Forum Discussion
Remote working and what it takes
You raise some very good points Philip Worrell particularly that you need to set boundaries with your family - that this isn't a holiday! I also liked your very first point about transparency with your colleagues and employer about how everyone feels about working from home. For some it really is uncomfortable, even turning on that pesky webcam. All good points that bear reminding.
I loved the point on boundaries as well AnnaChu. 🙂
They can even be important on the flip side of that coin. With the "office" just a few feet away from the "family room", when I'm not working, it can be all too easy to say, "I'm just going to do like 10 minutes worth of work....."
...You will then find the family staring at you or beginning to feel like you are never "off work".
Being disciplined with ourselves to ensure we are "off work" can be a hard balance to find, but one that is equally important. 
DavidWarner I find that challenging as well, but it was one of the first challenges I really worked to overcome, and where my wife really supported me. When I´m working, regardless from where, I´m at work. I dont do anything with the household at all, a part from during lunch breaks if needed. That means that I have more time, and that I also CANT put the blame on "private stuff" when I struggle with deadlines. That makes more more focused in general.
When my daughter is at home, she is three, its more challenging since she of course wants to spend time with me, or at least look at me when working. However, we can usually come to some to some agreement 😛Simon Binder can totally relate. A 3 year old can be hard to reason with and not understand work time and play.
When my kids were a bit younger, I trialled having a nanny at home instead of 2 kids in childcare as it was a better financial choice. It only lasted 3 months!
I couldn't duck out to meetings and then home and straight to my desk. If the kids new I was home they wanted me.
There were times I was on a call and I could tell the nanny was dealing with a tantrum outside the study door because my daughter wanted me and she was trying to give me work space.
That balance of work time and family certainly can be difficult if there are children at home. I only work when the kids are in childcare/ school, and switch off from work mode from the moment I pick them up. But my job isn't reactive so it works.
- Thanks for sharing Megan. That was not something I considered with WFH with very young children, if you don't have the luxury of having a segregated space just for work, truly 'working from home' presents a challenge. Someone should start up a granny flat business just for remote workers!
It just makes you think about reconfiguring your home to be a WFH friendly environment DavidWarner! For me it's always been a big part of the way I work, not so much WFH 5 days a week but having a space to do that voluntarily. I'm just wired that way, but I wonder how people are adapting their space and just making do with what they have?
AnnaChu We do have a challenge that if my husband and I both have a wfh day and both have calls, it quickly can irritate each other. While we do have a home office, it was designed to both have a space to be comfortable rather than sit at a dining table on a wfh day. Our desks are in the same room. This space feels small when suddenly one of you is leading a meeting and 1-2m from you!
So recently, with the increase in wfh for both of us, we have setup a break out space. A spare desk, or being able to use one of the kids desks for times when we both are on calls. That keeps the marriage nice 🙂
Otherwise I rely heavily on music and noise cancelling headphones to keep his voice out of my head when I am doing heavy focused work time.
It is key to have boundaries with family and also with work. So often while I am making dinner or in family time he will say "I just have to go write something down" or reply to something. His boundaries are more fluid than mine and I see work slip into family and he is in and out of the home office. I am stronger and drawing a line and ending my work thoughts once the kids are home. It is key to have balance.- I have a no too dissimilar problem here. My 14 year old son and I share a space where we have two desks next to each other. My son is of course not working, but rather playing online games with friend or watching videos. Which can get pretty loud at times.
Normally it is not an issue, yet my son does not go to school on Wednesdays. So if like at the moment I am working from home do I work in that room or move out of it for the day?
Yesterday for example I did not have any meeting scheduled, but I would have moved if I had.
Noise cancelling headphones only go so far but at least make working tolerable.
