Here we are, in the midst of the Coronavirus Travel Ban, mandatory quarantines, and social distancing. Those of us who find ourselves working from home during this pandemic fall into one of several camps: 1. Those who have always dreamed of working from home and are thrilled to be doing it – given the circumstances. 2. Those who hate the isolation, thrive on the camaraderie and energy of the office and are feeling lost. 3. Those who are open to the idea but worry about liking it too much and not being able to transition back to an office setting. 4. Those for whom this is their norm so nothing feels any different except for the constant lists being put out there for how to work at home effectively, finding they still have a lot to learn. I’m #4, through and through. I thought I was an expert at working from home but it turns out, I’m learning some great tips too. So, for all of you in camps 1-4, I have some thoughts for you.

Create a real workspace – something that feels official and businesslike. Keep it tidy and organized. No, my desk does not look like this – I need to take my own advice. Photo by Pixabay.

The 5 Stages of Working From Home OR How to Work From Home With Your Honey

1. Initial emotions – You may be giddy with excitement and thrilled at your good luck to be one of those people who works from home or you may be terrified that you’ll be magnetically drawn to the TV to binge watch and start making bread instead of having the self-discipline to actually do your work. Either way, know that this is a normal place to start the work from home journey.
2. I-Got-This – You’ve set up a work-space, even if it’s on the floor, on your couch, or in bed (more on that, below). The Wi-fi is strong, you’ve got all of the materials you need, and Zoom is your company’s new, best friend. If you’re part of a couple, this is totally awesome, sleeping in, having lunch together, kissing as you pass in the hall, unlimited opportunities for nookie. This is going to be so great for your relationship!
3. The High – Very soon after I-Got-This comes the period of feeling this is totally awesome. You roll out of bed at 7:55am and are in front of your computer by 8am. No commute time, no need to get dressed or even shower. You can have the TV on in the background. And, it turns out, without all those interruptions from your co-workers, you get your 8 hours of work done in 5, realizing that office life is so unproductive. You and your sweetie are having so much…fun. Winning!
4. The Crash – As often happens after the high, the fall is not far after. You’re eating too much, the 2 foot walk from your desk to the kitchen is not as much exercise as it was to walk to the next department for a meeting. You haven’t showered in a (few) days and your PJ’s could walk by themselves. Oh, and you and your honey? Them, again? Night and day! Day and night! Tensions are high, you’re freaked out, afraid of getting sick, and you kind of want to kill each other (don’t, because you’ll like each other again later). Your work from home life isn’t so rosy anymore.
5. Equilibrium – As often happens with adjusting to new situations, after the ups and downs, things start to settle down and even out a bit and you get into a functional groove. You and your sweetie have created separate work areas, created some boundaries, and there’s peace under your roof. To help you get to Stage 5 a lot faster, follow the tips below.

If you think working from home together is going to be dreamy, dream on. It can be a real challenge. Don’t expect too much of the situation, give each other space, but carve out together-time. Photo by Pixabay.

5 Tried and True Tips for Working from Home That’ll Save Your Sanity, Job, and Relationship

1. Set up the right workspace – Got an actual desk? Great. Only have the dining table? Great. But you’re going to have to be able to neatly pick up all of your work stuff when dinnertime comes because it’s important to not let work totally take over your home. Try to avoid working on the floor/couch/bed because it just isn’t ergonomically healthy to be at certain pitches all the time. Do, however, retain those “more casual” places for when you would have gone to a cafe to work, or a non-desk area at the office – for a “change of scenery” within your home. I work at a desk but I go work at a table on my patio for my “change of scenery” in the absence of going to my favorite coffee shop. It’s a little mind game, but it works.
2. Be very organized – Keep to-do lists. Put projects in file folders (colorful ones make me happy). Keep your work area tidy. With home life (i.e. laundry, cooking, Netflix) now blended with your work life, being able to compartmentalize things makes time-management easier.
3. Show up to work – While it’s really tempting, especially in Stages 1-3 in the section above, to push the limits and start working whenever you want and cut out early, don’t. Be at your desk, computer on, signed into emails, etc. at the time you would normally show up to work. Take a lunch break. “Leave” work on time too. Show your co-workers and your boss that you are on-duty, working hard, fully engaged. But, avoid the temptation to work really long hours because you can and/or because you feel you need to show your boss you are going above and beyond. Note, this is the biggest pitfall of all of us who work from home, whether it was okayed by our employers long before the pandemic or even if you’re your own boss, like I am. It’s so easy to just…keep…working, into the night, when you wake up at 4am and can’t go back to sleep, and on the weekends. Don’t do that! Keep to regular work hours! (Big note-to-self here.)
4. Dress for work – It’s a common joke among people working from home that they “show up” for an online meeting with their top halves dressed for business and their bottom halves in boxers, or kitty-kat jammies and fuzzy slippers. Take a shower. Get dressed professionally but still comfortably. Skip the high heels and the coat and tie (unless a meeting calls for those visuals), but put yourself in a professional mode. Getting dressed for the day in something you didn’t just sleep in tells your brain that it’s time to work. I’ve been doing this since the beginning and it really helps. A couple of times, I worked in my nightgown with full-on bedhead, thinking I’d just do that long enough to get a few emails sent off. Six hours later, I was still like that. Then, I was like “well, I’ll be going to bed again in another six hours so why shower and change?” #SlipperySlope
5. Come up for food and air – Guaranteed, you will find yourself so productive, it’s easy to just grab some cold pizza and keep working through the day, and night (see #3). Suddenly, it’s dark out and you never breathed any fresh air and have been sitting in your chair hour upon hour. Keep a schedule and take a break for lunch and to go for a walk (social distancing, of course). This is a great time to hang out with your honey and check in about how your days are going. Don’t be afraid to NOT hang out with them though. Some alone-time, getting some air, sun, and exercise is excellent and much-needed you-time. But do get out and notice nature and scenery outside of your own walls. This has been the biggest “learn” I’ve encountered through this experience. I never stopped for lunch (except for the few minutes it took to grab something and heat it up in the micro). I never exercised. I never left the house, except to go work at a cafe or to attend a meeting out in the world. But with my husband also working from home, we stop for lunch and go for a 20 minute walk every day. I’ve come to really look forward to those walks and will force myself to stick with them even after life returns to “normal.” No really, I will. Stop it, I WILL!

Get a change of scenery in your home – maybe at the kitchen counter or at a patio table out back. Photo by Pixabay.

What We and Our Employers Can Gain from Having to Telework

As someone who had to do research, create a proposal and make a presentation to pitch my employer to work from home way back when, I’m a little bit thrilled that we’re all forced to telecommute. For some people, it’s shear torture but I hope the suggestions above will help ease that. But most people will come away with the following:

1. Appreciating technology even more than we already did.
2. Realizing you have a lot of self-discipline which, maybe you can apply to other areas of life (like budgeting, exercising, substance use, dumping loser people from your life).
3. Increasing our productivity, having the mental and physical space to come up with great ideas so that we come away from this more of an asset to the company than we were before.
4. Showing employers that telecommuting DOES work for their company, or at least you, so that it’ll be easier to do it more often when the office re-opens.
5. That there are lots of ways to stay connected with our co-workers, friends, loved ones, and total strangers with some creativity, proving that even a scary, overwhelming thing like this pandemic isn’t enough to keep us down.

Of course, nothing I’ve talked about, above, is of comfort to those who are unemployed right now. You’d love to have a company that was still employing you, that you could work for from home right now. I’m so sorry you are going through this and, believe me, I know how fortunate I am to still have a functioning business and that my husband is still employed. However, much of what I’ve said here still applies to you – shower, get dressed, get exercise, get outside, keep to a schedule. And use this time to learn some new skills, follow some dreams, research stuff, write, read – enhance yourself and you might find a new path to take when this is over.

Delineate worklife from homelife by not working from bed, even though you’re tempted. And coffee on that white comforter? That’s not going to end well. Photo by Pixabay.

Final, morale-boosting thoughts about working from home

1. This is a chance to show yourself what you’re made of, personally and professionally.
2. Take the time you would have spent commuting to do something great for yourself – a hobby, learn a new language, meditate, do a puzzle, write in a journal – all of those “someday” things.
3. Learn all that you can from this experience, taking from it important things to remember like: don’t live beyond your means; build up emergency funds; know how much toilet paper you actually need to have on hand; how warm and kind people can be; how selfless our medical community is; how wonderful physical contact is if only with a handshake; who your kids and partner really are as people now that you aren’t rushing around so much.
4. None of the things we’ve had to give up should ever again be taken for granted like being able to go to work, sit in a restaurant, get on a plane and go somewhere else, hug someone, or just gather together.
5. Although we are all separated, with the exception of experiencing the effects of Global Warming, this is one of the only other things that has united the entire world in modern history. Granted, both are bad things but look at how people are pulling TOGETHER to work on both. We’ve never been more a part of each other as a human race than we are now.

Be safe, be smart, be healthy. Now, get back to work. 

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Hungry for more? Dream of when we can all safely travel again by looking around Real Food Traveler some more. And while you’re home, do some travel-inspired cooking with our recipes. Or travel if only in your mind while reading the travel-oriented books and movies we recommend in this list.

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