Bryan Zacharias, Senior Project Architect
Architecture and design are highly collaborative crafts. It requires that team members frequently touch base with each other, evaluate new ideas, and improve them in real-time with anything from a trace pad to an iPad.
But what happens when we’re not all able to do that? What can we do when faced with a public health crisis that requires everyone to eschew coming to the office and hunker down at home? OKW’s resident expert on remote working Bryan Zacharias has some tips on how to best handle this situation, which can be brand new for many professionals. In this first post, he discusses the importance of keeping routines and boundaries.
Work / Life Balance
Create a designated workspace – ideally in its own room. This helps in maintaining focus when you’re on the clock and allows you to disengage when you’re not.
Improve your setup. Get a comfortable chair. I do not recommend the couch (or heaven forbid, the bed). Connect a second monitor if you have one, ditch the laptop keyboard and trackpad for a proper mouse and keyboard. Anything you can do to more closely simulate the typical office experience, even little things, can make you more comfortable and productive.
Develop a routine. Act as though you were going to the office. It may seem silly to go through your whole morning routine just to stay put at home all day, but it helps get you into ‘work mode.’ Besides, you want to look sharp for the daily Skype call!
Try not to putter. It’s tempting to take 5 minutes here and there to do a load of laundry or dust your bookshelf (when did it get that dusty; how have I never noticed that?). But that way distraction lies. Consider doing those tasks in place of your commute. While it seems great to get things done during the day it can bloat your ‘workday’ so you may feel like your day is actually longer. I find it best to log your work time efficiently and then close the book on it so you can move on to ‘life’ stuff.