Being Professional Working From Home

Laundry

I agree, you should normally not be doing chores around the house while telecommuting. However, if you are disciplined about it then laundry is one item that you can chisel away at while at home. Before you start work in the morning (i.e. the time you would normally be driving to work) or perhaps the night before, separate your laundry into piles for washing. Stick a load into the wash before you begin your work day. Throughout the day, during your normal bathroom, lunch, and stretch breaks, move the laundry from the pile, to the washer, to the dryer, and from the dryer to a waiting station (such as a clean bed or set of baskets). This should only take you a minute or less to do. At the end of your work day you will have all of your laundry (or a huge portion of it) washed and waiting to be hung up or folded and put away. This won’t work so well if you have clothes that wrinkle easily, but for your normal day to day laundry it works great!

So as not to come off as a complete slacker, I’ll add a tip to be more responsive… first thing when you get up in the morning, before anything else, check your work email. I do this every weekday via my smart phone that sits by my bedside. This way if there are any emergencies or particularly pressing matters that have arisen since the previous day, I can be on top of it ASAP and make sure no one is waiting on me.  If needed I can take care of pressing matters from the home office before heading in to work (which I do 4 days out of the week and takes about 35 minutes).

Working from a home office

I have 18 direct reports spread throughout the Country and when I am not on the road I work from a home office. I have enjoyed this privilege for nearly five years and this cast is spot on particularly as it relates to relationships. Some things that have helped me include:

1. Have the “boundaries discussion” with your spouse. When my wife needs my attention she calls my office line, just as she would if I were at headquarters. She does not simply walk into my office and start a conversation. We do however try to enjoy lunch together when possible.

2. My office is actually an office. A proper desk, chair, all appropriate technology, white boards, reference books, degrees & citations on the wall etc.  This helps me feel like a professional and I act accordingly.

3. My boss does not conduct regular O3’s so I ensure he is up to date on the projects I am working on and progress made.

 
Thanks for the great cast.
 
Tim

Chores whilst telecommuting

 Whilst I don't regularly work from home I do from time to time.  During the day I may be doing chores (or watching TV) but this is always with the knowledge (and, at least implicit, agreement) of my manager at fixed times in the day.  I also don't count that time towards my working day, same as my lunch break doesn't count towards my working hours.  For example I might have a medical appointment near home so rather than taking a half day leave I will work from home, 'clock off' before the appointment, attend the appointment, return home, 'clock in' and continue working.

This is helped by the fact that most of my work is the sort that can be done at any time (very much individual contributor, not workign with other people) so long as it's done by the deadline and I have wide discretion as to when I do it.  

Stephen

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Skype: stephenbooth_uk (Please note I'm on UK time)

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Experience is how you avoid failure, failure is what gives you experience.