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Since 2005, I have been working at home, and by now it is commonplace to me. However, this month as coronoavirus forces many of my Seattle friends who work for Amazon, Microsoft, and other large area employers into working from home for the first time, I’m hearing many of them express frustration with this mode. Here are some of the things I have learned over the years, in the hopes that it’s helpful.
Routine is your friend. I rely on a routine that gets me up, caffeinated and fed, dressed and stretched and to the keyboard at a predictable time. You may ask: why not revel in this brief chance to sleep in and enjoy life and I will say a) I have a cat that appears at 6 am every morning demanding to be fed and b) it is easier to be productive if you maintain a routine that involves times where you are expected to be productive.
Create a work space if you can. Your couch is not an optimal space, but sometimes you do what you have to. If you can, find a corner or room where you can have your office and establish that it’s your space where interruptions are not welcome. Do the same thing with your time. One of the hardest things I found when I first started working at home was getting through to family and friends that working from home did not mean I was perpetually free to go out for coffee with them.
