What I Have Learned about Working at Home...

One of the big things I was looking forward to when I decided to become a Consultant 8 years ago, was the freedom to work from home. I had worked in and with major corporations for most of my career. I had worked for Coca-Cola for 21 years, as well as Philip Morris, Cadbury’s, McDonald’s, Intel, and Mars/Wrigley. Although I traveled a lot, most of the time was spent in our offices and I had always had my own office. Lucky me.

Even though I had my own office, there were constant interruptions and it was difficult to run the business and cut myself off if I was there. However, when I had to really THINK, (a rare occurrence I might add) such as working on business plans or strategic projects, I would work from home and take a slice of the day to really focus on the task at hand, finish the project and then go back into the office. 

Alternatively, as I traveled both frequently and long distances, plane flights became great opportunities to be cut off and focus on projects. I know of many people who have started and written large parts of books on planes, Simon Sinek being just one.

So I felt the transition to working from a home office would be easy. But it wasn’t. Before, I had certain prescribed things I had to do in a limited time, and so took off to home to think, write, and prepare. Now I was constantly in the same environment and so the deadline nor focus was there anymore. It wasn’t a change, it was the norm.

But, at least I could escape, so what I started doing was changing my environment again by working in coffee shops as well as in shared workspaces, such as The Reserve. This got me closer to people and was the reverse of what I had been doing, as my home was now the corporate office, and to do those projects that needed intense focus and meeting of deadlines, I went elsewhere.

And then Covid-19 hit us collectively and there were no choices anymore and yet we live in a country where life is ALL about choice. Our economy is 75% driven by consumer spending, so choice matters, and we have more flavors of vodka and salad dressing than most countries have choices of cars. So reduced choice hit us all hard.

My weeks under siege started with getting to know how to use zoom and, accepting appointments on zoom and engaging in webinar meetings, on zoom. Pretty much all zoom! And then the days ran into each other with me being reactive rather than proactive. Somehow, the lack of physically going anywhere equated to not progressing anywhere. There was no wind in my sails and I drifted at times, rudderless and unable to control or determine any direction.

Then things shifted. I saw that not being able to travel was actually an opportunity to re-set, learn things, and use the so-called downtime to great use. However, I also realized that like I moved my environment to get projects done when I worked in an office, now I needed to change my environment and look at ways to be productive when stuck again in one place. Believe it or not, there are more opportunities to be taken advantage of, when at home.

Here’s what I’ve been doing:

1.Reading

I have always felt I have not read enough. At least the type of thing that mattered. I need to read both to expand my knowledge, views, and horizons by reading fiction and business material. I set myself a target to read 28 books this year, 14 business, 12 fiction, and 4 nonfiction and I am halfway through the goal. How? I schedule blocks of time in my calendar to read. If for some reason I don’t get it done, I just move the block so it will get done. It seems to be working. I’m over halfway through my goal.

2.Learning

How many times do we struggle with trying to get something done in Word, Excel or Powerpoint (or Pages, Numbers, or Keynote if you are a Mac user)? We end up googling it and get a quick fix, but it takes a while. What if we actually learned about using the application? I blocked time to do exactly that and like my reading, if something came up I moved the block to ensure it was done.

3.Taking naps

Now before you immediately assume this is an age thing...you may indeed be right. However, there are vast bodies of research that have proven that taking a short 20 to 30-minute nap can drastically increase alertness and productivity, whatever your age! I don’t take one every day, just when I feel it’s needed. The beauty of working from home is that a sofa or bed is never far away. It’s worked for me. You try it…go on! Set the arm for 20-25mins and wake refreshed and ready for action again.

4.Meditating

No, I have not become a hippie and/or turned our home into a commune. Thanks to my wife and oldest son, and Nancy Meyer, I discovered meditation. I’m pretty sure I would not have tried it if I hadn’t been stuck at home, but now that I have, I find daily meditation for 10-15mins to be so enabling, inspiring, and relaxing.

5.Getting fresh air

I take more walks, mainly with my son's service dog, a Goldendoodle, named Merlin. It’s podcast listening time or just time to think! It’s a little like that time you have in the shower, where all the great ideas suddenly materialize. Editors Note (that’s me), where exactly are those ideas?

What have you learned since we have had to change our working environment?

You don’t have to send me a postcard. Those days are apparently gone. Just post your thoughts below and share with all of us…Thank you!

Peter M. Beaumont is a Business Advisor with Resultants For Business as well as the Founder and Principal of ConnXN Consulting. He is also the author of The Relationship Roadmap, a comprehensive guide to building relationships with strategic clients. Find out more at www.ConnXN.net