working from home Archives

Stir Crazy After All These Weeks

Is anyone else getting the itch to go back to work in an office? Feeling stir crazy after all these weeks?

I know, it seems crazy right? But what isn’t these days?

Working from home is a great convenience. But it feels like a limbo between retirement and work.

My schedule is much more flexible and I don’t have to get up as early. But my days are just as long, if not longer.

I’m still working and still getting paid. I know, I’m one of the lucky ones.

So many people are writing about how they are cleaning their house top to bottom or taking up Fender on their offer of free guitar lessons.

I’m freaking working here!

My days are just as long just sans the commute. By the end of the day I’m tired just like before.

There seems to be an expectation that we all have time to renew, rejuvenate or reinvent ourselves. I guess that’s what you do when you retire?

I’ve got work to do and people who rely on me to get it done.

I don’t have time for guitar lessons!

The Office

twitter lists,social media,Stir Crazy I don’t miss the morning foot race to get out the door before traffic gets crazy. But I miss the routine and my colleagues.

I work with a great team and we manage to have some fun throughout the day. It’s not all work all day.

When I get into the office around 7:30 I have my routine. By the time everyone else shows up, I’ve cleared my email and had a coffee or two. I’m ready to roll.

Bring on the day!

Working From Home

July 2020 Run Down, COVID Hair Working from home has it’s advantages, no doubt. I can roll out of bed 30 minutes before my work day officially begins, there’s no commute to tress me out and piss me off. And I can shower whenever I want.

In the office I have two large hi-res screens and all of my stuff is there. I have a great work space where I can stretch out. Sometimes having a print out of an email or a report is better than having it on screen. I only have two screens after all.

At home I have taken over the dinning room. I have my work laptop and an old Compaq 20″ LCD display. I still have two screens but both are smaller than what I use in the office.

I’m also sitting in a strait back dining room chair. It’s solid cherry which gets a little tough on the ass after five or six hours. No cushion, no recline and it doesn’t rock. I’m a rocker, what can I say?

I’ve discovered that my office eating and hydration habits seem to be triggered by what goes on in the office.

Make a call, have a drink. If it was beer I’d be hammered by 10AM.

Every day is to today

While working from home has many advantages there are also disadvantages.

The days begin shortly after I wake up weather that’s 5AM or 8AM.

Sometimes I forget to eat lunch and sometimes I make a second pot of coffee.

I can check email on my phone and do so seven days a week. So essentially, I’m working seven days a week.

But I also get to deal with contractors coming to the house and getting my daughter to work and off the trains.

So while the days are 10 to 12 hours, I do get to do other things during the day.

But since I work everyday and get other stuff done every day, every day seems like today. The days of the week have less meaning.

I guess this is kind of what it’s like to be retired. Every day is today. What do you want to do?

One of the lucky ones

I realize that I am one of the lucky ones. I have a job and I’m able to work from home.

There are plenty of people who have to go to a workplace every day. They get our food to us, teach our kids, staff our healthcare facilities etc.

You can’t put a bio lab in the basement either. Just not a good idea.

I’m lucky enough to be pulling down a check and have the luxury of feeling cooped up.

I’ve been running more consistently over the past few months. That has helped my state of mind and even provided some limited socializing

I am one of the lucky ones who get to feel stir crazy after all these weeks.

How are you dealing with the new reality?

Run well my Friends,

Andy

What I Think about when I Work from Home

I try to stay focused on work and taking care of my family, but the mind does wander at times.

This working from home thing isn’t exactly new. Working from home for weeks on end with no end in sight is a new thing.

As of this writing I am about three weeks into this and still trying to adjust. To keep some of my routine, I still shower and get dressed every morning.

I don’t wear business casual clothes, but I do put on pants! Since we are home all day and don’t want our gas bill to go through the roof, I usual wear a sweat shirt or a fleece.

I talk to my colleagues about once a day instead of every five minutes. I talk to someone in management about once a week usually on Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

What I Think about when I Work from Home

We use the dishwasher a lot

I’ve been noticing that we run the dishwasher at least every other day. When I went to work every day I ate at least one meal from the cafeteria at work. Or I brought a single dish to work with my breakfast and maybe one for my lunch.

It seems that making and eating these same meals at home creates more dishes than eating them at work.

We try to use plates and coffee cups more than once. But still the dishwasher is filled up every other day. Maybe I notice it more because I’m setting 20 feet away when it runs?

There’s lots of traffic on my street

We live near the end of a cul-du-sac. I’ve set up my home office in our dining room in the front of the house.

I see people walking by and the neighbors walking their dogs several times a day. I wonder if they are out walking during normal times?

I can’t believe how many cars go by! Some neighbors go out several times each day. Where are they going during the Corona Virus Lock Down? Haven’t they heard of social distancing and stay the hell out of stores?

Then there are the unknown cars that come flying down our dead end street thinking it is a cut through. For some reason we don’t have a dead-end sign at the end of our street. Surprise!

Then there are all of the delivery vans. UPS, FedEx, Amazon and the USPS make several trips all the way to the end of my street.

Some go down just to turn around, but those folks at the end of the street get lots of deliveries.

I guess if you can’t go out and the shelves are bare when you do, you order your toilet paper on line.

Feeling Disconnected

Most of The United States is under a “Stay at Home” advisory or order from the Governor.

This is a good idea, but I still need to go out for a run once in a while. And I need to go to the store.

I really want to drive my car down Route 93 at 85 MPH just to feel it. I’m tired of sitting.

When I go out for a run I see very few people. Last Saturday I went for a 15 mile run and waved or said hello to just about everyone. I guess they were practicing social distancing.

I saw this sign at a local park when I was out for a short run.

We received a message from the Mayor about parks being closed. When you see a sign and tape across the entrance, it makes it real.

For anyone with kids it must be difficult telling them that they can’t go to the park down the street. After a few days in the house kids start to bounce off the walls.

Our kids are grown so we don’t have to worry about these things. But when they were young we went to the park a lot. They particularly loved the swings.

Shopping Under Quarantine

We’re not under quarantine or isolation, but it sure feels like it.

When I go out it sure feels like something is going on. All the drive throughs have long lines. The parking lots are nearly empty.

On one of my recent ventures outside I stopped by McDonald’s for lunch. It’s been a while.

The drive through line was all the way back to the parking lot entrance. I noticed that a few people were parked and then I saw someone walk out with food. The lobby was open!

I pulled into a spot and went in. The seating areas were all taped off like a crime scene. The bathrooms were closed.

They had one person on the register for walk ins and she had a plastic panel in front of her. It was odd. She felt a little odd also and we had a few laughs.

There was one couple in front of me and a guy came in after me. Without being asked, we all kept our distance.

As I sat in my car and ate, a few other people went into the lobby.

When I went in I had gloves on and carefully took them off in the car. But what if the bag had Corona on it?

I sprayed some sanitizer on my hands and rubbed it in. If you miss a spot and touch your food or face it could be trouble.

I really felt like I was taking my chances. Just crazy.

But I was helping those folks at McDonald’s keep on working. Every little bit helps.

Liquor Store Run

The last thing I want is to be stuck at home without refreshments.

Even with all of this time on my hands, I’m still only good for one or two beers a day. I must be getting old. I’m getting a little extra sleep but I still feel tired after a beer or two.

When this all began I went to Home Depot to get some items to help keep me occupied and stopped by Total Wine since it’s next door.

I was there before the liquor store opened, so I waited in my car. Some folks couldn’t wait.

I was really amused by this. I mean, I was there before the store opened also, but I stopped at Home Depot first. Was this their main destination?

Who waits in line for a packey to open? Were they worried the store would be closed by The Governor? Maybe they had other stops on their itinerary and had to squeeze this one in?

When they did open the doors the manager was there to make sure we kept a 6 foot distance as best he could.

Since it was early, the store wasn’t crowded and keeping away from people wasn’t too difficult.

At the check out they had tape on the floor to keep us safely separated. And the manager was there directing us to the next open cashier. We couldn’t line up at the register.

Fortunately, the shelves were well stocked!

I’ve seen the tape on the floor at Stop and Shop also, but it still felt weird.

Some of the Things I think About

So those are some of the things I think about while working from home.

Of course I think about work, both the task at hand and work it self.

How will the world be changed after this? When will “after this” happen?

What the hell will the new normal be? I guess there will be more hand sanitizer around?

Maybe the restrooms at my office will have signs saying “All Employees must wash their hands before returning to work”? Should have been a no brainer anyway, but not everyone got it.

Maybe we will get reminders at work about washing our hands and general hygiene?

I try not to think about how this will effect the economy. Some of the numbers are freakin scary. Up to 30% unemployment? An economy only 80% of what it was before? The pie shrinks and some loose their slice.

So while I’m working from home, I try to spend most of my time thinking about the task at hand. I need to keep my slice of the shrunken pie.

Thinking about what may happen to some people is just too depressing.

What do you think about while you are working from home?

Andy

How to Work From Home

We all know how to work from home. But how do you do it for weeks or months? How do you manage kids, work and a bit of time to decompress and keep up with events?

Are your friends stressing about working from home? Here is some advice on how to do it. Click To TweetI’ve worked from home on many occasions.

Usually it’s due to a storm, an appointment or I have a contractor dropping by the house.

So I know how to work from home, but this time it’s different.

When you work from home for a day, a dip in productivity is to be expected. Usually there is something else going on and you don’t have access to everything you have in the office.

But, it’s only one day. That’s easy enough to make up.

Right now we’re not sure how many days we’ll have to work from home.

How do we maintain a level of productivity that allows the businesses we work for to be successful?

How to Work From Home

There are no two ways about this, it’s going to be a challenge. This is especially true if you have children at home.

Working with Children

Teenagers will get board but they have social media, TV and even a phone to talk with their friends.

You should get more quality work time from them and they should understand what is going on. In several states the governor is pretty clear about staying home and how dire the situation appears.

If you have youngsters, you will have your hands full. You know that and it probably freaks you out a bit.

How the hell are you going to do this?

It won’t be easy and you won’t be your old productive self. Any boss worth their salt will understand this and cut you some slack. It’s a two-way street.

You will need to be as organized and disciplined as possible.

No one wants to park their kids in front of the TV all day and young kids can only entertain themselves for so long. You need a plan.

As a parent you are the entertainer in chief.

You may have home work for the kids or a good book collection for them. Still, you need to manage homework time and probably read those books.

If you have a back yard I would advise to get your kids outside each day. Maybe an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. In my city the parks are closed, so you need a yard to go outside and play.

This outside time allows your kids to have fun and get some fresh air. Here in New England we are big believers in fresh air. Even in the middle of the winter my mother would often tell us to go outside.

The play time and fresh air will help your kids burn off some of that endless energy and help them burn off some of the stress we all feel.

Depending on how old they are, you may have to be outside the entire time with them. But you may be able to get in a quick call or two. Maybe even answer an email.

If your yard is safe and your kids are older, you might be able to do the dishes or do some cleaning while they are outside.

With kids outside I think it would be difficult to dig into a work project. You always need to keep an eye and an ear open when the kids are outside.

This physical activity is vital to your productivity.

It can be challenging to get kids to take a nap. Getting them outside to burn off some energy and stress is your best bet to get an hour or two of quiet time.

Time Management

Kids or no kids, you have to manage your time.

With no commute or need to get dressed or make lunch, it’s easy to loose track of time.

As a parent, you need the time before your kids get up to get as much work done as possible. When they take their naps you need to use that precious time to get things done.

If you live by your self or don’t have kids at home, I think it’s even easier for time to slip away. At least kids get up in the morning and force you to maintain some of your regular routine.

It’s easy to get distracted at home. There are chores to do, your family, the TV, the fridge. And who doesn’t want to go outside for a walk or run when it’s a nice day?

If you are home with your spouse and the kids, take turns working and taking care of the kids. You have to tag team on this.

Each of you needs quiet and alone time to focus on work. This isn’t mean or anti social. Each of you needs to contribute as much as you can to your organization and your organization is relying on you.

It would be selfish to expect your spouse to neglect their job while you work away all day.

Getting out of bed at a regular time and getting dressed for work will help you get into the right frame of mind. If you can shower without waking the kids or your spouse, that is always a good idea!

If your kids see you dressed for work, they are more likely to understand that this is not an extended stay cation.

Sleep Management

It’s important to go to bed at your normal time. This helps maintain part of your routine and some sense of order.

Getting your normal hours of sleep helps you stay healthy. You also need your rest to take care of your kids and be productive in your job.

I certainly enjoy the opportunity to sleep in a bit on the weekends. Without your commute and the need to get the kids to school, you should be able to get some extra sleep in the morning.

You can use this time to your advantage. The entire family can get some extra sleep, just not as much for you.

With kids, this quiet time in the morning is your golden hour. Grab some coffee and your laptop and get to work.

The kids will be coming for you soon!

When I go into the office, I find the early hours of the day to be my most productive. I can get through a ton of email and get on top of requests and issues.

So get some extra sleep but make sure you get up well before the kids.

A Quiet Place all Your Own

After figuring out how to take care of the kids, this is probably the most important thing.

You really need a place where you can set up your computer, phone and papers.

Some people can work on a smart phone. Some people have a work laptop and a cell phone.

My company is fairly sophisticated. We can forward our phones to our laptops and use a headset or we can forward calls to our cell phones.

All of us also use two screens in the office. On a normal work from home day I just have my laptop.

Over the weekend I found an old LCD display in the basement. I thought I had two. Now I have my laptop and a 1990’s 17″ display. It’s better than 15.4″ of real estate.

We can also access all of our applications, tools and data from home or anywhere in the world.

Even with all of this, I have paper! I have a note book and things I’ve printed out for reference.

I’ve taken over the dinning room and my wife has the kitchen. We’re only about ten feet away from each other so simultaneous conference calls should be fun!

What ever space you can claim as your own is vital.

We may be in this for a while and you need a place where you can set up and leave your stuff there if possible.

Working from Home Recap

If you have kids, you have to figure that part out first. If you are a single parent try to work something out with you manager or company.

We are all in this together. If your manager knows you have kids and still demands eight hours of highly productive time, you may want to start looking around.

Time management and maintaining a routine are important. You need to spend as much time doing productive work as possible.

You also have to make sure you don’t slip into a twelve-hour work day. Your productivity is not going to be 100% and you may feel you need to extend your day to compensate.

But we don’t know how long this situation will last. Can you imagine eight or twelve weeks of twelve-hour days? You need some time every day to decompress and spend time with your family or call them.

We’re going to be isolated enough, so manage your work and personal time.

Even if you can only get the kitchen table, find a way to own it. People can eat elsewhere. Use a shopping or tote bag to collect your papers and work material if you do have to give up your work space.

A designated work space and a designated work time are crucial to maintaining your productivity.

For those of us with older kids or no kids, this will be a challenging time. There are so many things to be worried about.

If you have young kids work something out with your boss right away. There needs to be an understanding and expectations need to be established and possibly revisited.

Maintaining some of your normal routine helps with your productivity. Maintaining some structure to your schedule will also help your kids cope

This is new territory for all of us.

Stay Healthy my Friends,

Andy