During the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us will find ourselves working from home.
However, unless we are particularly motivated and strong-willed, this can be a tremendously difficult task to achieve with any degree of effectiveness.
In this article, I consider some of the reasons why and one or two strategies to help the crossover.
And it’s in that word crossover that much of the difficulty lies. We associate the physical environment of the office with work and the comfortable surroundings of home as a place of relaxation. Indeed, home is where we go to stop thinking about work, so when it follows us through the door, feelings of conflict will naturally arise.
The workplace, by its nature, is free from the distractions of the television, or the washing basket. While we would disagree that it is an influence, the presence of our co-workers gives us a certain amount of the accountability that we need. True, we might briefly look at the internet at work, but at home, we are free to indulge further. We begin to adopt, “I’ll just start when…” attitude, which, the longer it extends, the more difficult it is to break. This outlook is often coupled with an internal reward system, which argues that “when I’ve done two hours work, I will be allowed to watch this or do that,” substituting in whichever “home-related” activity we find appealing. Our one ally, structure, is lost.
As I have mentioned in these pages before, we are human, and it is okay that we are. We cannot, and should not, expect the same level of performance from those who are not acclimatized to home working. Yet, on an individual level, our work ethic haunts us and we ponder the curse of our own weakness. It is certain, we convince ourselves, that our colleagues are producing full, value-filled days. We will get found out. We must do something.
So, businesses find their people logging in at ever more obscure times, working deeper into the night and weekends. Our commuting times now become part of our working time, and we spread our tasks over a greater time frame to try and extract the core hours required. Who sent the email at four am, and who was around to answer it? Our structure is now further in the distance.
Those that are most successful at homeworking recognize the need for a strict and robust structure.
Their work is likely to take place in a designated “office space,” which they mentally associate with work. Perhaps it has work-related, or work-branded items in it. The space is even more successful if it is isolated, and out of view from family members, piles of ironing, or remote controls.
It is all about reinforcing the mind that you are in a working environment. One easy and effective way to achieve this is to wear what you would wear in the office, right down to the shoes on your feet. If your business has a uniform, this is an even greater bonus. Put it on. Put it on at the same time you would for a typical working day. If it helps, leave the house at the same time and drive around the town to simulate your morning commute. Every small strategy can help.
But most of all, when you lose structure, don’t beat yourself up for behaving slightly differently. You’re human, and you’re great that way. Simply pick up your knowledge of PDCA. Ask yourself what you learned today, and what you’re going to do differently tomorrow. Leave being a machine to the machines.
Stay safe and stay healthy.
Best wishes,
Simon.