Working from home successfully, hints and tips?

Longhairmightcare · 2018-08-29T21:40:59+00:00

I'm due to start a new job in about 6 weeks, which includes working from home around the school run some days. Never worked from home before. Any sage advice? Little things I won't have thought of. Lighthearted or serious tips. I'm sure the novelty will wear off, but I'm quite excited about it at the moment.

BackforGood · 29/08/2018 23:50

I do a lot of wfh, and love it.
Not all of this will be possible, but things I think help are :

Have your own dedicated workspace.... don't try and work on the kitchen table
Make clear rules with your dc about not disturbing you once you've collected them/ had a chat / got a drink + snack (this will depend on age and personality of dc.... it might be you have to write off that part of the day)
Don't tell many people.... when people think you are at home, they will assume you are 'available' to "can you just....." - for them it will be a little thing, but it is about habit, and all those 'little things' adding up
I keep a note of what times I start and stop, so then have no 'guilt' about stopping to hang some washing out or similar. Other people prefer to not do any 'house jobs' in their hours of work.

Synecdoche · 30/08/2018 00:03

Have a walk and a decent meal at lunchtime.

BlessedImelda · 30/08/2018 00:06

Have a dedicated workspace, and don’t ever do any housework during working hours.

LaDaronne · 30/08/2018 07:06

I disagree with not doung any housework. Bunging in a wash or whatever so you don't have to do it at the weekend is one of the great boons of wfh. My tip would be if you're having issues with productivity, use a pomodoro timer, there are loads free online.

wowfudge · 30/08/2018 07:15

Get up, washed and dressed as though you are going to work - don't slob about in pjs.

Original poster

Longhairmightcare · 30/08/2018 08:11

Thanks. I'm quite looking by forward to making the spare room into my little office. I'll look up a pomodora timer, thanks. Hopefully I'm more self-motivated than I was when doing my dissertation at uni (18yrs ago) but I might need something to keep me on track! I think il probably over-compensate in terms of 'putting the hours in' when wfh as it's a new job, and they're doing me a favour allowing wfh certain days.

OP posts:

Original poster

Longhairmightcare · 30/08/2018 08:15

don't slob about in pjs

I have to admit this concept was appealing but then I remembered I'll still have to get kids up/breakfasted/dressed and take them school. Maybe I change in to pjs when back - just once not to make a habit of it.

OP posts:

wowfudge · 31/08/2018 08:00

There was an interesting conversation in the office a couple of weeks ago about how working from home means that some people's personal hygiene standards have slipped - they get up, put pjs or other slobbing around clothes on or sit in a manky dressing gown then start working. Before you know it, it's the end of the day and they haven't had a wash or shower, cleaned their teeth, etc. Urgh. I mentally go to work on the rare occasions I work from home. Imagine how you would feel if your boss turned up!

SmiledWithTheRisingSun · 31/08/2018 08:04

Getting out the house is definitely a good idea. As is not sitting near the fridge!

InteriorLulu · 31/08/2018 08:09

I WFH one day a week and during school holidays. My top tip would be to treat it as a normal working day - get up and dressed (I see you have DC so that's already covered!), minimise distractions and don't tell anyone you're WFH as they will find ways of filling your time.

I am under pressure most days to go with my SAHM friends for coffee or whatever.

One of the bonuses is to get the washing done - I plan this around my natural breaks in work and that's a bonus when it comes to the weekends.

Oh, and I think it's important to be very structured in your finishing time. It's really easy to do 'just one more thing' and find yourself still working at 8pm.

Hemlock2013 · 31/08/2018 08:11

I am always showered and ready to leave the house before I sit down to work at home. My dedicated space is in the shed (it’s been converted). I can head down the garden and get properly lost in my work and if the kids are around they won’t bother me.

Set yourself a to do list and don’t finish till you have completed it. That being said, make the to do list realistic.

EyeRolls · 31/08/2018 08:18

Agree that a dedicated workspace is a must- so that you can 'go to work'

Look up Local wfh groups- around here there is a coffee shop that hosts a once a month get-together- this can really help with isolation (might not feel like it will be an issue now, but over time it can get a bit samey/ lonely )

Keep up your communications; the amount of times I was left out of conference calls because I wasn't around the office to discuss before hand was shocking- that may well have been my company at the time being shit though!

Fingerless gloves and a warm dressing gown, and a heater for your feet; deffo gets cold in your own home sitting down all day!

Enjoy the perks! I'd say that having days working in bed on freezing winter days, using quiet time to go for a 30 min run, getting a wash on etc were all a massive bonus for me and I was very productive.

Enjoy, OP!

MrsMozart · 31/08/2018 08:23

Keep track of your actual work hours: It's easy to do way over what you're contacted to do.

Use a FitBit or other timer to remind you to move around every hour. I'm rubbish at that bit and my step rate drops from high-teens when on a client's site to just whatever it reaches for three quick dog walks.

Put laundry on whilst waiting for the kettle to boil.

Don't tell friends you're home unless you and they are good at sticking to a set time and period for a coffee.

Try not to become the parcel-taker-inner for the street!

Original poster

Longhairmightcare · 31/08/2018 09:36

Some excellent advice here. Don't work next to fridge being particularly applicable I feel! And also telling people - only 3 family members know so far and I've already had 'ooh you do the weekly shop'... I will be taking advantage of the opportunity to get a wash on though!

Another question I've been pondering:
I have to complete between 6-9 hours a day (flexi). Is it generally considered ok to do the bulk of my hours e.g 9-3, then break off (collect children, await return of husband), and finish off the remaining hours if necessary eg 5-7pm? Obviously it will depend on the company but is that considered normal?
I do know that I can't work outside the core hours of 7am-7pm.

OP posts:

MrsMozart · 31/08/2018 13:04

It's what I do OP. So long as I provide a professional day and hit my deadlines with quality work I can do what hours I want. If a client needs something different, so more along your hours, it doesn't matter if I take a chunk at some point during the day, I just block it out in my shared calendar (if the client has provided one).

borlottibeans · 31/08/2018 13:09

Don't spend your lunch break lying on the sofa in the warmest room in the house reading mumsnet on your phone. Makes it really hard to get up and go back to work at the freezing cold kitchen table your desk when you need to.

borlottibeans · 31/08/2018 13:13

Also, get dressed first thing. Otherwise the window cleaner will come round when you're still in your dressing gown at 2pm, which is not a good look.

Iamblossom · 31/08/2018 13:17

I work from home a lot and have done for years.

Agree 100% about dedicated workspace. My husband converted the back of our garage into a super cool office for me and I can work undisturbed in there, well apart from two snoring dogs. I have a TV in there and can have background noise on if I want it and am not on the phone.

I don't have a school run anymore although still have to get up to get two school-age sons out the door, so I go to the gym when they are gone and am showered and at my desk by 9am. I can walk dogs at lunchtime. Ironically I do far more activity when working at home than I do when I have to travel to clients or the office.

I love the flexibility of it. Can down tools when boys get home usually and cook their meal and if necessary go back to work for an hour after. I do sling a wash in while I make a cuppa, or push the hoover round. Beats saving all the laundry and jobs for the weekend.

Yes yes to the stay away from the fridge suggestion. Very easy to find your head in it grazing if you are not careful.

Enjoy! And hurrah for enlightened employers that get how productive people can be when they don't get forced to do a two hour commute..

Stupomax · 31/08/2018 13:19

If the doorbell rings, take your phone with you and answer with your phone to your ear. If you don't want to talk to the person at the door just shake your head and mime that you're on a call.

You'd be surprised how often you need to do this. Friends dropping by, people selling stuff, people collecting money for charity, people standing for councilor who want to chat, people who want you to sign up for some petition, postie wanting you to take next door's parcel...

Stupomax · 31/08/2018 13:22

I also shut the door and put up a Do Not Disturb sign at times if I really need the family to leave me alone eg while on a call. But mostly once they are home from school I have an open door to my kids - they are older and if they do come in it's because they need me.

DelurkingAJ · 31/08/2018 13:24

I wfh infrequently and have been caught out by both cold weather (as heating is auto off during the day) and hot weather (frantic rummage in attic to find a fan). And sunshine on the PC screen as I’d only ever used it in the evening before.

BackforGood · 31/08/2018 17:33

What a strange image people in your office have of people wfh Wowfudge
I have no more nor fewer showers and baths if I am at home, in the office, presenting training, attending meetings or any of the other visits and tasks I do in my job. What a weird idea!! I mean, when I wfh, I might not see anyone else - my boss certainly wouldn't drive over to my house without notice - but I would feel odd if I hadn't had a wash nor cleaned my teeth. You seem to be confusing wfh with being homeless (though many homeless people still clean their teeth every day....)

Oh, and I think it's important to be very structured in your finishing time. It's really easy to do 'just one more thing' and find yourself still working at 8pm.

Now this ^ I do agree with. I know if I send an e-mail round to the team about something I'm stuck with at 9pm, I will get answers.....

Another question I've been pondering:
I have to complete between 6-9 hours a day (flexi). Is it generally considered ok to do the bulk of my hours e.g 9-3, then break off (collect children, await return of husband), and finish off the remaining hours if necessary eg 5-7pm? Obviously it will depend on the company but is that considered normal?
I do know that I can't work outside the core hours of 7am-7pm.

That is going to depend on your company, and also your line manager. I would say 'yes' - as that is the point of the policy, to give employees flexibility. However, this comes back to what you do and keeping track of what you actually do in reality. Our "policy" also says you are only supposed to work between 7am and 7pm, but out boss is more than happy with us doing some of our day in the evenings as she knows it can work for us, so I have my own document of actual hours worked, and then fill in a - ahem - shall we say 'rather adapted' version of what I have worked, so it ticks the right boxes on the time sheet. Ultimately I know I have done the hours well, usually more than and for a lot of the time, it makes no odds if I am working at 3pm or 9pm. If anyone every 'reported' seeing me out picking dc up from school at a time I said I was working, I still have the note of what I actually worked that day and wasn't able to log on the timesheet. Never have been asked for it, but it is there, 'just in case'. This will depend on your own job though.

wowfudge · 01/09/2018 08:15

@BackforGood - I suspect it is based on personal experience of those who were talking about it and some of them do wfh from time to time. Why on earth would I be confusing wfh with being homeless? That's a far stranger thing to say .

As I stated, it was some people's personal hygiene standards had slipped.

MirandaWest · 01/09/2018 08:26

I work full time from home. We had the garage converted into an office/living space and DH and I both have desks there.
Everyone in my team works from home and so we do have set working times (although these can change from day to Day so I always need to keep an eye on the calendar to see who’s in or out).
I have 30 min for lunch so I can finish earlier - I’ve found that getting out for a 20 min walk during that time is good.
I do put a load of washing on and hang it out but that’s about it in terms of housework - when work is very busy there’s really no time to do anything else!
I don’t have people wanting to come round which I suppose is useful .
I need to buy some more fingerless gloves (I have some fleece lined ones from mountain warehouse which are good). I also have fleece throws and nice furry socks to wear when I’m down there

MirandaWest · 01/09/2018 08:26

I get dressed nearly every day although sometimes treat myself to working in pyjamas