Two more months of working from home and things are pretty much the same, except that I’ve actually restored my sanity by taking a couple of very no-contact and socially distant trips.
More random thoughts:
- I was worried that distractions would be a problem while working from home. That really hasn’t happened. I stay pretty laser-focused on work for eight or more hours a day. I don’t really even do any random web surfing (abandoning a couple of social media platforms has helped in that regard) and I don’t take Perry Mason breaks. I’ve gotten much more done than I probably would have in my office since March.
- Managing during remote work is just like managing onsite. Your good people do good work and don’t need prodding. Your less good people remain problematic, but they can’t see you scowling and gritting your teeth.
- I’ve hit a schedule groove: Coffee and breakfast with a hour of work, and then I shower and dress before going back to work for the rest of the day. Lunch at 1.
- I actually go into the office for a few hours every two weeks or so to take care of some things that have to be done in person, to stage things for my staff to work on from home, and to remind myself that I do work for an organization with a physical presence.
- As that physical presence is in fact a university library, I’m glad I work in a nice, locked IT department where no students can ever intrude or exhale.
- I’m also glad that I still have a job at all, especially one that I can just as successfully (and in some cases more successfully) do from home.
- The pimento cheese fascination wore off, but not the grilled pepper jack thing. I’m snacking less (thank the Great Pumpkin for that) but also doing less takeout (which may not be a good thing).
I’m curious about others. Are any of the three of you who still read this working from home? How’s it going for you?
I feel like I’m more productive working from home in many ways. For the most part, I don’t interact that much with people who work in the same city as me, so I don’t feel like I’ve lost a lot of face time except for with my 1 employee. For her, I’ve tried to make enough time to have regular check-in meetings, but she has been doing OK too (although I suspect she’d probably like to be back in the office more than I would).
I think I will probably continue to work from home when this is over.