Abstract
So you're asked to work from home as COVID‐19 cases spread. Some jobs lend themselves to remote work better than others, but if your college or university says it's time to head home, you can accomplish a lot, no matter what your job responsibilities entail.
I have worked from home for much of my career, as a remote Wiley employee since 2008 and a freelance writer for many years before that. Here are some tips for remote work success I've picked up from experts and from my own experience.
1 Draw a line between work and home. There are two main disadvantages to working from home: You are always at home and you are always at work. Which of the two is a bigger problem depends on you.
Some people find dirty laundry and dishes in the sink to be incredibly distracting. I'll admit not having that problem. But walking past my desk in the evening often reminds me there was something I really wanted to get done that day. Clearly, it's important to get your work done, and you need to have a life outside of work. Here are a few tips for keeping your work and home life separate.
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Create a space just for work. If you're working from home temporarily, that might mean a folding table in a corner of the bedroom or claiming the dining room table until you go back to the office. If the arrangement is longer term, a desk and comfortable chair, and ideally an office with a door that closes, make a huge difference.
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Keep a schedule. Sure, sleeping in a bit is a luxury you should take advantage of. But keeping regular work hours means you also have designated hours when you're not at work.
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Don't mix work and housework. It's one thing to throw in a load of laundry on your lunch break (and do schedule yourself a lunch break), but, overall, stick to work during work hours so the other hours are free for other parts of your life.
2 Use available tools. If you will need to log into your institution's systems remotely, make sure the connections work while you're still in the office, and know how to get IT support from home.
Meetings are one of the easiest work activities to accomplish remotely. Skype, Teams, Adobe Connect, and Zoom are a few of the tools that make remote meetings possible, with video options for participants and screen‐sharing capabilities.
You might find that the biggest obstacle is that you and your co‐workers are enjoying your work‐from‐home wardrobes too much to want to video chat. But keep in mind that no one will see below your waist, so those pajama pants can stay on all day. Seeing colleagues’ faces is a nice way to combat the social isolation that can come with remote work, and conference calls with more than a few people on the line can be confusing.
Another objection remote workers sometimes have to video chat is that that's their home in the background, and who wants to be judged for their housekeeping or decorator choices during a work meeting? If this is an issue for you, consider how you can position your chair for videoconferences (e.g., back to a wall). And if a pet or child makes an occasional cameo appearance, no worries. Your meeting just got way cuter.
3 Set boundaries with members of your household. The hardest part of working from home is convincing others in the house not to disturb you. If you have small children home with you because of virus‐containment efforts, that will be even more challenging (and might be impossible). If that's the case and you have a partner at home also working remotely on a temporary basis, negotiate a work/child care schedule that meets both your needs to the best extent possible.
The most important thing to remember if you are asked to work remotely during the viral outbreak is that you are doing your part to keep yourself, your family members, and members of your community safe and healthy.
About the author.
JOAN HOPE
Joan Hope, Ph.D., is the Editor of Disability Compliance for Higher Education. To contact her with article ideas, suggestions, or comments — or to submit an article — please email her at jhope@wiley.com.