Hello cubicle avoiders, open space ostracizers, corner office curtailers, home den dwellers, and coffee shop congregators. My name is Brock Armstrong, and I am… not the Workplace Hero. It’s true! I am learning this workplace stuff along with you, episode by episode, we are both learning to flex our day job muscles at the same time. You can think of me as your workplace safety net.

 

Before we get started with today’s topic… Did you know that there are show notes for all the podcasts over at the website www.workplacehero.me? There is. Quite robust ones at that! I know that the majority of you are listening to this podcast while you are on the bus, in your car, at the gym or otherwise not near a pen and paper - so to take the onus off of you having to try to remember the important points and valuable takeaways, I am making it easy for you. The only thing you need to remember from this episode is www.workplacehero.me/home. Slick eh?

 

Ok, here we go!

 

The other day I posted a short video on Instagram and Twitter asking people what they thought the next episode should be about. I suggested two options: How To Ask For A Raise and How To Prepare For A Big Day (like a presentation or the final sprint on a big project). Well, a fellow with the Instagram handle WholeDoods wrote back (quite quickly, I might add) with a great suggestion. He said: how about “The perils of working from home...how to not turn into a weird recluse who never puts on pants etc.” I wrote back (quite quickly) saying: “That's a good one! I could have fun with that. Thanks!”

 

So that is exactly what we are going to cover on today’s episode. The good, the bad, the awkward and the comfort or working from home.

 

I have been working from home on and off (mostly on) since 2010 and I have made some mistakes along the way that I like to think I have learned from. I have also made some advances in my setup, my workspace, my gear and my work hours over those years. Along with some help from a few articles, I found at Forbes and Inc.com, I will now endeavour to help you avoid the mistakes that I have made.

 

Working from home is great on so many levels. Not having to commute saves money and time and can actually make you happier (as we learned in the episode at workplacehero.me/commute). A plethora of free tools make it dead simple to check in with a decentralized office or teammates that may also be working in their homes, scattered around the globe. And… yes, if you want to work in sweatpants or pajamas, you certainly can. I don’t do it often but I have been known to rock the old sweat-shorts.

 

But there are challenges, as well. How do you keep from getting distracted by things like dirty dishes or that pile of laundry? How do you handle a spouse, partner or roommate who also happens to be home during the day? Also, how the heck do you get anything done if you have kids around?

 

I may not have (or have found in my research) all the answers but here is a decent list to start with.

 

1. Make A To Do List:

First, go to workplacehero.me/todo and listen to that episode. Now, identify what needs to get done every day and make sure to do it. As long as I have a plan on how to complete the list of daily tasks on my personal to-do list, it doesn't matter if or how I may be interrupted or what my actual work hours are, as long as I get things done by the end of my day.

 

2. Use the cloud:

Klaus Sonnenleiter, president and CEO of Franklin Lakes, insists that important documents need to be uploaded to a cloud storage service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. This way you can log in from anywhere and never need to worry about having your files with you. That can come in very handy for those of us who like to get out of the house occasionally and work from a coffee shop or shared workspace. No need to drag along external hard drives. 

 

3. Get dressed:

I find that the most important thing for me is to keep a regular routine and that means that I shower and dress every day as if I were going to an actual office. Getting dressed makes the home office feel more like a real office and it reminds everyone, especially you, that even though you may be sitting at the kitchen table staring at your laptop, that you are actually indeed working.

 

4. Don't let friends or family members interrupt you:

Boundaries are only as effective as they are enforced. I have joked for years now about getting a hat that says “I am at work” that I can put on to remind my partner that I am indeed “at work” even if I am standing at the window staring at the trees. I have not invested in said hat yet but I do get great results for a quick “working”.

 

Catherine Simms, co-founder of the company Whiner & Diner, also has this advice to avoid drop-in visitors. "I just tell them that it is not a good time [and] over the weekend would be better," she says. She also instructs them to call first to see if she's home. Then when they do she doesn't pick up, at least during work hours.

 

Here's an idea from John Meyer, CEO of Miramar. He advises that you hang or tape coloured construction paper on your office door. Tape the red paper up when you cannot be disturbed and the green paper when it's OK to come in. Yellow paper means to check first. He ads that kids, no matter what age, understand this message and actually kind of enjoy playing along.

 

5. Get out of the house occasionally:

Even in the most awesome of home offices we can fall into a routine, and a routine is the enemy of creativity. Changing your environment, even just for a day, brings new types of input and stimulation, which in turn stimulates creativity and inspiration.

 

It sounds counter-intuitive, but working from a bustling coffee shop or a shared work space can be less distracting than working from a quiet office. Being surrounded by awesome team- and officemates means being interrupted for water cooler chats and work questions. Being interrupted kills productivity. The coffee shop environment combines the benefit of anonymity with the dull buzz of exciting activity. Unlike working at home, with the ever-present black hole of solitude and procrastination, a coffee shop provides the opportunity of human interaction, but on your terms.

 

6. Invest in creating a comfortable office:

Deb McAlister-Holland, a freelance marketing professional in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, says the $5,000 she spent remodeling her home office was the best thing she ever did to increase her productivity. I agree! I love my current home office. I have a sit-stand desk from ikea, some awesome 1950s robot artwork on my walls, a ton of plants, plenty of natural light and a lot of storage space to keep everything neat and tidy.

 

I would encourage you all to establish a few different working locations around the house as well. One where you can stand, one where you can sit, even one where you can squat or kneel. If there is one thing we have learned in the past 14 episodes of this podcast it is that we need to vary our body position as often as possible throughout the day - so take the time to establish that in your work habitat so it is easy and automatic rather than a chore to relocate depending on your task.