to be so undisciplined (i.e. rubbish) at working from home?

[largeprintagathachristie]

When I've had the odd working from home day, pre-pandemic, I knew I faffed and procrastinated and frankly didn't put in a full day's work, but thought I would get it together under these circumstances.

I'm not. I procrastinate, don't focus, and I'm storing up work issues that will only hit me later, in fact kind of soon. It ends up ruining the whole day because as well as being a champion procrastinator, I'm kind of a perfectionist and a worrier, so it's ruining whole days and evenings. Each day I think "tomorrow will be better". It's not. This morning I've flitted from one thing to another, including going down a rabbit hole of looking at old hotmail messages and "filing" them.

I suspect whilst in the office I also wasn't working at 100% but there was something about the discipline of being there that curbed my daydreaming and displacement activity.

Weirdly, I'm thought of as being very good at my job and I suspect I'm going under the radar enough because I can pull it off, and I can wing it. But this is causing me stress. It reminds me of being a university student and only starting an essay the night before it was due. Unless pushed I've always been terrible at completing or sticking with stuff. Even exercise - now that my paid-for yoga classes in a studio are off, I haven't once done anything with all of the online material available, even though for health reasons I really really need to do this.

There's an adult ADHD thread at the moment which I've read with interest. Not self-diagnosing at all but a few things resonated. I've lost things, always, spectacularly, as a child and adult. Keys, cameras, wallets, bags, you name it. I can come across as a bit (very) scatterbrained in my personal life. Intelligent but sort of spectacularly dumb many practical ways. I've always wondered how on earth I hold down a job.

A couple of weeks ago I tried setting a timer for 45 minutes and making myself focus on a work task for that long, and it helped. Then a 10 minute break. I know all the theory but I can't seem to even apply it at the moment. I wake up in the middle of the night and worry.

I'm currently working (not now obviously) in the kitchen and have the 3 people I live with (adult DC and DP) coming in one at a time to make friend eggs. It's quite off putting.

Fried eggs 😂
Friend eggs would be...very disturbing.

I work from home routinely and even I find this current situation distracting and difficult to get into.

Would it help if you got your work done 'in advance', ie. get it done late at night/early morning, saving it to your draft folder so that you have it 'in hand' for when your boss wants it, leaving you free to have extended periods of downtime? That's what I do and it works for me.

This won't be forever but it must be a tremendous culture shock for people not used to working from home.

Can other successful WFH ers give more great tips please?

I usually WFH expect I work in a coffee shop - something about having other people around makes me more productive! Unfortunately that obviously isn't possible at the moment but I love using Focusmate - it's the only thing that got me through my masters dissertation. Working in 45 minutes blocks with someone else there on the screen doing the same thing really works for me. Basically it's like a Skype call with a stranger - you each have a quick chat at the start to set your goal for the session and then normally mute each other and work until the timer goes off. There's something about having someone else 'watching' you work that really helps me concentrate.

When you are in the office, you will likely have many water cooler conversations, coffee breaks, lunch breaks, etc. So whilst you feel busy and productive it's probably a feeling that stems from the action of going out to work.

It's ok to do less from home. If you chunk it down into 2/3 productive blocks a day I would imagine you be more than capable of keeping up with your usual workload to a good standard.

It's a big mental shift to go from office based to home working. The biggest leap though is working out when/where works for you - unless your hours are specific, you don't have to work 8.30-5. I work 5am-9am and then 12-2....

You need to write down your work targets for the week and then split it into day.

Cross off each daily target as you do it.

You can put a load of washing on when one target is finished and take a cup of tea back with you to start the next target. Then repeat.

The list will target your mind and the breaks between you can faff about doing home chores.

It works for me.

Good luck.

Also, get out of your PJ's and make your bed before you start work. Somehow it makes you concentrate better.

I have worked from home on and off for years. I can procrastinate like anything but have learned to be disciplined. I don’t use a formal version of the pomodoro technique but I do say to myself that I need to work until x time and then will take a break.
My tips:

• get up showered and dressed! No PJ lounging!
• take regular breaks and plan ahead to when you will do so to give your day structure.
• if you feel the need to procrastinate, give yourself some time to do so. If that’s how I’m feeling, I will give myself until 10am say, will luxuriate in a coffee and internet shopping for an hour then go back to work.
• if jobs around the house like laundry are going to distract you, then get them out of the way first. Unless I have something urgent to do, I usually dedicate 30 mins to sorting out the house before I get started. It helps my mind feel ordered and I hate a messy working environment!
• last task on Friday is to write a long to do list of everything you need to do the following week.
• first task on Monday is to review the list and work out what you need to prioritise.
• Don’t flit from one half finished task to another because you’re struggling to know what’s more important. Doesn’t matter, pick one thing, ignore the others and just get it done. Then move onto the next.
• tick things off the list! Feeling like you’ve done something somehow makes it easier to do more.
• if you’re having a day when when your brain feels tired, do simpler tasks and leave the more complicated ones for a while (unless urgency dictates otherwise).
• rework your to do list daily. I usually use a blank sheet of A4 and then keep that list for the week, adding/amending/doodling.
• call/email your colleagues and connect to them. Don’t put it off! I struggle with only having loads of big group calls and need 1:1 time to talk with people to feel connected. Also good if there’s tasks you’re struggling with and would normally chat through in the office.
• if you’re tired, schedule a nap! I will have 30-45 mins at lunch if too tired to work.

CAVEAT: I now have a two year old at home who needs constant looking after, I can’t do any of this and my work day is fucked!!! I can barely get anything done and my routine is in bits!

This is me! I’m so pleased I found this thread as was starting to worry it was only me who felt like this,

@Turnedouttoes

"I have a kind of self sufficient job where I need to find things to do but no one really sees the evidence so it’s easy for me to get away with not doing much"

Sounds good to me!! I'm considering a career change. What is it that you do?

@BrownStripePJ it’s sales but very big long drawn out contracts so a lot of the time it’s a waiting game and at the moment obviously no one is pitching for new suppliers so I have very little to do. As long as I hit my targets and get my bonus no one’s really looking at what I’m actually doing day to day.
I don’t recommend it though, when I was younger and had more drive it was very exciting and I loved all the networking/travel/late nights and the highs and lows but now I’d prefer something a bit more stable even if it doesn’t have the big salary

I'm the same and was definitely an 11th hour essay writer at uni.

I manage by:

• writing a list of what I'm going to do tomorrow at the end of the day so I don't have to think about it first thing,
• keep the list quite unambitious so it's achievable, better to do a few things than avoid many
• have a little break after each task.
• not worrying too much, I'm sure there's a fair few people wfh who are sat around doing bugger all

Don’t underestimate the impact of the pandemic. I’m used to working from home every so often, and I really love it, but I’ve had to adjust my thinking, and the measures I’m taking, to account for the stress and uncertainty of Corona. Even if you think you are fine, you’ll be surprised by the impact it’s had self-consciously.

I’d definitely try the pomodoro technique. Also split the day into periods - I’ve been a homeworker for 16 years and I know I’m less productive in the morning and much more in the afternoons and evenings, so I plan to do ‘bitty’ jobs first thing - expenses, email filing, admin stuff - till I get into the groove; then email or short reports late morning; and meatier stuff, which needs concentration or setting out a train of thought, in the afternoon and early evening. Shifting to working 10 till 6.30 suits me better than trying to start grinding out substantive work at 9am, and I’m lucky I can organise my own time around core hours.

Experiment for a few days to see what plan works for you.

Also recommend having a to do list which is realistic for each day. Too much on the list and you’ll feel you’ve failed if you haven’t achieved it all. Three things which look manageable are more likely to get completed, and you can always bring stuff forward from a future day’s list if you do better than you expect on any given day.

But do recognise that this is a massive change, and it’ll take time to adjust. Good luck!

I could have completely written this post.

I ordinarily work from home and can lose hours on YouTube clips on Facebook when I only picked up my phone to check the time. Luckily - or not, perspective dependant- years of procrastination have meant that I can get a lot done in a very short period, so the hours I spend with my head in the clouds are made up for by the intense bouts of productivity that the panic monster (love that) drive me to!

And the really able tat school but not putting the work in until last minute resonates so much, got decent GCSE’s and A Levels but know I could have done better had I put the effort in earlier and not left reading the set text until the night before the exam etc 😳

Dropped out of my first degree as the procrastination took over and the panic monster wasn’t strong enough. 2nd degree coasted to a 2:1 but know I could have got a 1 had I put the effort in.

Current situation: dissertation for masters due in on 14th May. Embarrassed to say how little work I’ve done for it. I’ve completed a chapter of sorts but only because there was a deadline for that back in Feb. Pulled it together the weekend before it had to be in.

It’s exhausting being this last minute.

I know this thread is from the start of the pandemic, but 18 months in and it still isn’t any easier for me! It’s not the right time in my life to go for ADHD assessment right now but I would love to find out what tips people have for getting started while WFH. Once I’m started, I can be ok! But getting started is so hard.