DO YOU NEED TO EAT OR PEE? [Yes/No]
Yes - come on out!
No - stay the fuck in!
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I did WFH for about a year and a half for my old job, and as of today Iām WFH until further notice at new job.
Take some short breaks every once in a while that are actually breaksālike make some tea and stare out the window, and donāt try to get laundry in or whatever. Or go for a walk during your lunch if your neighborhood isnāt very crowded.
Definitely have a designated work area (or more than one) and donāt let your work migrate to your bed.
I donāt get as dressed up as when Iām going into the office, but I put on something nicer than pajamas.
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Umm, I am actively seeking solutions when your partner has to livestream present at conferences every day because all work travel is banned and you have to be on a lot of calls and/or use your own monitor and your office is a shared room.
There is a door between our couch and home office. However the couch is a vortex where work disappears into kitten cuddles and youtube accidentally.
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We are switching in and out of the office - one of us can have focus and privacy for calls while the other works at the kitchen table and watches the kiddo watch TV. Itās not amazing for productivity but itās helping us meet the needs of us both having individual, private meetings, and the kiddo needing attention too. We are both working longer than usual days since theyāre less focused than usual.
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Itās not even that he interrupts me, itās having the Other Person Energy in the house.
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Iāve been doing soft pants/leggings but making sure I have a bra and nicer top onā¦
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Hmmm. I donāt have advice on that. Other Person Energy helps me not fall into a vortex of time wasting, so Iāmā¦ not useful here.
@anomalily Can livestream presentations be done in the living room, standing (like you might if you were in person) in front of a wall with nice art/plants?
No they have a very big rig and set up; studio lights and stream deck for switching cameras and everything 
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This seems vaguely dirtyā¦
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Yes.
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Balls.
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Welcome to my life!
- Keep scheduled hours - if I donāt have a hard stop time I keep going and then lose my evening or weekend
- I donāt dress up like everyone else but I must be out of pajamas by 10 am
- Talk to a work husband or wife daily - it can become isolating if you donāt speak to work people, even if you have conference calls
- Agreed on the dedicated work space. The couch and bed is sexy the first few times until you keep having to get up and readjust and discover you get less work done.
- As above - give yourself breaks through the day, or you keep working on one more thing
- Your work task routine may change, so go along with it. Donāt expect that everything that worked in an office will work the same at home.
- Tech support - keep that number handy if you donāt have it memorized.
- Asset tags and serial numbers - could be handy to keep if needed so you are not fumbling for them to help tech support
- Practice a few unknowns with a work partner - Iām going to practice and be walked through how to use teams video conferencing tomorrow, so I will know what that backdrop looks like in advance!
- Be patient with responses - people may not respond as quickly as they may be adapting and doing other āhomeā tasks
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I agree with a lot of other tips here, Iād add:
Get a really comfortable set of headphones with a mic if at all possible, especially if you do not live alone.
Still plan your meals, otherwise youāll fuck around in the kitchen for ages. Also, no random snacking. If you need a snack, set it for a specific time, and plan the snack.
Create a signal for the end of the work day. Mine is lighting candles, but you could use changing clothes, brewing tea, whatever. And put your work away, like it should not be visible in your hangout space. I store my work laptop in a cabinet.
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If you mean Microsoft teams, then the video conferencing lets you blur the background. Itās actually really neat and effective.
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Can confirm that this is important/helpful.
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Ooh my other hot tip for rookies working from home, if on any kind of teleconference or video conferencing thing; always mute your microphone unless your talking.
It cuts down a whole lot of background noise for everyone else and you never know when a baby/dog/partner is going to interrupt.
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Definitely this. Also assures you wonātā accidentally forget to mute before you flush. Or so Iāve heard.
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Also, people should really lean into the working from home thing. Businesses already accept productivity will be reduced. Use that. Own that. Donāt feel like you have to exactly reproduce the volume and quality of work in the office.
Take some time, relax. Do enough to not get fired. But otherwise enjoy your Coronavirus work from home holiday.
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Iām hoping to take the opposite approach and get $#*+ done. My productivity in the office has been suffering due to construction in the business below ours (Iāve only been at the company for about four weeks, and construction has been going on about 2.5 of them). So I want to demonstrate my ability to achieve things from home where no one is tearing a unit down to the studs and rebuilding it.
But it will be relaxing, because I wonāt have to try to focus while thereās hammering going on.
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Ah, that makes a difference. Iām relying on the previous 8 years of somewhat being an ok employee. Time to cash in that trust.
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