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WFH- How do people do it?


Fowlers God
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I need strict routine and daily goals. When I used to occasionally work from home rather than going to the office, it was easy, I was doing the same things and if it was a slow day, I would take it easy same as it would be in the office, if not, there was no time for any indulgences anyway.

 

Now I work for myself and I have shockingly discovered the best way is to have the same daily routine I had in the office. I also need daily goals, if I need to finish something in two weeks time, let's say 100 units of something, I divide it into 10 units per day, if I finish earlier I can "go home" earlier that day or I do more and can finish earlier tomorrow or take a day off. If I don't, I have to stay longer or catch up the next day. There is no other way, I would just procrastinate and fuck about all day and not have anything done. For me there need to be little rewards, get something done and you can go get coffee etc.

 

Social media and this place are also murder. Avoid them outside designated time. Absolutely no TV, video, naps for me.

 

If there is no supervision or team work where others depend on you and vice versa, it all  boils down to discipline and being honest with yourself. If you are a lazy, undisciplined procrastinating MF you have to face it and then create an environment where you can minimize it.

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You need a dedicated room that acts as your office. Mine doubles up as a man cave for football. I have a desk for doing focused work, a chaise longue-type sofa from which to do calls and a massive TV that only connects to the internet so I can’t be distracted by live tv. It’s bliss

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You need a dedicated room that acts as your office. Mine doubles up as a man cave for football. I have a desk for doing focused work, a chaise longue-type sofa from which to do calls and a massive TV that only connects to the internet so I can’t be distracted by live tv. It’s bliss

Man of the people.

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Due to desk shortages and hot desking etc. we used to be allowed to do 2 days WFH which i arranged around cricket and looking after kids and stuff but people took the piss so it's been reduced to 1 day a week unofficially. I do about as much as I do when im in the office, fuck all.

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Did it for 4 days a week for 18 months. Hated it. Used to feel like you were never leaving the house and when you did have to go into the office you felt like you didn't work there because people would be talking about shit that happened and you'd have no clue because you weren't in most of the time. 

 

Much prefer the 9 to 5 routine. 

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I struggle with it for longer periods of time, usually finding that after lunch I'll be much more easily distracted (although not usually in that way - I get the distraction but won't usually act on it while the work laptop is on).  It has been a really helpful option to get project work done without the distraction of the constant queries I usually need to field, but I'll often lose momentum if I'm expected to do the same thing all day (computer-based work at least, was never a problem in more manual roles).

 

Generally as a result I prefer to target half-days where possible (even if I have to hot desk when I get in), or even just a few hours before going in/going home early.  I'm not really one for strict routines so it's always a matter of finding the right balance to keep things fresh while staying productive.

 

Main thing is to think ahead, plan what you want to achieve with that time to justify it.  Get as much of it out the way as soon as possible (I'm usually a late starter, but working from home I'm usually on early - then it gets sporadic in the afternoon before I get back to it for the late cover I usually do) and then look for the little extra things you can do to make it feel like you've done more than planned (even if it's just looking at all the emails you never get to and actually responding to them - reminding people that you are, in fact, working) while trudging through the remaining, trickier aspects of your main piece of work (even if you don't get through it all, achieving 80%+ of your aim for the day is pretty good - better than most days in the office).

 

That's also a good tip actually, communicate with your manager (even if indirectly to just demonstrate that you are online).  Let them know you're there and it'll also keep you focused as well.  We have Skype all set up as well so I'll often have a quick chat at some point with them or another colleague to keep myself in touch with what's going on.

 

I would never be able to do it as a consistent thing though, I'd be totally useless after a week.

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I genuinely get more done from home. My boss loves to talk about inane stuff constantly and the fella who sits next to me I got into that Bonus Bagging last year and just constantly wants to talk about that and the latest bookie offers. When I'm at home I can log on earlier without the bastard traffic putting me in a mood, go the gym on my dinner, then eat my dinner when I'm supposed to be working back home, and knock the laptop off a little earlier without worrying about rush hour traffic.

 

I work in silence. I used to put the radio on but find more often than not I'm completely zoned out, apart from when I'm sticking a few quid on the nags.

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I drove back from Liverpool yesterday and hit loads of rush hour traffic. People slogging home, nose to tail, on the M62/M6/M5, boiling hot, frustrated and pissed off. Many of these people will have done the same in the morning and will be doing the same the next day, early starts late finishes.

 

Working from home must be a better option

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