Working from home advice

[bnwtwg 479]

Many of you will get to work from home for the first time/ for the first extended period shortly. Make sure you absolutely CRUSH IT and show your boss that you can be productive at home. It's 2020, zoom/gotomeeting/etc exists. Even better, no meetings just use your IM and emails.

No TVs. No outside distractions. No chores. You are there to work so act like it.

Get up and dress yourself like you're going into the office, sit down, and get $hit done.

[LJB 1,474]

sage advice...

i have been working from home for years and i rarely shower before 5...

GO MAKE A DIFFERENCE PEOPLE!!!!!

[DuckFor2 176]

can't disagree with you there bwn. get er done!

[MonagFam 41]

As a 5 + year telecommuter I would definitely agres with working hard and getting things done.  I never needed to get "ready" to be able to work, though I know others who do.  I will say that I actually put in more hours working at home than when I was in the office. It can be almost too convenient in that respect. 

[russelscout 1,573]

12 minutes ago, MonagFam said:

As a 5 + year telecommuter I would definitely agres with working hard and getting things done.  I never needed to get "ready" to be able to work, though I know others who do.  I will say that I actually put in more hours working at home than when I was in the office. It can be almost too convenient in that respect. 

If you haven't ever done it, I would schedule. I need it. I need to shower at 6 and work by 7. 

[MonagFam 41]

4 minutes ago, russelscout said:

If you haven't ever done it, I would schedule. I need it. I need to shower at 6 and work by 7. 

I literally roll out of bed and get to work about five minutes later.

[russelscout 1,573]

3 minutes ago, MonagFam said:

I literally roll out of bed and get to work about five minutes later.

I have to be up AT LEAST an hour or Im complete crap. haha

[bnwtwg 479]

I have a routine and it definitely helps.Wake up and have coffee and a small bite, get in a run (dreadmill in the winter), take a shower, get dressed and grab another coffee and be online ("at work") by 7:30.

[MonagFam 41]

1 minute ago, bnwtwg said:

I have a routine and it definitely helps.Wake up and have coffee and a small bite, get in a run (dreadmill in the winter), take a shower, get dressed and grab another coffee and be online ("at work") by 7:30.

 

1 minute ago, russelscout said:

I have to be up AT LEAST an hour or Im complete crap. haha

I get it and there are better habits outside of work that I could stand to implement. Part of it boils down to my schedule  and trying to make sure I logoff at my normal time.  As a result, I tend to get as much done workwise throughout the day to facilitate that.  

[pamela 1,334]

I WFH often and admit that I have a "nice background" area where I can sit on Zoom or videoconference calls even though I only dress for work from the waist up (pajamas below) :D

Also I'm not sure what things are like where you all are, but I went grocery shopping at like 9am this morning and I couldn't even get into the parking lot of my two closest stores. I settled on a third grocery store and it was like a disaster scene with bare shelves and checkout lines bleeding over well into the aisles. Curiously, ppl in my area are still going to the gym though? I haven't gone since Tuesday, and it was packed then, but a friend said it was as busy as usual yesterday too. Weird.

[Mphillips 730]

@pamela Last night at Kroger every checkout was open and were four+ deep.  This morning there were people waiting for Aldi to open their doors....

Edited March 13, 2020 by Mphillips

[BigTimeFan 972]

On 3/12/2020 at 9:56 PM, bnwtwg said:

Many of you will get to work from home for the first time/ for the first extended period shortly. Make sure you absolutely CRUSH IT and show your boss that you can be productive at home. It's 2020, zoom/gotomeeting/etc exists. Even better, no meetings just use your IM and emails.

No TVs. No outside distractions. No chores. You are there to work so act like it.

Get up and dress yourself like you're going into the office, sit down, and get $hit done.

Well done. Be 110% productive. Be the man. Be indispensable. 

[dmm53 471]

[jross 282]

...Unless you have kids!  Schools kids are on Spring Break this week and then home/remote schooling until mid-April.  My house be like this.  "I'm a banannna...I'm a banannna...".  Oh and the neighbor kids are having nerf wars throughout the house.  Yes my house is bananas. 

 

My office called for everyone to work remote.  I will definitely be working from the work office Monday to enjoy the peace and quiet.

[bnwtwg 479]

23 minutes ago, jross said:

My office called for everyone to work remote.  I will definitely be working from the work office Monday to enjoy the peace and quiet.

If your boss called for you to do a presentation to a high priority client and you said “no I know more than you and I’m not going to do it” would you not expect severe repercussions? Because that is exactly what you are doing by ignoring a direct company mandate. This type of reckless behavior is EXACTLY what is being begged, pleaded, and warned not to do. Please do not be so selfish as to further the risk of infection, noise at home be damned.

[jross 282]

For one, why so serious?  For two, it's optional for now.  We are testing 25% of the workforce as remote to see if the network can handle it.  On Friday there were about 10 of us on a floor that holds 200.

Edited March 15, 2020 by jross

[pamela 1,334]

I hope everyone WFH today is doing great. I've been running the Coffitivity app (there's also a web version), which simulates the white "busy noise" of a cafe. It may not be for everyone, but it really helps us to concentrate. I believe this is based on the premise that dead silence isn't always conducive to focus and productivity, because it's easy to break silence and little noises in turn end up being really distracting. Newer libraries, for example the Seattle Public Library, actually broadcast different types of white noise over its speaker systems now rather than shushing everyone.

Anyway, my husband, who is also WFH loves the app and has it connected to a wireless speaker which is pretty awesome.

[Lurker 1,397]

I'm about to be put on work from home...but I work in sports, which are shut down.  Hmmmm....what to do, what to do.....

[pamela 1,334]

Oh, I just wanted to add another tip: for those who are having trouble finding supplies, check your local corner stores!

We tried going to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few items and there was a long line of people waiting in the rain to get in at like 8:30 in the morning - something we've never seen before. We went to several other big box stores, and the shelves were all ransacked and pillaged. Disappointed, I walked over to the little bodega down the street and was pleasantly surprised that it was fully stocked with TP, water, canned goods, pasta, peanut butter and other staples.

Hopefully supply chains won't be shocked by the pandemic and this will all be a very temporary situation. The panic stockpiling is kind of crazy, and the "retail arbitrage" vultures are even worse. I saw a 4-pack of toilet paper on eBay going for $46.50, another selling a single open roll of TP for $20. :(

[bnwtwg 479]

1 hour ago, pamela said:

I hope everyone WFH today is doing great. I've been running the Coffitivity app (there's also a web version), which simulates the white "busy noise" of a cafe. It may not be for everyone, but it really helps us to concentrate. I believe this is based on the premise that dead silence isn't always conducive to focus and productivity, because it's easy to break silence and little noises in turn end up being really distracting. Newer libraries, for example the Seattle Public Library, actually broadcast different types of white noise over its speaker systems now rather than shushing everyone.

Anyway, my husband, who is also WFH loves the app and has it connected to a wireless speaker which is pretty awesome.

This is great advice! Mind if I piggy back off your AWESOME suggestion that I hope everyone looks at?

Over the past year, I have found myself immersed in orchestral music designed specifically for "epic" video games. Unlike typical movements, the "epic game" soundtrack genre is not loud or overwhelming, has no/minimal bass and has ever so slight build-ups which to lead to a higher productivity rate. Here is a good example on Spotify but skip the first song (unless CHVRCHES is your jam, in which case,  bonus points and let's be friends).

 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX8GjsySWIS1x

[pamela 1,334]

3 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

This is great advice! Mind if I piggy back off your AWESOME suggestion that I hope everyone looks at?

Over the past year, I have found myself immersed in orchestral music designed specifically for "epic" video games. Unlike typical movements, the "epic game" soundtrack genre is not loud or overwhelming, has no/minimal bass and has ever so slight build-ups which to lead to a higher productivity rate. Here is a good example on Spotify but skip the first song (unless CHVRCHES is your jam, in which case,  bonus points and let's be friends).

 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX8GjsySWIS1x

Thanks! I'm probably going to want to mix it up over the next month or w/e so I will def check out that Spotify playlist.

 

In other news, the SF Bay Area just issued a 6-county shelter in place directive until April 7 to contain the spread of Covid-19. The directive affects nearly 7mil people and most nonessential businesses and public services will be shuttered. Although grocery stores are an "essential" business that will remain open, it is already triggering another wave of panic buying - a friend shared pictures of traffic jams and long lines to get into the stores this afternoon. Pretty scary.

[MDogg 273]

5 hours ago, pamela said:

Oh, I just wanted to add another tip: for those who are having trouble finding supplies, check your local corner stores!

We tried going to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up a few items and there was a long line of people waiting in the rain to get in at like 8:30 in the morning - something we've never seen before. We went to several other big box stores, and the shelves were all ransacked and pillaged. Disappointed, I walked over to the little bodega down the street and was pleasantly surprised that it was fully stocked with TP, water, canned goods, pasta, peanut butter and other staples.

Hopefully supply chains won't be shocked by the pandemic and this will all be a very temporary situation. The panic stockpiling is kind of crazy, and the "retail arbitrage" vultures are even worse. I saw a 4-pack of toilet paper on eBay going for $46.50, another selling a single open roll of TP for $20. :(

I live in a big Midwestern city and had luck going to our big box grocery store yesterday morning right when it opened...but I doubt there was much left on the shelves an hour after I left. People were arriving in droves. If you really have trouble also check out pharmacies. People forget how much food places like Walgreens ad CVS sell. 

As for the supply chain, the good news is that reports so far from places like Italy that have been under complete lockdown say the shelves at grocery stores have been consistently restocked. .

[leshismore 211]

This is a very simple concept I have been working within for over a decade. It is a Results-Only Work Environment or ROWE. It has NOTHING about if you are dressed in the morning, or took a shower, or had coffee. It is JUST about results.
In a ROWE, you measure team members by their performance, results or output, not by their presence in the office or the hours that they work.

VERY SIMPLE if you are a person or "leader" who can actually outline what you need for results. 

You give people who work for you complete autonomy over their projects, and you allow them the freedom to choose when and how they will meet their goals. PERIOD.  You do NOT care where they work, when they work... you ONLY care about their results. 
One of the main benefits of working in a ROWE is the freedom and flexibility that it provides.

People are able to complete work in their own time, as long as they meet their deadlines. Again... this is the ONLY thing that matters. Results. Are they at their desk? Who cares?

This means that they can take breaks and attend appointments without having to take time off – this can be particularly useful for working parents , and it can help to avoid a stressful commute .

This approach works particularly well with team members who need to deliver an easily measurable, standardized piece of work to a deadline and an agreed quality. It allows people to focus on one project or task at a time, and it gives them freedom to complete their work as they see fit.

The focus is on results and goals. This means that team members are clear about what they need to achieve, and how this contributes to the organization's objectives as a whole.

It is 2020.  Many, not all, jobs can be done with this.  I have seen MANY "managers" who don't like ROWE because they feel they NEED to see their people "working".

These "leaders" are insecure and simply can't figure out what actual results are, and need to equate results with sitting in an office where they can SEE you "working".

I have done it for years with teams from all over the world. It is an amazingly freeing environment to work with.

If you produce results, you succeed. If not... you move on. Very simple. 
 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by leshismore

[treep2000 903]

Meh... Just throw on some spotify and put on some nice, soothing Scandanavian Black Metal in the background... A little Dimmu Borgir soothes the soul while putting up with the same BS, but just from home, instead of a sterile office.  Lol!

[pamela 1,334]

Ah yes, nothing like listening to some Bathory while you have your conference call on mute