- I've been working from home for almost three years now, ever since I moved from New York City to Toronto, Canada, in July 2017.
- Working at home for extended periods of time is not easy, but it's the reality most of the world's population is looking at right now due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
- Having done the work-from-home thing for so long, I now recognize many of the pitfalls people are now experiencing for the first time — and want to offer up some advice so others don't make the same mistakes I did.
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Given the quick spread of the coronavirus, most people around the world are being told to stay home right now — and work remotely, if possible.
While many of my colleagues at Business Insider are still getting accustomed to working from home, I've actually been doing it for about two and a half years now — it'll be three in July.
In other words, I know what a lot of people are experiencing for the first time right now.
Working from home can be a challenge both mentally and physically. It's mental because it's about keeping yourself happy and focused while trying to ignore the distractions that come with living at home, like ordinary chores: keeping the place clean, doing dishes, and making food (on top of actual work-work).
But it's a physical challenge, too: Sitting for long periods of time can be stressful on your body, looking at screens for too long can give you headaches, and realizing that your home is now also your work office could make you feel claustrophobic sometimes.
I'm here to tell you that you can overcome these challenges — and you can be just as productive at home as you are at an office with all your coworkers around you. In some ways, the freedom of working from home can do wonders for your productivity.
But it's also important to avoid the pitfalls of working from home. This can include some incredibly basic things that a lot of people manage to simply neglect when they make the transition from a physical office to a life at home.
TIP #1: Don't forget to eat.
You might laugh, but this is easily the most important item on the list.
When you have an office, you might have a carved-out lunchtime, which is when most people go and get food. Maybe you bring your lunch, maybe you buy it.
You're on some form of routine there, whether you realize it or not.
When you're working from home, it's different. It's not like a day off where you can eat whenever you feel like it. You have responsibilities during the normal workweek, which means you may not be able to eat at any random time. Maybe you have virtual meetings to attend, phone calls to make, or you have something else that requires your attention at a moment's notice.
My best advice here: Set time aside to put work away so you can actually eat. It's totally fine to carve out 5 to 10 minutes to eat a meal or a snack — it really doesn't take long.
Don't do what I did: For the first several months of working from home, I didn't eat enough, and I ultimately suffered for it. I lost weight and began experiencing random body aches and pains. It took months for me to get my body back into equilibrium. Now I eat regular meals and force myself to eat if I haven't in a few hours.
TIP #2: Over-communicate.
I moved from New York City to Toronto, Canada, in July 2017. It was a huge change for me in more ways than one. I was suddenly living in a country separate from the rest of my family. I also now had free healthcare (woo-hoo!). But the biggest change was easily adapting to my new life working from home.
When I was living in New York, I immersed myself in my career, and I was a pretty social person. Most of the people I hung out with after-hours were work friends from past and present. I talked at the desk a lot — just ask my colleagues.
Moving to another country changed everything: I was suddenly cut off from my main source of physical interaction and forced to spend most of my days in an apartment by myself. I love being with people, so this was a big adjustment.
After years of doing this, my biggest recommendation is to over-communicate. It has two benefits:
- It lets your coworkers and your bosses know that you're not just goofing off at home. ("Working remote" had pretty negative connotations in the workplace before this whole coronavirus thing.)
- Communicating — for work reasons, or even not work reasons, just asking a coworker how they're doing — helps you feel more connected with others, which can make you feel happier.
It might feel like you're over-communicating, but you have to remember that you're probably communicating way less at home than you would at a physical office. You don't get those random interactions when you bump into someone near your desk or at the kitchen. Leaning on those work-centric communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and even Hangouts can help you feel less isolated.
TIP #3: Find reasons to move your body.
You won't realize you're sitting too much until it's too late, and you're physically uncomfortable.
To get ahead of that discomfort, and the body issues that come with sitting for too long, you need to remember to stand up and move.
If you own an Apple Watch, it'll automatically remind you to stand up every hour or so if you aren't doing that already. If you don't have any similar type of fitness band or smartwatch, I highly recommend using your phone to set reminders to get up at various periods throughout the day.
If you feel like working out, there are plenty of ways to do that in your home — even if it's a small space. But you don't need to get super sweaty to keep your body happy. Just get up every so often and stretch. Try to touch your toes without bending your knees. Stretch your arms out, up to the sky and across your body. Walk around the perimeter of your apartment a few times so your legs don't stiffen up. Jump up and down. Do some push-ups. Play some music and start dancing — who cares if your window's open, just enjoy living.
Keeping your body moving works wonders for your long-term mental and physical health. The hardest part is remembering to do it at home and setting time aside for it.
TIP #4: Know how and when to use distractions.
Notice I didn't say "eliminate all distractions." That would be bad.
Distractions can be good! They can make time feel like it passes more quickly. More importantly, they can help your mind when you feel stressed out.
You may want to limit distractions when you're at the office and trying to work, but you're now working at home. You need to be able to balance your work needs with your home and life needs in order to be truly effective as an employee.
So here's how I approach the issue of distractions:
- When you need to hunker down and focus on the task at hand, try to eliminate all possible distractions. Turn off the TV, turn off music, and do what you need to do. Write that report, make that phone call, do your thing.
- When you're working generally but not on a specific task or deadline, keep a passive distraction going in the background — think music instead of a TV show or movie.
I don't like movies or TV shows during the workday since they can trick your brain into following along, and suddenly you've forgotten to do work and you miss an important email or message. Having music on in the background doesn't have the same effect.
I also like streaming Twitch channels on my Apple TV because it doesn't require my attention, and it usually features human voices so I feel less alone. It's also kind of a beautiful synchronicity because people on Twitch are technically working from home as well, so you're both doing that together.
When you're on break or setting work aside to eat, give yourself a distraction as a reward for working remotely. But when it comes time to doing work, remember to shut it all out.
TIP #5: Pamper yourself, and don't forget to take breaks.
You have to remember that the point of working from home is "working." But as long as you're doing your work, and your managers and coworkers are happy with your production, you should always remember to pamper yourself and let yourself be human.
Take breaks. Make yourself a coffee — no, do one better, a hot chocolate. Put on your favorite fuzzy slippers. Wear that perfume your coworkers can't stand. (Not too much though, you don't want to go to the hospital at this time.)
Working at home can be hard, take it from me. It is not a race; it's a marathon. At the end of every day, you should make sure that your work is in order, but also that you are personally OK.
Staying calm, balanced, focused, and happy will boost your immune system, while being stressed out and worried will weaken your immune system. So it is of the utmost importance that you put yourself first. That doesn't mean deprioritizing your work. That simply means put your needs first — and that might mean taking a five-minute break. Just know that it's OK to do those things; the world will keep spinning.
Working from home is a marathon, not a race.
Avoiding the pitfalls I listed above can be tougher than it sounds — but take it from me, not heeding this advice can do a serious number on you.
For the first several months after my move to Canada, I tried to be tough and make work my singular focus while at home; in the process, I forgot to take care of myself. I forgot to eat regular meals and snacks. I forgot to take breaks. I forgot to keep my body moving. And I paid the price: I experienced depression, anxiety, and loneliness. I experienced body pains that took months to go away, simply because I wasn't eating enough food! It wasn't good.
Thankfully, I have a wife, family, and friends who care about me, and I sought out therapy and mindfulness techniques, which were huge in helping me achieve personal balance again. But a lot of people won't have that luxury right now — not during this very uncertain time, where it's probably not wise to even step foot outside your home, depending on where you live.
You'll probably handle working from home better than I did initially. I cared far too much about the perception of me working from home than I actually did about myself. So long as you realize that you're human, and you have very human needs — like food, movement, and human contact — you'll be able to plan around those needs. Just remember that you have a new routine at home now, and you need to fit those all-important items into your schedule, like communication and break times for your body and mind. You won't just survive the work-from-home environment, you'll thrive in it.
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