Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has gone from an optional extra at hip new companies to being a way of life for the vast majority of white collar workers. With social distancing a priority around the globe, we’ve all found ourselves adapting to working from home.

In some cases, this has led to amusing mishaps and entertaining mistakes. I’ve stopped dreaming about standing up at meetings and realising I have no pants on and started dreaming about doing the same thing in Zoom calls.

At the same time, I’ve had to get used to having a hyperactive cat with the zoomies as a co-worker. I’ve had to learn how to resist the temptation to investigate my mail as soon as the postman comes. I’ve also had to invest in a much better coffee machine.

I’ve learned a lot about myself during lockdown, as I’m sure most of us have. Here are just a few of the main lessons that I’ve taken away with me.

The morning rush is counterproductive

Shall I tell you what I don’t miss? Almost having a heart attack every morning from the stress of getting the kids ready, dropping them off at school, driving like a mad man through rush hour traffic to the train station (often missing my bleedin' train), shlepping halfway across the city in a packed carriage and then immediately sitting down in front of a computer. Now, I have a more leisurely start to the morning, so when I boot up my machine at 9 AM, I’m chilled out, rested and ready to go.

I can be self-motivated when the work is rewarding

This one’s an interesting one because the opposite is also true. If the work isn’t rewarding, it’s difficult to force myself to do it, especially from home. If I have four hours of data entry to do that’s super high priority, you can bet that I’ll pick away at it a little bit at a time while finding excuses to tackle other jobs instead - like cleaning. But if we’re talking about something that I can get passionate about, it’s easy to find motivation and I often lose track of time and end up working on it until it’s done, no matter how long it takes.

I work better in big chunks

To my surprise, I’ve also discovered that I work best when cracking on with big chunks of work instead of tackling lots of smaller tasks. Working from home makes it easier for me to do that because there are fewer distractions so I can block out my time and focus on getting things done one at a time. It’s not exactly a revolutionary idea, but hey it works.

Too hot or too cold? I have the power!

Gone are the days of arguing with Bary about the air-con. It's my office and my rules - if I want a fan blowing over a block of ice, then the fan be blowing over a block of ice. If I want to work barefoot with my pants off.... then that is my hot ass' prerogative. Check out this Guardian article on great ways to keep cool at the home office. (Sorry, I needed to vent here. Pun intended). 

The water cooler is better than desk-side chats

We don’t actually have a water cooler in my office, but the idea is pretty much the same. We normally gather on the sofas in the kitchen area when we want to gossip or to catch up with each other after the weekend. There’s a time and a place for this and we can still do the same when we’re connecting on Slack and Zoom, so that’s not a problem. What isa problem is when I’m just getting stuck into something (see the last point) and someone comes along to my desk to start talking about the big game. When I work from home, all I have to worry about is the kids, and believe it or not they’re less distracting, have longer attention spans and way more cuter than half of my colleagues! (sorry Baz).

 

There’s a sweet spot for how often I like to check in

Some people work best when they’re constantly checking in with their manager to let them know how they’re getting on. Other people like to be left alone with as much autonomy as possible. As for me, I’m somewhere in the middle. It’s crazy, I know, but as we’ve covered in the last couple of points, I don’t like being interrupted. Have you ever had to tell someone that the reason their report isn’t ready is because you have to keep stopping work on it to tell them why their report isn’t ready? 2-3 check-ins a week works just fine for me, or a maximum of once per day.

Meetings can be dumb but sometimes necessary

One of the good things about Zoom meetings is that I can sit there with the meeting on one screen and continue tapping away at my work on another one. Sure, some meetings are genuinely important and they’re often necessary, but there are also plenty that aren’t. Working from home makes it more acceptable for me to subtly spend those less useful meetings working on something more productive.

The Bottom Line

Working from home has its pros and cons, and I’ve certainly experienced a little bit of both during the pandemic. On the whole, though, I’d say that it’s been a positive experience. Sure, it sucks spending so much time away from the people I work with, because it’s the people I work with who make me want to get out of bed in the morning.

But we’ve found some pretty good ways to cope with it, from Friday afternoon quizzes and drinks on Zoom to instant messaging and socially distanced walking meetings. And there are other benefits to working from home too. I’ve seen my productivity go through the roof, but I’ve also achieved a better work/life balance. I’ve even realised that I’m not necessarily at my most productive when I work traditional hours.

Working from home is likely to be the future of work, especially in a post-pandemic world. At the same time, there are also undeniable benefits to working in an office, and as restrictions are slowly lifted, there’ll still be a place for offices in the future.

As with most things, it’s a question of balance – and hopefully having a flexible boss who’s willing to allow you to work whenever and wherever suits you, as long as you get the job done. I’m one of the lucky ones – and I’m not just saying that in case my boss is reading this!