Working from home offers benefits, challenges

Sep 16, 2020

Create structure for yourself to avoid some of the common pitfalls

For the first time in their working lives, many workers have spent months working at home. Social distancing measures have shut down many offices for the time being -- so, the home has become the office. For some, it’s a thoroughly positive experience. No commute, no sitting in a cubicle, no surly boss looking over your shoulder. Nirvana. But for others, it’s a mixed blessing.

The reality is, it can be a little lonely. A dedicated office space at home sometimes feels like an isolation chamber compared to an office that’s alive with activity. Some offices enjoy a great deal of camaraderie and chatter, an element that, among other things, helps with team building. It can be tough to feel like a team member when you never see the other members.

If you’re working in any kind of creative field, isolation can be especially disadvantageous. People in physical proximity to one another often partake of creative energy that individuals find less available. Even remote conferencing via the internet can fail to compensate for this deficit.

Communication tends to be more time-consuming, too. In the office, you just speak up and ask someone next to you where the reports are on Google Docs. Now you have to contact the person by phone, text or email. Sometimes you don’t hear back soon enough. When they do reply, it’s easy to misinterpret the emotion behind an email, since there’s no tone of voice or broader context.

And while distractions are common enough at the office, a whole new set of them emerges for the person working from home. Some are beset with temptations to slack off, since there’s no one there to observe them turning on the movie, opening a bottle of wine or taking a long snooze. Others have the opposite problem: Because there’s no stark work/life division, many people will just keep on working without regard to any delineated “quitting time.” Life and work just blend together in one continuum.

Despite some of the drawbacks, working at home can be productive and satisfying. There are certain practices that can make it smoother, too. First, resist the urge to “work in your pajamas.” We’ve all seen the old ads for work-at-home schemes that tout this as a benefit. It’s not. Working in the clothes you had on while rolling out of bed is … well, slovenly and undisciplined.

Since routines are so critical to proper human functioning, it helps your mind gear up when you get dressed for work. Regina Borsellino writes in the Muse, “You don’t need to dress as formally as you might for work, but the simple act of changing clothes serves as a signal that it’s time to wake up and get things done… Besides, just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that no one from work will see you. It’s 2020 and we’re all about to have a lot of video meetings.”

It’s good to provide yourself with as much structure as you can. A dedicated workspace, if possible, and set working hours that you stick with are extremely helpful. And for those who find it hard to separate work and life, be sure to take breaks. If you were accustomed to taking a stroll while at the office, do it at home, too.

It just takes some mental effort and discipline. There are plenty of articles online offering lists of work-at-home tips. But much of it boils down to this: Be structured and stick to a schedule. Those things go a long way toward making your work at home more effective. And more satisfying.

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