Working from home in lockdown — lessons from a WFH newbie
On 10th March, my company announced that all of Europe would be working from home until further notice, to reduce coronavirus-related pressure on the community (i.e. to help flatten the curve). 49 days later — with great gratitude that I’m lucky enough to be permitted and able to work from home — I think I’m finally figuring out how to make the best of it.
I’d never worked from home before coronavirus, bar the odd day here and there. Even on those rare occasions, I’d actually worked from a coffee shop. At university — unable to trust myself to focus in my room — I studied in the library long into the night. I work in software engineering, so you’d think I’d love some quiet focus time alone with the laptop. But as a Product Manager, I wasn’t even sure how to do my job without a constant stream of face-to-face meetings and coffees.
Here’s how I’ve been muddling through…
1. Prioritise and ask for help
You might not be able to reach the same levels of output that you had before WFH — not just because your own productivity might be suffering, but also because the people you collaborate with will be dealing with their own stuff (caring duties, health issues, difficult working environment…).
Write out your priorities in one column, and in the next column call out where you need help. Go through it with your manager, and reap the following benefits:
- Clarity on where to focus your energy. Maybe even identifying work that has become more important due to the pandemic.
- Help on the areas where you have outstanding questions or are relying on expertise of others.
- Knowledge that you are working on the right things.
2. Set goals and be accountable for them
As a WFH veteran, my musician boyfriend taught me how to set meaningful daily goals even when working alone. Each morning, we tell each other our goals for the day over breakfast. Each evening, we ask each other whether we achieved those goals.
Even though our goals are completely different (mine could be ‘write a product design document’ and his could be ‘write a new song’), it’s funny how knowing that we’ll have to report back to each other helps us stick to our plans. I know I don’t want to be the one admitting I let the team down over dinner!
3. When it feels like time doesn’t mean anything anymore, use that to your advantage
What even is time, in a lockdown? There’s no commute, colleagues have new schedules due to changing caring responsibilities, and since all meetings are virtual it’s nearly as easy to work with people in San Francisco as it is London. If you find yourself in this scenario, make the best of it!
I’ve found I get my best work done after about 2pm. I’ve found it much faster to get chatting with stateside colleagues after 6pm. Engineers tend to be night owls. So why not just work the hours that work best for you and your team?
While some may value sticking to a schedule, I’m seeing the benefits of just working whatever hours make sense each day. When I set my alarm I look at when my first meeting is the next day. If it’s late, I work a later schedule. If not, I work a ‘normal’ schedule. I love the flexible life!
4. Don’t forget how important social interactions are
Since there’s no more bumping into someone getting coffee and asking about their weekend, you run the risk of meetings being entirely task-focused. While this sounds efficient, you lose out on the social interactions that strengthen your working relationships. And work is less fun!
Expect to spend a little bit of time at the beginning of meetings asking your teammates how they are, and sharing some anecdotes (if you have any from around the house…). And schedule in some virtual socials — I’ve been enjoying solving cryptic crosswords as a group, but you can probably come up with something cooler.
5. Protect your back
Ah, my office chair… You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
If you can, get a support cushion. I’ve made a dining chair into a sad approximation of a desk chair by using a combination of a lumbar support cushion, and a coccyx cushion. So now I’m only slightly in loads of pain.
Prop your monitor up on some books to make it eye-height, sit up straight, and have a little walk around the house every hour.
6. Get exercise
It’s way too easy to never leave the house if you’re working from home, which is both a blessing and a curse. Staying home is great for reducing the spread of the virus, but you do need some sunlight and exercise!
Go for a walk once a day (keeping 2 meters away from others of course). Some days, make that walk a run. I’m about to enter Week 9 of Couch to 5K and TBH I hate it but I know it’s keeping me healthy and possibly sane.
7. Hold on to your old activities?
OK so I haven’t figured out how to do this but I’m totally sure it’s good advice. If anyone wants to help with the how on this one, that would be great. I used to do yoga 3 or 4 times a week. In the 49 days I’ve been working from home, I’ve done it twice total. Help!
8. Be grateful
If you still have a job, if you don’t have to put yourself at risk of infection, if you have a safe place to live, you are one of the lucky ones. Take that gratitude into your work. And look out for others :)
