My working from home challenge

[#1]

Hello everyone,

For a long time I envied people who work from home. I always wondered how happy they must be for not having to deal with the road stress, having more time to spend with their families, and even more, having time for themselves. As soon as I got the opportunity to join the elite and work from home, I jumped on it without hesitation. Was it the right move? 🤔

The first days, I was busy getting more familiar with my new job, and my new working from home situation. As days go by, I started to miss the office environment. The coworker who spends at least 20 min talking about her useless husband just because I adventured to ask her how did their marriage anniversary go? Or the boss who walked by me in the morning with an aggravated face as for sure he had a squabble with his wife before coming to the office, and the list goes on. However, I kept thinking positively by looking at how much time, money,…. I am saving.

Well I can tell you, I was lying to myself. I felt exactly like him ⬇️. There were days when I really felt depressed.

                                       

To this day, I still feel disconnected. It is hard to ping a coworker to chat as I don’t know how busy they are or if they will even welcome the idea, I don't know a lot about the company only when my boss shares with me the updates. It is a totally different world, and while I'm trying my best, sometimes I feel like am failing to adjust to it.

But, the key to success if perseverance! I will share some ideas I learned myself through my experience that keep me motivated to become a better remote worker. Please remember these are my personal thoughts. Your experience can be totally different and you may even be enjoying the problem COVID-19 created for us (no you are not evil).

First here are some tips I learned:

• Make sure to have your desk somewhere not in your bedroom, if possible by a window(s) it is very helpful
• Decorate your office space so that it feels appealing (as you have to stay there for hours), not too much though. Some greens always make it relaxing.
• Also try to avoid your PJs, so that you get the feeling you are working.
• Ladies avoid sweatpants as you end up feeling too much comfy and don't count the trips to the kitchen until comes the day you want to wear your favorite outfit to find out that it doesn’t fit you anymore
• Make sure to sit somewhere with a door especially if you have small kids. Many times I find myself nervous during a meeting because the attendees can hear my house background noise while I am presenting or asking a question.
• Damn the day I had that extra chair by my desk. Whoever comes pulls it and start venting 😡. 
• Make sure to finish work just like when in the office otherwise you won't have a life anymore

Is it really worth it to work from home? I know for some of you it is temporary, while others opted for full-time jobs from home.

Until my next story, stay well everyone and drink plenty of orange juice and homemade lemonade.

                                         

Best,

Fadoua

[Kat Warner]

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

"Ladies avoid sweatpants as you end up feeling too much comfy and don't count the trips to the kitchen until comes the day you want to wear your favorite outfit to find out that it doesn’t fit you anymore"

I loved this one!

Great advice and article @Fadoua, and remember: you are connected to us all, and we are here to support each other not with just technical, but practical/everyday knowledge too :)

[Jimmy Seddon]

These are some great tips @Fadoua!  Thankfully, I work for a company where many of us have small children so any video meetings that include children on the call or being heard in the background are a welcome presence as it helps all of us cope with the situation we are in.

[Fadoua]

It is me who is over-reacting. With everything going on, people know that kids are around. 

[Phillip Rankin]

There are PROs and CONs in either environment.  I feel like with an appropriate adjustment period, I'll be as productive from home, perhaps more.

[HarryH]

Good tip @Fadoua  Thank you.

[Bastian Stehmann]

Hi @Fadoua ,

great tipps. Especially the last one is very important, I think. Having some routine and clear beginning and ending of the home office is very important, so that you have some time to recover from work as you would usually have.

[Fadoua]

Thanks @Bastian Stehmann for taking time to read the article and share your input!