Working from home

[Hibby70]

After 30 years of working in an office environment I'll soon be starting a job working from home.

Any tips on how not to go mad (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy)

I've thought about maybe renting a hot desk somewhere if I don't like it, anyone have experience of this?

Edit : it's a programming job with maybe a couple of calls per day to clients.

[Mibbes Aye]

After 30 years of working in an office environment I'll soon be starting a job working from home.

Any tips on how not to go mad (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy)

I've thought about maybe renting a hot desk somewhere if I don't like it, anyone have experience of this?

Edit : it's a programming job with maybe a couple of calls per day to clients.

I do a mix of home working, base office and travelling to meetings.

The key for home working IMO is structure and discipline. You really need to treat your home office as like going to work. Make sure you have a dedicated space. And yes, you can cut corners but it is essential to get into the routine of turning up at the time you would be expected to and doing the work you would be doing in the office.

The temptation is to treat it less formally, which is understandable. Best tip is to try and replicate elements of the office, so if you go out for lunch then go out from home, even just go for a walk.

My experience is that home working, when you are on top of it, can be massively productive and more so than being in the office. When you aren’t on top of it, it is easy to start late, go slower and end up working on into the evening.

[Hibby70]

I do a mix of home working, base office and travelling to meetings.

The key for home working IMO is structure and discipline. You really need to treat your home office as like going to work. Make sure you have a dedicated space. And yes, you can cut corners but it is essential to get into the routine of turning up at the time you would be expected to and doing the work you would be doing in the office.

The temptation is to treat it less formally, which is understandable. Best tip is to try and replicate elements of the office, so if you go out for lunch then go out from home, even just go for a walk.

My experience is that home working, when you are on top of it, can be massively productive and more so than being in the office. When you aren’t on top of it, it is easy to start late, go slower and end up working on into the evening.

Thanks, lunchtime walk will definitely be part of my plan.

I have the odd wfh day just now which I do from my laptop so one of the first things I'll be doing is setting up some monitors and get a better chair than the dining ones.

[Mibbes Aye]

Thanks, lunchtime walk will definitely be part of my plan.

I have the odd wfh day just now which I do from my laptop so one of the first things I'll be doing is setting up some monitors and get a better chair than the dining ones.

It’s the little things that make a difference and if you are online all day then your chair is actually a big thing. Vital that you have a setup that feels right.

Dont know your line of work and you employer’s expectations but the flexibility of wfh is great. You can start really early and have your work done by mid-afternoon. Likewise, you can start a bit later and work on, if that suits.

I don’t know what environment you are moving from but switching to wfh means a big loss of social contact, even if it is just passing or casual. I wouldn’t underestimate that.

[Fuzzywuzzy]

One is the things you need to try and do is not eat. You'll find yourself munching just because you can. If you can try and get out for a wander.

Lync would show traffic light re your availability. I used to open a word document, stick something on the space bar and disappear for a bit.........

[vein]

I do a 4 day week, 2 days wfh and 2 days in the office. I find I’m getting cabin fever by the end of the second wfh day and I’m glad to be in the office the following day.

Bad habit for me is staying up too late the nights before I’m wfh, I’m in the office Thursday/Friday and I’m exhausted by the end of the week. I need to be stricter with myself and go to bed at the same time I would if I was in the office the next day (easier said than done though!!)

I recommend this site here for office chairs at a reasonable price https://www.2ndhnd.com/ . I was using a fold up chair at my desk before I got a chair for about £80 off that site and its like night and day. Can’t recommend a proper office chair enough!

[Smartie]

As has been alluded to above, the key is in the start of the day.

A good start and these can be the best and most productive days you could work.

A bad start can make them a nightmare, and as mentioned above beware of staying up late the night before, getting up late etc.

If you have people in the house they MUST be instructed that you're at work. Distractions are your new enemy. My ability to do decent work from home has been hampered by living in a 2 bedroom flat and having a 14 month old daughter who wants to play, and whose mother thinks that you should stop working 15-20 times per day to "help out". It's not easy to be a good father, partner and worker at the same time.

[danhibees1875]

After 30 years of working in an office environment I'll soon be starting a job working from home.

Any tips on how not to go mad (all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy)

I've thought about maybe renting a hot desk somewhere if I don't like it, anyone have experience of this?

Edit : it's a programming job with maybe a couple of calls per day to clients.

I've not rented any hot desk space but I seen an advert for the Innis and Gunn bar on Lothian road who had some desk space. £7 for the day with free coffee and a free pint at the end of your shift.

[skyehibee]

Personally I’d love to have a job where I could work from home. Anyone able to point me in the right direction to roles that offer this? Most jobs I tend to work require you in due to sensitive customer information.

[Hibby70]

I've not rented any hot desk space but I seen an advert for the Innis and Gunn bar on Lothian road who had some desk space. £7 for the day with free coffee and a free pint at the end of your shift.

Not sure my employer would be happy that I was working from a pub but that sounds like a decent deal.

[JeMeSouviens]

I do 2 days a week from home currently but it has been more in the past. I love it, but I am fairly anti-social at the best of times. A lot of good points made above, I think the most important one is try to keep clear separation of work/home hours. Switch the PC off when you're finished and don't go back to it just to finish something off, check email etc. or you can end up there late into the night.

Also the ergonomics are important. I used to sit on the sofa of a morning with my laptop while I got going and end up being there too long. Bad habits like this led to my back being ****ed a few years ago and I've been suffering for it since. I got a good chair at work and bought myself the same for home from these guys:

https://www.2ndhnd.com

A few cosmetic scuffs but it was about a quarter of the price.

[WeeRussell]

Personally I’d love to have a job where I could work from home. Anyone able to point me in the right direction to roles that offer this? Most jobs I tend to work require you in due to sensitive customer information.

WFH still possible in these lines of work provided they have the technology and systems set-up. I can login from home onto my work system - and it's all channeled through work computers so the firewall/anti-virus what have you is all exactly the same.

[JeMeSouviens]

WFH still possible in these lines of work provided they have the technology and systems set-up. I can login from home onto my work system - and it's all channeled through work computers so the firewall/anti-virus what have you is all exactly the same.

Yep, vpn via encrypted tunnels. It's more secure than me carrying a laptop around Edinburgh to the office and back.