The Balance and Challenges of Our New Norm – Working Remotely
(Employees are invited to submit their own articles on and suggestions for ‘best practices’ in working remotely.)
If you’re like me, you’ve found yourself with a new normal altogether. No commute to work, no after-school commitments for the kids, for that matter, no traditional school for the kids at all. We are working in an unprecedented time that most of us have not navigated before COVID-19. As we begin adjusting to our new routine it can be a struggle. Those of us working from home, while trying to “homeschool” our children, keep the household going, and maintain our sanity may find ourselves looking for best practices to work more efficiently remotely.
As we begin week three let’s look at a few ways to improve our remote working environment for our sanity. In a recent Forbes article, H.V. MacArthur (a contributing writer on careers), suggests that working remotely may feel a little like floundering at first. One way to get control of an environment that seems out of control is to set a schedule. Setting a schedule allows people around you to know your work hours, as well as providing some structure to your day. Working from home also means the boundaries of work and home life are blurred. Sometimes we find ourselves not separating the two. It’s easy to respond to emails in the middle of the night when insomnia keeps us awake, but it’s a good practice to keep some lines between work and home life. A schedule for the week can help with defined lines, which in turn will help with sanity. Along with setting this schedule, it’s important to make sure you schedule things like “break, lunch, etc”. Yes, we’re here to work, but because we’re doing that from home, sometimes, we forget to take 10 minutes to go for a walk. Often at work, we’re walking from one office to another, or one field to another, we’re getting steps without thinking about it. We’re clearing our heads in that little bit of time but working from home doesn’t always allow that movement. Set a schedule that includes a 15-minute walk at 10:00, lunch at noon, and another 15-minute walk at 2:00. It may seem silly and simple, but it will be beneficial in more ways than one.
Another suggestion is to have a defined work area. I know what you’re thinking, trust me we’re all in this together. A defined workspace makes it “almost” like going into work yet never leaving your house. If your household is operating like ours it’s a “defined work/homeschool space” in the middle of our everyday living space. Is it ideal? No, but does it help, yes. Maybe you’re living in every square foot already, I get that. Your defined workspace maybe a chair and a makeshift desk in your bedroom because it’s the only quiet place around. It doesn’t have to look like your everyday office, it doesn’t have to feel like your everyday office, it just needs to be a space that you can call “work”. For me, that’s in our barn currently while ‘hotspotting’ my phone. Find your space and make the most of it.
I may have a degree in education, but I didn’t sign up to homeschool my kids yet here I am homeschooling and working from home. One thing is for certain, life is ever-changing, and so is working remotely. Being flexible is imperative to a productive remote working environment. The only way for all of us to get our jobs done is to be flexible. I have had to remind myself that this new norm hasn’t been easy on my kids either. They haven’t left the house now in over fourteen days, they haven’t seen their friends, they haven’t been to their after-school activities, no church, no sports, and the list goes on. Their new way of learning has fewer daily interactions, and their only source of attention now is us. Sometimes my work has to be postponed for thirty minutes to acknowledge my two children who are struggling as well. Flexibility is required for all of us.
Working remotely does also require us to do a better job of communicating. We are likely all becoming zoom zombies or feel as if we have sore ears from phone calls. The amount of time in online meetings, phone calls, conference calls, emails, etc. is just a necessity of working remotely. According to MacArthur, one should overcommunicate during remote working. As working remotely is new for most of us including our supervisors, it’s likely a good habit to share progress more frequently than we would if we were in our traditional office setting. However, that doesn’t mean scheduling meetings just to be busy, it means to share meaningful progress more frequently than before.
Lastly, I leave you with this thought … embrace the positivity during the pandemic. The opportunity to work remotely. The lack of a commute. The extra time with the ones we love. The option to enjoy a spring evening with no additional commitment to your day. Find the positive in the situation while we all work to maintain some of our daily normalcy. Additionally, I think it is worth noting, we are all in this together. There are some days that I want to pull my hair out, while other days I high-five myself in the hallway when I look at the work, I was able to accomplish from home. Working remotely is messy, it’s joyful, it’s challenging, and most importantly it’s doable.
For more advice on working remotely, visit the following:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hvmacarthur/2020/03/12/the-art-of-working-remotely-how-to-ensure-productivity-vs-a-time-suck/#7f9888ce33ee
Author: Marie O. Bolt
(Employees are invited to submit their own articles on and suggestions for ‘best practices’ in working remotely. Email your content to Marie at jeanneo@clemson.edu.)
