The challenges of working from home

Remote working has blossomed over the last two years, but it is not without its challenges. Especially for those who were in the workforce for a significant period of time before the COVID pandemic, adjusting to remote-first ways of working can be difficult.

Here, we explore a few of the major challenges that guests on the Best Work Podcast experienced when working from home, and explore some ways of overcoming these.

Focus

Offices are purpose-built spaces dedicated to work. They aren’t without distractions - the presence of colleagues is, indeed a major one of these.

However, many people understandably find it easier to focus on work in an office environment dedicated to work than a home environment where every other facet of our life surrounds us. From performing household chores to putting the TV on in the background, there is an endless array of potential distractions available when working from home.

Working from home takes a level of self-direction that initially came as a shock to Software Engineer Zaid.

Acquiring the discipline to work effectively unsupervised is a process that takes time, but there are several steps we can take to speed the process along, and to improve productivity along the way.

For example, muting notifications on our phone can remove the distraction that a phone offers. It is easy to go from reading a quick WhatsApp notification to unthinkingly opening Instagram or Twitter, and muting non-work notifications can help keep our minds on the job.

Music can also help with focus, particularly instrumental music, though everyone has their own preferences on this front.

Finally, regular breaks, carefully managing working hours, and drawing a distinct line between work life and home life can help maintain focus. This latter point is explored in more detail below.

Management

There is no doubt that remote working poses particular problems for managers. How can you maintain oversight and connection with your managees when you’re based in a different location?

Senior Engineering Manager, Mentor & Leadership coach Daniel relished the challenges that remote working presented.

One of the first things to say is that effective management is based on empowerment, rather than observation. Good on-site managers don’t spend their time peering over the subordinates’ shoulders, so in that sense, switching to a remote environment needn’t make a difference. Work should be judged on output, not on face time.

The pastoral elements of management are a slightly different kettle of fish. It is undoubtedly important to build a close connection to team members, and this is unarguably harder to do remotely.

It isn’t impossible, however. Gitlab outlines several tips for effective remote management, including being visible and approachable, prioritising one-on-one time, and maintaining constant communication through tools like Slack.

Drawing a line

When working from home, it can become hard to determine where “work” ends and “life” begins. Without the physical, geographical punctuation of a commute, work and home can blend into one.

This isn’t ideal. It’s important to be able to switch off effectively from work, and likewise (as above) to focus our minds clearly on work while we are working. For that reason, career consultant and podcast host Joseph discusses the advantages of identifying a specific part of the house to work in.

Additionally, drawing a clear line between life and work by establishing (and communicating to partners, children or flatmates) defined working hours can help keep the boundaries defined.

However, these boundaries needn’t be completely impermeable. There is an extent to which remote working in an effective, sustainable way revolves around acceptance of the fact that one of remote working’s advantages is the ability it gives us to alternate quickly between our working and our non-working responsibilities.

Head of Product Michelle here describes how this has manifested for her and her daughter, who has received a rapid boost up the corporate experience ladder as a result.

Ultimately, the “new normal” is a chance for workers everywhere to experience greater autonomy and control over their own working environments, and this is something to be cherished. It is not without its challenges, and everyone will respond to these challenges in whatever way suits them best, but it is possible for everyone to discover a healthy, sustainable balance between work and non-work when working from home.

References and further reading

• https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashiraprossack1/2021/02/25/how-to-stay-focused-while-working-from-home/

• https://about.gitlab.com/company/culture/all-remote/being-a-great-remote-manager/