Working from home is my norm and here is my advice

For the best part of half of my career, I have worked from home. Whether it has been as an employee or owner of my own business, it has been mostly what I know over the last decade and there are certainly times when I have loved it, hated it and wondered if I could ever work in an office environment again.

To say I am an extrovert would be an understatement. The more people I have around me, the more loud and annoying I probably become. I love public speaking (yes truly), a room of 400 people or 4000 has zero effect on me. So working from home, isolated, alone, with only my laptop, phone, dog, tv and the spattering of client meetings during the week, you would think I would lose my mind. But I love it! (or I've lost my mind and I don't even realise it!)

To start

Learning to work from home won't come easy, and don't expect it to. You will have many distractions, along with the fact that nobody has any direct sight too what you are doing, or not doing. That freedom will feel like heaven to start, you can watch tv, have a nap, take 2 hours to read the paper, call friends and talk for as long as you want. The distraction is there, it's natural, you will feel like every day is the weekend and you can do whatever you want.

So here is my advice, managers at all levels, brace for this. DO IT. Take that initial freedom and get it out of your system. This is your adjustment period. Just like starting a new role in a new environment, things are now different. For the first few day's you are going to be a little lost. Your workmates aren't next to you, you can't share last night's stories of dates, arguments with your partner, what was on TV, but you do need to adjust to a new reality.

You can't duck out to grab that coffee or smoke with your usual buddies, your new workplace is now home, where you live, sleep and spend half of your day, which now, is 80% of your day, it's a shock to the system, don't underestimate it. A little free license to get used to that should be expected and understood.

There is a balance though, you still need to do some work, but if you take the new few luxuries you can at the start, for the first week, you will adjust far quicker and be more productive as time progresses.

Routine

This is critical, not only to preserve your sanity but by nature, we are creatures of habit. Routines make us feel comfortable, safe and more confident in what we are doing. Personally I would strongly suggest you sleep in, sounds crazy right! You probably won't be able to do so at the start anyway, your body clock won't allow you, but lay in bed a little longer, you now have the shortest and cheapest commute to work possible.

The start of your day can start a little later, the 10m max you have to walk to your laptop is now traffic and train delay-free. The gym workout and morning walk you did can now start a little later. There is also a lot to be said for getting an extra hours sleep. Sleep helps our mental state, our immune system (and we all need a bit extra of that right now) and will make you more alert once you are up and going.

Take that shower, get changed into casual clothes and set yourself where you feel most comfortable. There are going to be people telling you to separate your "workspace" from your "home space", good luck! The reality is once you start working from home, work is there as much as home is. More important than anything else, be comfortable. I switch between the couch, desk, and even the bed if I'm working late at night or early in the morning. Being comfortable is going to make you more productive.

You don't have the fancy work chairs anymore to sit on, the monitor isn't at the perfect height and you have to control the heating and cooling yourself. So find where you are most comfortable and move during the day if you need to.

Time slips away faster than you can imagine working from home. It's almost like you are in a casino and there are no clocks. It sounds weird perhaps, but I experience almost every day. Your lunch break could end up being at 2 pm before you even realise its 2 pm. So set an alarm on your phone, eat your lunch, go for a walk around the block, take the dog out and get a little exercise.

I have made and accepted many a call when taking the dog out for his routine that my clients half expect me to be doing just that when they call me now. It kills two birds with one stone as well by making 2-3 calls whilst going for a walk.

What you need to learn now is that there are new ways to be productive. Walking and talking is the greatest one I have found. A 30 min walk and 5 calls can be a great productivity hack.

Pride and responsibility and distractions (yep, you still need 1 or 2)

Now comes the part where you really get comfortable working from home and the realisation you really do need to do some work. Your own pride and responsibility of your career kicks in and work needs to be done. You have a reputation to maintain and you don't want to let anyone down. Whether this takes you 1 week, 3 days or a little longer to

You will be amazed at how much you can get done at home without the office distractions. However, my advice, is you still want one or two distractions (if you can call them that). Whatever kind of person you are, you want your work-home life to now feel a little like the office. Whether it be background music, the tv just on but not watching, facebook/sms chats with friends, you need these to feel like you are "at work" but not.

These distractions will help you greatly in getting through the day and focusing on work when you realise, damn, I really need to get that report done and sent across to my manager or client.

Doing nothing won't help you keep your job, and you need your job to pay the bills, even if you don't enjoy it. The majority of us have self-pride in the work we do, it defines who we are and gives us a sense of purpose. This natural instinct will kick-in, but you have to let it, don't let the initial distractions and freedom take hold or you will be at home without work and defeat the whole purpose.

Maintaining a social element

However you can, create a social element within your day. Whether that's via chat, sms, making a call, speaking to your friends/family, do it. Working from home is social life ending as once the day is done, you are very unlikely to do anything else but cook dinner, watch tv and go to bed (or whatever your home routine is).

With the current environment, this isn't a bad thing, but you need to feel like you have an outside connection of the four walls that could end up feeling like you are trapped in. All of the routine elements above will help greatly, but make the time as well to talk to others outside of your work circle, it's for your own sanity.

Re-Entry

This perhaps will be the hardest part of all, which sounds weird now, but when the time is right to get back to the office and work amongst your peers again, you WILL struggle at the start. Whether this current WFH period lasts 2 weeks or 2 months, there will be re-entry issues. The longer this WFH period lasts, the harder it will be.

This for managers needs to be top of mind. New routines, freedoms, and expectations have become routine, and a sudden (it will feel like that) change to this is going to throw people off centre. I've certainly experienced in my career, adapting to working with people now next to me, a manager within viewing distance, being told what to do more directly (it will feel like that to your employees) it will be an adjustment.

Space, time and understanding will be needed. Don't force the issue, don't try and get people back up to full capacity and speed in a day. Like the entry to working from home, a small adjustment period should be allowed and should be expected.

Finally

However long this current climate lasts, working from home should not be feared. Embrace it, learn from it, and realise that you will actually become a far more efficient and productive member of the team and even potentially, further your own career by growing and adapting to a new environment.