Working at Home.. continued

[diana.yr]

Happy new year everyone!

Hoping you all had a chance to relax and get some rest in as (many of us) the work from home saga continues. How many of you are still working at home or in the office?

A huge theme buzzing around the social media world is self care and self prioritization. With that, what are some of the best things you've learned to separate both home and work life and what have you done to refresh? Would love to share some best practices with each other or even just fun ways you have found to disconnect from the screens. 🙂 

[AllenJessup]

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@diana.yr wrote:

How many of you are still working at home or in the office?

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We've been back in the office since Memorial Day. Except for the masks and cleaning. Nothing much has changed in our routine.

When I was at home. I ended up buying a 32" monitor so I could see what I was doing. Since my laptop wasn't the most powerful. I'd often have to wait a few minutes for the software. Since the laptop screen was not in use. I would start a rerun of something I didn't have to pay much attention to. Often an old Perry Mason episode. So that would entertain me while I waited for the computer.

If I ever have to work from home again. I'm going to try to do better than two folding tables and a folding chair. I was always uncomfortable by the end of the day. I also used the time waiting for the computer to take a lap around the house to unkink my back,

[Mistress0fTheDorkness]

Still working from home, as always. 

People do talk a lot about separating work time from home time... but I don't find that realistic at all, especially with the kids home.

For me the key to working at home successfully and running a household successfully is flexibility. 

Work, make sure kids are up, work, cook & clean, work, run an errand or personal calls & check in on homework, work, check in on chores and meals, vegetate for a few hours playing games or watching tv, then maybe hitting a bit more work.

Also, people talk about a separate work area... I found that really distracting. I was constantly getting up to go investigate sounds (or lack of sounds). The past few years I have chosen to work in the center of our livingspace... part of my subconscious mind is always peripherally aware of what the kids are doing and I can let out a mindless 'get off youtube and on to your class, and get that out of your mouth' without skipping a beat in my work... it's much more conducive to productivity. 

Granted, when I need to do a formal presentation to a client or leadership, I do have a small desk in a room I can close the door, but not for day to day operations, it's just way too distracting. 

(granted I've worked from home for so long and my kids are getting older, it's not like they fight or scream or anything, they know to remain chill during times my computer is on.)

Still carrying on with virtual socialization. Almost every week, I crash a Civil Users group call (my background is FM/MEP lol), and host a call for AUGI folks, and attend a completely non-work related morning coffee with friends outside of the industry. That's been the most important part. My team now doesn't have regular calls outside of those specific to projects they're working on, so I need some outlet to speak to other adults, vent, get feedback and sanity checks, on a regular basis.

[diana.yr]

Ouch, the folding chair sounds like a no 🙂  I know a lof of people will sit on their sofa and work and it's not for me either.  I worked from home many times before and I do miss the interaction and working closely with my team - in person conversations are missed greatly these days!

[diana.yr]

@Mistress0fTheDorkness  Having a break from work and home is near to impossible for me as well, but mainly due to just figuring out the right space to be!  I think the most conversing with my team lately is work related (which is often) but I am missing regular everyday talks with them. Having video calls and happy hours or coffee breaks with friends has been nice to hear about other lives and not just be drawn into my own!

I will say there has been a lot of opportunity during this work at home time to learn more; join other groups, communities, events and just take some time to connect with others in the same industries and brainstorm together. I guess in trying to make the best of it it's got me thinking out of the box too to really keep my mind going!

[CGBenner]

@Mistress0fTheDorkness I agree with you about the separate work space.  I have an "office" upstairs in a spare bedroom, but the only time I use it anymore is when I have a need for the two extra monitors.  While the house was being rebuilt, I had no other choice, but now that it is done I work mostly from the dining room.  I also found all of the strange sounds distracting... here I am in the middle of everything.  I can't wait until summer when I can go work out on the deck and look out over the wasteland that used to be our lake!

[Mistress0fTheDorkness]

lol,  nice to know it's not just me, Chris! 

[callie.simmons30]

I'm still working at home - I like the flexibility that a work-from-home job provides. The fact I don't have to spend time getting to the office makes me happy) I'm a night owl, so some extra time to sleep in the morning makes me excited. Many people think that working in the office space has a positive effect on productivity. They mention they are struggling to maintain a work balance as there are too many distractions at home that don't let them concentrate on work tasks and decrease their level of productivity. On the contrary, I noticed my productivity grew twice since I started working from home. For me, it was just a matter of organizing a workplace and eliminating distractions.

[AllenJessup]

I worked from home for 6 weeks. Then we were brought back to the office. I agree with many things  you said. However I also agree with other about the issues. One issue I still have with those working at home. Flexing their hours move a lot of theri workday outside of mine. I often come in and have to deal with a long list of VMs and emails that have come in after I've left work. There were often a few due to time zones. But it's gotten much worse.

I also might call for information from a consultant. But the person I deal with only goes to the office once a week. So I might have to wait three of four days. Unless they can get someone who is in the office to  find the info. That isn't alway possible. I also need info from the office that hasn't been scanned yet. It's two hour round trip to my office.

I would love to be able to skip the commute a couple of times a day. But it doesn't seem practical yet.