Work from home! Is it fun or painful?
I was telecommuting to work for 7 years when I worked for a major tech company and then started working in traditional office space for 9 years. Recent Corona virus pandemic stuck and I am back to work from home mode for last 5 months. Recent indicators point towards working from home for few more months or year to the least.
When I worked from home for 7 years, it had quite a few benefits
- I login to office from work early in the morning since I was working with offshore team primarily. I get up, have coffee and sit in front of compute in pajamas
- My son was very young and he was going to school for only half day (2.5 hours). I keep him engaged with his activities while working from home. I drop him and pick him up
- Since I was working with offshore, I log off early in the afternoon. Then log back in at night and check on status etc.
- I did my masters at that time, I was able to complete my homework , assignments during the leisure time in the afternoon.
- I had quality time with my son in the free time when he was growing up
On the negative side
- I had long hours. There are no restricted hours between work and home. I was always online
- I started having back issues (neck and back pain)
- I was unable to step out of home except to drop off and pick up my son. My Vitamin D level was pretty low even though I was living in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is called as Valley of Sun
- I didn’t have any face to face contact with any of my colleagues or friends. I was unable to build any relationship with colleagues.
After I started going to work, I was able to build relationship with my colleagues. Even though, I spent 2 hours in traffic every day. I was able to move around the office. This has helped alleviate back pain part to certain extent
In the last few years, I was in a hybrid model. I was going to office for 3 days a week and worked from home 2 days a week. This was a perfect blend since I was able to balance both work and home as a single dad easily. I can go for doctor appointments, bank, post office etc on days I work from home. This was an excellent model.
With the recent pandemic, I am back to square one. Here are the issues
- I work in a global company. I start my day at 5.00 am. I have calls with India and Europe which goes until 2.00 PM
- I take a break. Then I have calls with Singapore from 5.00 PM
- I don’t have lunch or breakfast breaks. I take few minutes bio breaks
This is the story for last 5 months. I am trying to get out and go to beach for walk at least an hour every day. Since I manage remote teams globally , here are my recommendations for work from home
- When attending meetings, take from quiet place. Do not take calls from Mall, airport etc where there are noise
- Always be on mute unless you are speaking. This will help others concentrate on conversation
- Do not put calls on hold which will impact others in conversation (when music is being played)
- Have separate work space for office. Do not sit in kitchen and do the work while wife is cooking
- Take frequent breaks to walk around and to be mobile
- When you are not in call, play some music to calm mind
These are my recommendations/suggestions for any one working from home.
