Karen Adamedes - Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home

Preface

Ive worked from home for over a decade and have been writing this book for more than a year. That was back in the day when working from home was a choice, a privilege or for many a small business person, a necessity. Now due to COVID-19 it is mandatory for millions as a way of minimizing the spread of the virus and protecting ourselves and others.

We have a new vocabulary that includes self-isolation, social distancing, lockdown, quarantine and stay-at-home orders. We are all a little bit scared as there are so many things that are out of our control (Im sure its not just me!) The way we work and live is changing, for now, and we dont know what the new normal will be on the other side of this pandemic.

There are those who are working from home for the first time, who are trying to figure out how to make it work. Like how do you have a professional work conversation when you have children fighting over the remote control in the next room? Or how do you stay connected with colleagues, customers or in fact any other human being if you live alone?

There are others who do work at home regularly or occasionally, who are now confined to their home with no escape to the office for some laughs, giggles or even a boring meeting (which now has some appeal!)

And then there are others, like me, who work at home fulltime, who are adjusting to working with colleagues and customers who are now working differently (and calling a lot more often than they used to!) I have worked at home as both as an employee and as the Principal of my own consultancy business. I love setting my own routine, wearing whatever I feel comfortable in (as long as I dont have a video conference), and being able to talk on the phone as loudly as I like.

My office has a huge print that brings color and life to my workspace. I can grab my laptop and work from the garden or in front of the TV, whenever I choose. Sometimes I put on the occasional load of washing during the day, and feel virtuously organized, for a short time at least.

But there are downsides, too. Theres the absolute frustration when I have an IT problem, the irritation of the neighbors lawnmower starting up when Im on a conference call, and sometimes, a ridiculous and illogical feeling of guilt when I go out for a coffee (although that is suspended for a while). Taking some time out is something I wouldnt think twice about if I worked in an office. And then there is the issue of not knowing when to call it quits and stop working because I can always find something else to do.

Through trial and error, and comparing notes with others who work from home, I found that there are ways to manage the drawbacks. The more people I talked to from different countries and industries, occasional or full-time work-at-homers, employees or those who work for themselves the more I found that many of us struggle with the same challenges.

This started me on a quest to figure out how to make working from home really work. With not a lot of ways to easily connect with other people who work from home I decided this book would be the ideal way to share what I have learnt.

Thank you to my many friends and colleagues who generously gave their time to tell me about their experiences, and were good humored enough to share their stories about what really happens when you work from home.

I have not rewritten the book to reflect what is going on today but I think it is all relevant. Except a couple of tips like leaving the house once a day, interacting with human beings in person and going to the office sometimes you might need to put these on hold for now if you are in self-isolation, lockdown, quarantine or whatever. In our current crazy world I really hope that it will provide you with some ideas and insights that will help make working from home, work for you.

We are in this together. By working from home we are doing our little bit to help beat this thing.

Stay safe and look after yourself and others. #workfromhomesaveslives.

Karen Adamedes

Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home
By Karen Adamedes

Published by:

Abney Hall Pty Ltd

P.O. Box 189

Cremorne, NSW 2090 Australia

First edition eBook 2020

ISBN 978 0 9806364 3 7

Copyright 2020 by Karen Adamedes
All rights reserved.

This book is copyright. Except for the purposes of fair reviewing no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.

This publication is to provide guidance regarding the subject areas covered. However, this is with the understanding that the author and publisher are not providing legal, financial, technical, health or other professional advice .

Contents

WORKING FROM HOME

Sandy arrived home from her early morning run with a comfortable 10 minutes to spare before her first call on a Monday. Hair up, face glistening from the exertion of accelerating up the final hill as she made her way home, comfortable in her activewear, Sandy was ready for the day ahead. Until, that is, she realized her first meeting of the day was a video call and it was due to start in 10 minutes! Panic set in. Until she realized she only needed to worry about what would be seen on the screen.

A quick change of shirt and a bit of subtle lighting, and Sandy was good to go. She made it through the meeting then wandered down to the local coffee shop to make some more calls (definitely not video ones!). Sandys experience kind of sums up what working at home can be like: great flexibility, but a few drawbacks that are a little bit different to those of our office-based colleagues.

If youve ever worked from home youll no doubt have a story or two about the ups and downs of working this way. The perils and inconvenience of video conferences, badly behaved pets and long hours seem to feature heavily in the stories I hear as are the joys of not having to commute, and the flexibility and freedom to manage your own time. Figuring out how to make the most of the positives of working from home and minimizing the pitfalls is the challenge for many of us. Because working from home is a thing. A very big thing. (Update: in 2020 it is now enormous!)

Its not just you

Working from home has become an accepted way for many of us to work. Its no longer a synonym for a day off, seen as a perk, or subject to cynicism about how productive people can actually be at home (well not too often anyway there are still some doubters out there). Working from home, remote working, telecommuting, flexible working whatever you want to call it is now a very common way of working for many people.

And it is, for many, many people. A 2017 survey released by Gallup reported that 43% of employed Americans said they spent at least some time working from home. Its not quite as big in some other countries but its still significant. In Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures in 2016 that showed that almost a third (3.5 million) of all employed persons regularly worked from home in their main job or business. In the UK, the number was 4.2 million in the first three months of 2014 , amounting to 13.9% of the workforce. The numbers for Canada are a little older, but in 2008 there were 1.7 million paid employees (excluding self-employed people!) who worked at home at least one day a week.

Thats a lot of people who work from home in just these four countries. (Technically I know the United Kingdom is not a countrybut work with me here.)