Telecommuting

Lesson 3: Setting Up Shop

Troubleshooting

I talked about some of the "cons" of telecommuting in an earlier lesson. Now let's talk about how to deal with them.

ISOLATION
One of the hardest parts about working from home is the isolation. No matter how great you think your life would be if you didn't have to deal with your boss and/or co-workers, you'll be surprised how difficult life without them can be.

Isolation can make you feel less productive, disgruntled and even paranoid. You may start to feel like your company is moving on without you and that you will never be promoted again. Your physical appearance may start to slide as you adopt the attitude that "no one will see me anyway." Your self-confidence and morale may suffer as well. Here are some ideas to combat feelings of isolation:

Stay "in the loop"
I've talked a lot about keeping yourself "in the loop" at work. This is extremely important when dealing with issues of isolation. Keep in touch with your boss on a daily basis. Email co-workers about the latest office goings on. Don't be a pest, but don't sit back and disappear either. Get noticed.

Maintain a network of office acquaintances
Just because you don't work in the office anymore doesn't mean you can't meet your co-workers for coffee or lunch a day or two a week. Call them up every now and then and talk about work. Of course, don't keep them from doing their work. Simply stay in touch.

Find other telecommuters
There are lots of telecommuting resources out there that can put you in touch with other telecommuters. Join an email mailing list or chat with other telecommuters who are in the same boat. It always helps to have someone to commiserate with.

Check out this USA Today article on telecommuting isolation. Here is another article at About.com. You may also want to read "Seven Ways to Relieve Isolation" in Telecommute! on page 186.

MOTIVATION
Another major issue telecommuters face is motivation. Without a boss looking over your shoulder, it's often easy to find other things to do besides work. If you are a procrastinator, you might want to rethink becoming a telecommuter. You may just not have the discipline to succeed while working from home.

If you are still committed to the cause, there are things you can do to keep yourself motivated:

Get rid of distractions
I've talked about this before as well. Distractions will make your job as a telecommuter a living hell. Don't have a TV in your office. Don't have food in your office. Don't have kids or rowdy pets in your office. Make your environment as boring as possible so that all your brain can do is think about work.

Set goals and track your progress
All this may sound like review, but you can't hear it often enough. Setting goals will not only keep you on track, it will help keep your motivated. You will be able to see the amount of work you have ahead of you and you will be more likely to do it.

Don't be afraid to take a break
If you're simply falling asleep at your desk, get up and take a walk. Have a snack. Call a friend. Don't let these things become distractions to keep you from work; rather, make a conscious decision to spend X amount of time taking a break, then return to work diligently and rejuvenated.

Vary your work
This technique helps both in and out of the office. Plan your day so that you don't do any one activity for a long time. Write for a while, research for a while, make a few phone calls. By varying your day, you will actually get more done in the long run.

WHAT IF YOUR BOSS ISN'T HAPPY?
While every situation is different, there may come a time when your boss says, "This just isn't working. You must come back to the office." I know because it happened to me after the birth of my baby. I arranged a telecommuting schedule, and after about three months my boss told me my productivity was down and I had to return to the office.

I was devastated, but unfortunately I couldn't argue with him. I was trying to work from home while taking care of an infant, and as you've all learned by now that simply isn't possible.

So what did I do? Well, I returned to the office. I didn't make a big deal out of it. No one in the office made a big deal either. My advice if this happens to you is to assess your individual situation.

You can return to the office for six months or so and ask if you can try it again. You can come up with a written plan to discover why it didn't work and how you can make it work better. Or you can do what I did -- just admit to yourself that telecommuting wasn't for you at the time and return to the office.

What do you think about these troubleshooting tips?

  1  2  3  4  5