The below post is taken from the Video Blog, the Subject Matter Minute. If it’s a little hard to read, it’s because it’s taken from the spoken word. You can view the episode on YouTube if you would like. Find it here: Episode #36 -Covid-19 Episode – Tips for Teleworking
If YouTube is blocked for you or your agency, you can scroll to the bottom of this post to view it from Google Drive. (I would prefer you view on YouTube, so I know how many people have watched)
You can also listen to an audio version.
Hello everybody and welcome to another Covid-19 inspired episode of the Subject Matter Minute.
As I mentioned before, I’m a seasoned teleworker. If you are a long-time viewer, you have experienced this with me, to a certain extent. My home office used to be in the basement. It was a good room… the temperature stayed right for the most part, there was plenty of room, it was quiet and private. I decorated and set up the space for the show and it worked. There were a few things I didn’t like, however. The room had two small windows, the ceiling was very low… which caused problems with lighting, and if I had to do some work in the evening while the family was around, I had to disappear to the basement. Felt out of the loop.
Well, when my oldest daughter started college, it freed up a room on the main floor. I jumped on it immediately. This room. First of all, it has nice wood floors and two big windows. It’s also just to the side of where all the action is… so evening work feels better. The ceilings are high and my lighting is much better. Hopefully, you long time watchers have noticed these things. 🙂 Now… while you have seen the inside of my office, I’m fairly certain that I have never shown you my actual setup. What you have seen is my carefully and meticulously decorated area in front of the camera. Well, for the first time, here is where I actually work. (video of the workstation)
Anyway… I’ve gone on about my home office because that’s part of what this episode is about. Today I want to talk about Tips for Teleworking. (music)
I was lucky enough to already have a home office when I started doing more remote work, and I’m guessing that these days with the proliferation of computers, a lot of you do too. If you don’t, now is the time to claim some space. If you don’t have much space, you may need to get more creative. I found a video that does a nice job of giving ideas along that line. Check it out in the show notes.
The state is doing what it can to get people set up for teleworking. Make sure you have what you need. Everyone’s job is different, so your needs will be different, but make sure you ask. Don’t be a martyr and sit at your coffee table all day. While a bit of time working on the couch can be nice, it starts to hurt after a while.
Ok, I’m going to stop there… I’m starting to get into the “lists” that everyone has been passing around about teleworking. If you haven’t seen the lists, they are in the show notes too. It’s good stuff, so take a look, but I want to talk about what I do.
Here’s what I do. First of all, the beautiful thing about working from home is that you can make it your own. What works will be different for everyone. Personally, I will often start my day with some laptop time on the couch. A much more comfortable place to finish off my days coffee. I’m an early riser… I often get up at 5 and drink coffee while taking care of busy work on the laptop. Then I tend to hit the home gym for an hour. Not always, but again, that’s the beauty of working from home…. Flexibility. After my post-workout shower and a bit of breakfast, I hit the home office.
Honestly, for me, the biggest problem with working at home is constantly snacking. I am a hungry guy. Always. And it’s just so easy to hit the kitchen. Well, that isn’t a good way to eat and it’s too easy to make bad choices. So, I’ve started drinking a variety of beverages. Start with coffee, maybe have a bubbly drink created by the SodaStream, move on to tea in the afternoon, all the while peppering in some water from my water bottle. The other strategy that I use to stop snacking is to head out for a short walk. It really helps.
That’s a nice segue to another thing that I do. I go outside. A couple of short walks during the day gets me out and clears my head. I also try to get 15 minutes of sun a day. You might be able to tell… actually, I’m Hungarian, so I’m brown no matter what, but it’s important to get some actual sun for vitamin D and sanity. I will often bring my laptop with me for the sun time. Obviously, this is something that all office workers should be doing whether working from home or not.
On that same note of going outside, it’s also nice to work outside the home some. Right now…. During Covid, this isn’t something you should do, but if you should find yourself doing more of this in the future, find yourself a teleworking buddy or two. They are everywhere! Every Wednesday, me and a couple of other teleworkers (they are actually not with the state) get together at a rotating coffee shop for … coffee… and some work together time. It may not be the most productive time, but we chat, we take care of emails, and most importantly, we see and talk to other adults. If you are unable to find another teleworker, then just go to the coffee shop by yourself and enjoy the chatter.
Next, I have a Varidesk. It’s one of those wonderful, lifechanging apparatuses that allows you to raise your desk to standing height whenever you want. They are not cheap, but they are absolutely necessary in my mind. Before I was able to get one, I was coming up with all sorts of plans on how to build something that would do the same thing.
Alright, also, don’t be afraid to have flexible hours. One of the joys of working from home is the ability to run errands when you need to, help your kids when they need it, and adjust your schedule to times that work for your brain and body. Naturally, you will have to overlap hours with co-workers so you can occasionally communicate live, but that’s easy. Some people feel like it has to be 8-5… it doesn’t. Well, unless your boss absolutely mandates it. Of course, this depends on what you do too. My work is absolutely project-based, so while I don’t, I could… work in the middle of the night, or whenever.
Having just said that something else that I think is very important, and is in all the lists, and that I don’t do very well, is to completely unplug for a bit of time every day, and for extended times occasionally. For some reason, working from home makes many of us feel like we need to be available all the time. Whether you know it or not, living this way is a drain on our energy. We need to turn it off each day and do something else, and hopefully take vacations where we are unplugged as well.
Of course, right now, I think we are all hyper plugged in. It’s a crazy time and it feels like things are changing constantly, so we keep checking in. Take care of yourself and get off the devices.
Next, keep in touch with your co-workers. Outside of email. Do it however feels and works the best for you. I tend to use Google chat with mine. I sometimes will have 3 or 4 chats going at the same time. I put the link to a great LinkedIn article in the show notes. One of the things they suggest is to schedule a virtual coffee with a colleague, or a virtual happy hour for your whole team. We have had several happy hours with friends via the app Zoom and it has really been fun. I think that could be a great idea to have some informal time with your co-workers.
Finally, exercise! Personally, I try to exercise most days anyway. We have a workout room in the house and tend to get up nice and early to get in a workout. But, if that’s not your cup of tea, you may find it easier to get it in when you aren’t getting ready and driving to and from work. There is some freed-up time. Whether it’s going for a walk as I mentioned earlier, or hitting the home gym, get your exercise in. There is no doubt that it helps you in so many ways.
Ok… there are other ideas for making the most of teleworking, but these are mine. Please check out the links in the show notes for more. I think all lists say something about dressing for work, but I personally think that’s a silly one. I don’t stay in pajamas, but dressing for work usually means that you are less comfortable than you should be. 🙂 But that’s up to you, if it helps you, then do it.
That’s it for today. Stay sane out there and if you are now teleworking, try to enjoy your new work digs. See ya next time.