The Realities of Working from Home: The Good, The Bad, and the Funny

The Realities of Working from Home: The Good, The Bad, and the Funny

Remember the viral video of the Professor giving an interview on the BBC speaking about Korean relations. And then, out of nowhere his young child barged in to interrupt only to be followed by the nanny hurriedly reaching in to redirect the child out of the office. These are the moments you can all look forward to as you move to a work from home environment. This is our new normal and we will all have our stories. (My funny story is at the end of this -- please share yours)

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As someone who has been working remotely for upwards of 10 years, I have my share of humorous stories (like the time my dog came into my office and rather than hinting he needed to go outside, he just lifted his leg and peed all over me), and some advice to help comfort those of you as you move into this new world we are in.

Many of you might be concerned as to how you can be as successful at home? How can you focus when there are likely to be many distractions? And what about the social part of my job – am I going to feel completely isolated and forgotten by my colleagues? Let me try to help assuage some of those concerns with some simple recommendations.

1)     Establish a routine – Shower and Practice Good Hygiene. Don’t go to work in your Pajamas (or worse). Eat breakfast and drink your coffee. Treat your mornings the same as if you were heading to an office – And an added benefit for many of you, enjoy the fact that what may have been an hour or more commute is now just going up or down some stairs. Sleep more. Take your time. Enjoy the stress-free commute.

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2)     Don’t Tie Yourself to Your Desk – just like when you are in an office there is always time to spend chatting with each other. Do that at home. Talk to your husband/wife. Call a friend. Speak with a colleague. Get up and move around. And related….

3)     Eat lunch and do a Chore – If you usually go to lunch with colleagues and take 30 minutes or an hour – do the same at home (sorta). Eat with your spouse or your kids. Go hang that picture that you have meant to hang for the past 6 weeks. Empty the dishwasher. Fold a laundry. Do something to give your mind a break. It is important.

4)     Revel in the humor that comes from working at home – barking dogs, screaming kids, noisy vacuums and blenders – I’ve seen it all – with four kids and four dogs my home is pretty hectic. Take advantage of this. Use it as conversation starters. Most people like to talk about pets and kids and those who are in the same boat usually have their own story to share.

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MY OWN FUNNY STORY – during my first year working from home my then 3-yr old daughter waddled into my at-home office looking adorable. I had my headset on and was speaking with a new prospect. She approached me and quietly whispered in my ear (and indirectly the ear of the prospect) that she had to poop. You can imagine my face when that happened and what the client was going to say. We both had a good laugh which then led to a conversation about children. Was it the ideal transition from talking research to talking poop -- of course not. But did it create a memory that I still reference today -- Absolutely.

And by the way, making sure you have a good set of headphones that will drown out back ground noise and allow you to escape from the surrounding distractions is key. Thank you AirPods!!!!

In the meantime...good luck to everyone that is moving to their new home office. Be safe, stay healthy and continue to do your best. We are all in this thing together.

Would love to hear your funny work from home stories so we can all feel a little more at ease.

Craig Amhaus

Vice President, Corporate Partnerships

4y

Spend as much of your day as possible working from the outdoors. Home Office/ Mobile Headquarters - Motorsports Partnerships

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Chris McKee

FloSports - FloRacing

4y

Dogs and kids...dogs and kids. 

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