The System 494: Working From Home
Some of you might disagree with me on this, but I’ll say it: Working from home sucks. This isn’t to say that working for yourself sucks, but working in the same place that you woke up in taxes on your soul after a while.
I changed jobs about a year ago, to one that let me work more on my own time and schedule, and a lot more from home. I thought it would be a great opportunity to get more things done on my own time. Unforunately, I’m just not built for that sort of thing.
I used to hate the idea of sitting in an office from 9–5 and the like, but I actually really miss it these days. I have to go out of my way to recapture a bit of that experience, because the truth is without that structure my motivation, productivity, and general attitude goes to shit.
If you’re different, more power to you. If you’re anything like me, here’s some tips that I constantly have to remind myself to follow:
- Keep to a routine, even a stupid one. Do the basic things anyway like getting ready in the morning, dressing like you’re about to be working, etc. Makes me feel lots more sane.
- Start each day by leaving your place. If you don’t it’s easy to get sucked in.
- Go out for little things. Start thinking of going out for food, coffee, groceries, etc. as payment towards sanity and an excuse to get out of the place. Maybe set up shop at a coffee shop for a few hours, especially if you drink coffee like I do.
- Make a to-do list. There are lots of systems for to-do lists from simple (a list) to complicated (a series of lists divided by importance and urgency) but whatever your system, keep to it.
- Talk to people. It’s the best way to stay sane.
- Set limits. Work some sort of hours (whatever works for you), and don’t slack off during them. Otherwise you wind up letting not-quite-working take up all waking hours, and you feel like shit by the end. Trust me.
As you can tell, this is a kinda personal issue for me. I’ve learned a lot this last year about how I work when I’m not at work, and I’m still learning. Share your thoughts, tips, etc. in the comments, because others, and myself, could use them.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:06 pm
Sometimes I have to work from home for health reasons — happens for one day every 2-3 weeks maybe. I like the fact that I can, but I go a little stir crazy when I do. I'm not sure I could handle it full-time, mainly because I fall victim to your sixth bullet point.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:12 pm
I very much relate to this. I've been doing school from home this year. As soon as I let go of my routine everything else fell apart, and now I have to fix my poor sleeping, eating, and social habits. x_x It does not help that I'm an introvert.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
"letting not-quite-working take up all waking hours, and you feel like shit by the end" – sounds like graduate school!
May 17th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Five years. I've not gone mad yet, but I have.
May 17th, 2011 at 4:01 pm
Adding to your problem is the fact that you live alone. Working from home is a fantastic solution for the suburban stay-at-home parent, wildly unideal for a single apartment-dwelling twenty-something.
There’s a whole other set of issues that arise from living alone. I usually get a little stir-crazy when I have more than one day off and nothing worthwhile to do. When living alone, some of the above advice still holds true: talk to peopl
May 17th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
One comment touching on the last two comics, both of which seem directly taken from my life:
I find that I am more productive when my office is clean and neat –if only slightly more productive and only for a little while. When the stuff that belongs in piles gets too messy I clean up. After all, some of the pile stuff eventually should make it to the trash pile.
May 17th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
Interesting. I have been BEGGING my art dept to allow us to work from home some days. Even Tues and Thurs… alone… would be AWESOME. I think my main issue is that I lose almost 2 hours everyday to the $#@! commute. 2 more hours I could use for making COMICS.
May 17th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I worked from home for a year and a half until a few months ago, and to be honest I actually miss the peace and quiet sometimes!
Best tip (as listed above) is to get out of the house before work — I used to go for a 3-4km walk every morning, doing a loop where I'd get myself a coffee. I'd then head out for another coffee around 11am as another mini break.
The walk really makes a difference though, can't recommend it enough!
May 17th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
I've only been working from home for a couple of months and it's driving me insane. It doesn't help that I live in the middle of suburbia and don't have a vehicle.
What I miss the most is talking to co-workers and having a boss loom over me to keep me productive.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:31 pm
great tips, I'll definitely be putting them to use
May 18th, 2011 at 12:32 am
All of this applies double for online schooling.
May 18th, 2011 at 2:47 am
I've spent time looking into this issue and there are several tips I've seen mentioned here as well as on sites I've investigated. Most of them have been mentioned here, but nothing wrong w/iterating.
I think several of the most important are:
Make sure you get out every day and get some exercise. It will keep the blood flowing and energize you.
Make sure you talk to people. Social interaction is very important for mental health and, aside from the health benefit, you can gain new perspectives and ideas.
Set up regular work hours. Just because you don't have to commute doesn't mean you need to work continuously.
One suggestion I read is to make sure you have caller ID. "Do not pick-up the phone unless it’s from somebody really important. You just cannot turn on and off your creative switch frequently or else you’ll go insane! So if it’s not from somebody that you know, ignore it." (However, this does not apply to calls from your Mother.)
Maintain personal hygiene. Get dressed every day. It will make you feel more like a human and separate the "non-working" you from the "working" you.
Give yourself a workspace so you feel separated from your "living space". Even if you have a very tiny apt this still works.
Make sure you schedule breaks for yourself.
By all means set up a To Do list/Schedule and stick to it. Every time you cross off an item on the list you will feel a sense of accomplishment.
I've read a suggestion that you reward yourself for successes; such as, if you finish a large project ahead of schedule, you deserve a celebration of sorts. I vote for something decadent, naturally.
I think working from home offers many advantages as long as you develop a good mindset.
May 18th, 2011 at 9:07 am
The biggest thing that helps my productivity is to "commute". Yup, that's right, hop in the car, drive around the block, arrive at "work". Sounds silly, but changes my frame of mind most.
May 18th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Friggin’ hell, Cellphone. Why post 2/3 of the post and not show me when I check on it later? I quit the internet. I’m gonna go hide in solitary confinement until Pantsless o’clock is over.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:07 am
I can only recommend http://www.flylady.net if you want to get routines established. She has a system for building routines when you're a SHE (sidetracked home executive – there are lots of other cutesy acronyms throughout the site). It's more centered around housework though, but I'm sure you can adapt to your needs.
June 4th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
I work from home 3 to 4 days a week. I go into town one day to stop at grocery store on way home. It works for me. When I go to office I get less done due to office chatter. When I do go in, I typically shut the door to my office and only open the door for coffee, water and of course to use the potty.
July 7th, 2011 at 4:48 pm
Why is Everyman teleworking and wearing boxers + a t-shirt, but then also a wool hat over his entire head and face? He's such a rebel! I love him.
July 8th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I see what you did there.