Working at home is strange and alien to many in our new quarantine world. I’ve been doing working at home for years and have some suggestions.
Don’t stay in your pajamas all day. Wear street clothes. It’ll help your mindset. You are working, not lounging around. Don’t appear in your business Zoom meeting in your onesie with bunny ears, and be sure to wear pants. (Really, there are some horror stories about people in Zoom meetings who forgot they weren’t wearing pants.)
Yes, there will be constant interruptions. Moreover, it’s just you. No one else can handle them for you. So, answer the phone when it rings. Stay up to date on emails and texts. Attend all the Zoom meetings. Accept that you won’t be able to focus on just one task for several hours uninterrupted. More likely, you’ll work on that one task many times each day.
Follow whatever routine you had at work, as much as you can. And work the same hours. Improvise as needed. We are all making up the rules and procedures as we go.
Be prepared to go in and out of quarantine several times in the next year or two. This isn’t going to be over soon nor, despite what the Orange Toddler desperately hopes for, will there be a quick miracle cure. This is a marathon not a sprint.
Be grateful you have a job where you can work at home and get paid for it! Many don’t and are wondering how they will pay the bills. You are one of the fortunate ones.