Working from Home
I work from home! I am very fortunate that my boss offered me the flexibility to work from home as I have a 2 year old who need to be taken care of. I also like being able to be the kind of mother who is not only there to take care of him and love him very dearly but also one who has a career. I think it’s important to set an example and show how the two can work together quite well.
Though this was difficult when I just started working from home. There are plenty of distractions that derail your productivity when you work from home. Add kid to the mix, and it can sometimes seem impossible to actually complete a task. But eventually I got the flow. Here are a few things I am doing to achieve that.
Maintain look and feel of office. Besides my slippers, I always ‘get dressed and ready’ because I personally need to do it to bring my best self to my work. At 2 pm I get on to my chair and laptop. Set a timer for 60–90 minutes to do work then take a quick break and walk around the house or go outside for a minute.
Make a timetable. I jot down tasks in hand and based on those I make a general to do/wish list and a priority list. Time table is a mix of both. As a support consultant I look into Issues raised by the Customers. I try not to spend too much of time on one issue. If its taking too much of time I ping my colleagues to get it done. Along with checking into Regular support issues, I spend time in exploring the product with various scenarios, reading and replying forum issues. I prefer doing a demo data modelling for a session, so if it is scheduled I will spend time on doing a data model. I try and incorporate new tasks assigned to me in my daily time table.
Let some things go. Screaming kid in the background on a conference call is going to happen. Someone bursting into your office space unexpectedly is going to happen. Forgive yourself and them and move on, mama!
Get 15 minutes of fresh air in the evening, because I work from home and I have to be as efficient as possible, a lot of the time I don’t take a break. If I don’t get fresh air, I find I’m lagging by 7 pm.
Last month onward I have started incorporating all these on my Work from Home day and I feel I am heading towards an improved productivity and better time management. Your suggestions are welcome to help me do more and in a better way.
