Have you struggled adapting to working from home?

Remote Working
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Hi everyone, excited to join this forum.

While transitioning to working remotely or from home, did you struggle to adapt to the new routine?

What was your biggest challenge when adapting?

I am asking these questions because I personally had to adapt to working from home, and it was a challenge in the first few months.

I used to work until 7AM on my business and then go to sleep. That habit lasted over a year until I finally changed and saw a serious improvement in productivity.

Did you have trouble adapting to the remote working lifestyle? If yes, which challenges?

  • Maintaining Habits
  • Dealing with Loneliness
  • Dealing with Procrastination
  • I did not face any challenges
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Ciao Guido,

Working remotely isn’t for everyone. If you enjoy interacting with people often, or you’re an “extrovert” or a social person who gets your energy from being around others, then I have seen that (when placed in a situation where you must work from home) you would then end up working at Starbucks or one of those co-working facilities, JUST so that you would be around people.

The nature of my work is a bit more solitary, so I actually enjoy it. I made my transition when my 2nd child was born and my spouse had to go back to work far away so we need one parents to be close by the school, daycare, etc. I take in meetings via Skype/Teams/Webex when I do need to collaborate, and rely on SMS/Instant Messaging when I need to get a hold of someone quickly. The rest of the time? I live on email. :slight_smile: It helps that my company culture emphasize email (and if you want to assign tasks to people or ask for a big favor, you must document in email instead of SMS/IM). I can get a ton of work done sitting on a 15 hour plane ride (assuming there is WiFi) since I can stay silent that long in front of my Microsoft Outlook. But again, it depends on what kind of work you do, this won’t work on ALL jobs.

Management is also another challenge, I have a boss who wants weekly status report, so he gets that from me every Friday evening. Most (good) bosses do not care what you do on a hour by hour basis, but they DO care that the work gets done and you don’t miss your deadline or you put your co-workers in difficult position.

Routine-wise you do need something. If you have a workout/exercise routine, stick with it, block it on your schedule so no one schedules a meeting at those times. Since you work remotely, you have the liberty of doing these routines when everyone else is at their desks, i.e. during off-peak time, so you can get in and out quickly. The same as your lunch or coffee break, do take it. It is very easy to get “sucked into” just sitting there and working uninterrupted and forgetting you have a life.

Working remotely has its beauty in that it allows you to be super flexible but also challenges you to practice time management. A lot of parents (of young kids) strive on working remote, as they can multitask on these. It’s a good skill to have. :slight_smile:

Best of luck - let us know if you have questions!

Jim

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Hi Guido,
I’ve been working remotely for 4+ years now. I have definitely struggled at times, but overall, prefer it and would have a hard time going back to the office at this point.

For me, the main challenges have been not getting distracted by home tasks vs work tasks, and, taking care of my mental health. As the previous poster mentioned, it’s easy to get sucked into just working/sitting there for hours.

Even just 30 minutes of exercise each morning makes a huge difference for me. There is a channel on Youtube called Popsugar that has great 30-45min exercise videos.

I get myself out of the house by driving to get a mocha 2 or 3 days a week, go grocery shopping, run errands, etc.

I also got myself a cat as a “co-worker”.
It unfortunately makes traveling more challenging, because then I need to take her with me or find someone to watch her so I can go on a trip, but, on a day to day basis - her companionship has been worth it.

You’re a guy, so I don’t know if there is a male equivalent, but I found that literally working in my pajamas made me feel like a bum after a few days.
Getting a “work from home” wardrobe has helped a lot. I bought these yoga pants by Beyond Yoga that are incredibly comfortable, and a handful of casual sweaters. I feel much less like a bum when I actually get dressed - even though it’s into loungewear.

If I find myself getting distracted by “home” stuff, depending on what it is, I either just go ahead and do the task so that I can concentrate again and just work longer/later that day. Or, I tell myself I’ll do that task tonight or this weekend (just like if you had a normal job).

I think the important part is to understand it’s a change in lifestyle and be patient with yourself/allow yourself the space to adapt.

Personally, I’m rather introverted and like quiet. I prefer to work than to socialize with co-workers. As the previous responder mentioned, if you’re an extrovert, working from home could be more challenging.

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