Setting Office Hours
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has brought chaos to our lives. You, your significant other, children, roommates, or other family are home all... day... long... together... When I started working from home 6+ years ago, I made a lot of mistakes. And, I understand we all have different jobs, living situations, and other circumstances. Many of my friends and family have struggled with their temporary transition to working from home. So, I'm sharing my experience to help you find success. Here are my suggestions.
1) Set Working Hours - Too many people believe working from home isn't really work. Family assume that you'll be free to babysit. Friends just expect you're available for day-drinking. So, it is up to you to establish your time to work. From 9am-5pm, they'll have to get use to hearing "sorry, I can't until after work..."
2) What Hours To Choose? - What do you need to do every day? What tasks work well? What do you do before work, for the kids, during the day? When do you exercise? How do you get healthy meals? When do you tend to your home? Don't remember? Make a list in a notebook for a week.
Working from home makes every day the same. Time, dates, and hours evaporate without set markers. These markers are regular activities. Are you a morning person or night owl? Schedule the activities that take the most time and energy at that time of day.
For example, I start the day with mundane routine activities of checking emails and administrative tasks. Late morning, I start painting. I'll take my lunch and may use some of that time for chores around the house. I paint through the afternoon. I use the last 45 minutes of the day for emails, social media, and any "cleaning up" of assignments. After 5pm, it's my personal time with my wife and dog.
3) Stick With Them - Coronavirus has made this extremely difficult because we don't know the duration of our temporary working from home situation. And, it usually takes 2 months to establish a habit that sticks. So, this needs LOTS of discipline. Set a routine. Adjust what doesn't work and expand what does. Write it down. Following the schedule will help you, your boss, clients, family, and friends know what to expect.
4) Actually Work - Seems obvious, but there's so many distractions. The lawn needs mowing. The kids are screaming. The laundry is piling up, etc., etc., etc... Once 9am hits, you need to remove the distractions. I highly encourage using a space where you can close the door. And when the door is closed, you are not to be interrupted.
5) Teaching School - Obviously, this is a new and strange situation for everyone. But, what you need to be successful at work has a lot of similarities to what your kids need to be flourishing at school.
a) Set time aside for school and establish routine
b) Have breaks and recess
c) Set up a work space
d) Make sure they have a computer, books, pencils, paper and other necessary tools.
e) Set boundaries and expectations for assignments and interactions with friends and family
f) Plan time for social activities over Zoom or other platforms
g) Allow them to be kids when homework is done
h) Be flexible and allow it to be fun.
6) Splitting Responsibilities - This is too much for you to handle by yourself. Admit it and don't be shy to ask for help. Let your boss know that you may need some time to teach your kid math in the mornings. Ask your spouse to pick up groceries during the week. Divide up the chores of cooking, cleaning, lawn work with everyone in the household. Maybe it's a solid list where you will always do the laundry every day. Maybe it's a rotating list where you have a new responsibility every week. Whatever works for you as look as everyone participates.
7) Taking Breaks - You need to plan "me time" because your job suddenly took over your home. It's always there nagging you to just finish one more project. Begging you to work just a couple more hours. Making you compromise your nights and weekends with family.
Your boss and clients need to know when they can reach you. More importantly, they need to know when you're unavailable. This is necessary to keep your work life and home life separate. If a client calls after hours, let it go to voicemail. If no one is going to die, it's not an emergency. Again, I suggest having an office with a door. This time so your job doesn't interrupt your family.
What has really helped in my house is making nights and weekends "special." For example, maybe Monday is "pizza night" and Thursday is "board game night." On Saturdays, my wife and I like to watch "B" movies with an adult beverage. I'll wear my driving cap only on weekends. Give yourself something to look forward to during the day and week. Just because you're home, doesn't mean you can't have fun.
