To help slow
the spread of COVID-19,
many companies are encouraging
their employees to work from home.
Many of my buddies
think this will be an easy adjustment.
It won’t be easy
for many of them.
The first time
I tried working at home,
I failed at it.
I was too lonely.
I missed the kudos
we receive from others every day.
I didn’t like the lack of structure,
that there was no separation
between work and home.
I didn’t get anything done.
So I returned to contract work
outside of the house
until I could figure out
how to best
work from home.
The changes that helped me
were…
– Having a place in the home
that was a dedicated work space.
When I sat at that desk,
it was my cue to work.
– Keeping to a schedule.
At first, this was the usual 9 to 5.
Between those hours,
I worked.
I took my lunch break
at the regular time.
I ran errands
outside of work hours.
– Assigning someone
to keep me accountable,
someone who would give me kudos
if I got things done,
who would be ‘disappointed’
if I didn’t accomplish my goals.
If you’re fortunate to have
a caring Mom,
this is often a great role for her.
Or you can team up
with other work from home folks
and have an accountability circle.
– I joined several business building
and writing groups online.
This gave me some social interaction.
If you prefer to see people
face-to-face
(which is challenging
during a quarantine),
try video calls.
Set those up with co-workers
and clients
and other business partners.
Working from home
is a huge adjustment.
Plan for that.