Living in Washington, D.C. has often historically meant that you’re defined largely by what you do for work (or, in its most vomitous expression, “who you work for”). But the last few years have been increasingly defined by where you work — specifically, whether you commute to an office part-time, or even at all.
We know more Americans are working from home, but we don’t really know how many. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the number at 27%, it may well be closer to twice that number.
The pandemic-fueled acceleration toward permanent remote work for many industries has forced an unwelcome reckoning for many leaders who never saw it coming. Large swaths of commercial real estate in major cities now sits empty or underused (which could, in turn, help us start to solve our affordable housing crisis). But the bigger issue for many, clearly, seems to be the loss of control over the lives of their employees.
The flip side of this is that workers now have much more control over things they never did before, providing both new opportunities and challenges.
Much of this was, obviously, top of mind for many people in the first few months of the pandemic. But as more workers have remained in hybrid and fully remote roles, it’s worth reevaluating the stopgap solutions that many of us implemented to see if they work on a more permanent basis. And perhaps the most significant change in both our allotment and demarcation of the times in our day is the sudden lack of a commute.
Eliminating commutes for millions of workers has been an unmitigated good, with cascading ripple effects. Obviously, not wasting time transporting yourself to and from a physical job means time spent doing anything else, from sleeping more, to walking your dog, to playing with your kids, or just relaxing. It also reduces stress, especially for those who previously had to drive. It reduces the chance of injury or death from accidents, pollution, and traffic, for everyone on the road. It spreads rush hour around more evenly. That makes WFH better even for those who still do have to commute to, or drive as part of, a physical job.
Working outside of the office does, of course, provide new challenges. You still have to work somewhere. For those in small apartments, carving out dedicated space can be a real challenge. In 2020 and into 2021 (and beyond, for the immunocompromised), going to a public space like a coffee shop or a library wasn’t necessarily feasible. We’ve all had to be creative in rethinking the way we manage our workspace.
But beyond the obvious, we’ve also been able to enjoy added benefits from working from home when it comes to controlling our environment. Many people find offices either too cold or too warm — now, you own full control over your climate. The same goes for lighting. Gone are the mind-numbing fluorescents, replaced with, well, whatever you’d like. I often eschew all electronic lighting and just use the natural light from outside. You’re also no longer at the mercy of the company-provided furniture. Want a specific kind of chair? Go for it. A standing or walking desk? All yours. You can even write many of these expenses off on your taxes as aspects of your home office (not to mention the square footage of the office itself).
That doesn’t mean you should necessarily try to make your setup as comfortable and luxurious as possible, though. For me, it’s about striking the balance between a place where I feel like I can work without too much distraction, but that I’m happy to step away from when I want to transition into leisure time. And that means defining that space and designating it for work.
Creating a visual barrier
My desk faces a wall. I know some people like to have a TV across the room that they can look at. Maybe if you work in an industry where you need to keep an eye on the news, this is a necessity. It simply doesn’t work for me. Minimizing the other distractions, especially screens, is paramount if I’m going to get anything done. This is, of course, tougher when it comes to your phone.
There are some good settings that can help, though. Just as I set my iPhone to Sleep mode at night, I’ll occasionally put it into Work mode during stretches when I really need to cut down on outside noise. If you can put it on the other side of the room, even better.
Creating an audio barrier
My office is on the third floor of our small, vertical house, a blessing in itself in terms of its separation from the rest of the house. I can close the door as well, to help mitigate some of the noise coming up and down the stairwell just outside its entrance. But I find that putting on the fan in the bathroom adjacent to the office adds an additional layer of white noise that creates that much more of an audio barrier against the rest of the house. It’s a nice way to not make anyone else who is home listen to my meetings, while also ensuring those meetings don’t get interrupted by a stray baby sound.
If I leave the house to work somewhere else, which I’ll do on occasion when I need a change of scenery, I’ll try to control my audio environment with headphones. I almost always will go to either a coffee shop or the public library, both of which are relatively quiet, but are uncontrolled, public audio environments. Putting music on my headphones at a volume loud enough to block outside noise, but still quiet enough to concentrate, really helps.
Sitting in a dedicated seat
Sure, sometimes I’ll try to get something done while sitting at one of our counter stools, eating lunch. If I’m firing off a quick email, maybe I’ll do that from the couch. But unless I’m going somewhere out of the house to work, I’m sitting in my chair at my desk.
If I do work outside the house, I try to find a seating situation not too dissimilar from the one I have at home. Generally, minimizing the variables helps cut down on the distractions.
Being flexible with my time
I imagine this one might not ring true for everyone, but hear me out. Some people work better with structured time blocks for all the things they need to accomplish each day. If your work requires some measure of creativity, though — and if your deadlines allow for it — I really recommend giving yourself the space to not feel like you have to accomplish everything between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. (or whatever your assigned hours might be).
Some days, I wake up early and am motivated to get started on a project right away. Other times, I need to stay up late, into those quiet hours I thrive in as a journalist, in order to achieve the peace of mind to finish writing something that needs a little more of the creative part of my brain.
Replace your commute
If you used to commute and no longer do, you’ve been gifted a chunk of your day back. Being intentional about using that in a way that improves your life can be really rewarding.
Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be “productive” in completing more work during this time. You could use it for more sleep, if you haven’t been getting enough. You could use it for yoga. You could go for a bike ride, or actually cook yourself a nice breakfast. I tend to do a combination of all of these things, which has improved my sleep, my flexibility, my fitness, and my diet. All while lowering my stress levels by avoiding two bouts with D.C. traffic each day. As we say around here, that’s pretty good.
What are some of your work from home tips? Share them in the comments, and I’ll see you again Friday for Pretty Good Links.