have that kind of break sometimes

 

[Zach]

That can lead to productivity in some cases… clears the mind when you have that kind of break sometimes

It's noon somewhere...