If you’re looking for work-from-home tips, welcome! So thrilled to be of service, my comrade in WFH life. It wasn’t until I began to write this story that I really thought about how I haven’t consistently worked from an office since June 2014, which, wow. That’s when I quit my in-office job at the print version of SELF and went freelance, bopping around different (mostly remote) gigs for a few years before eventually winding up on the digital side of SELF in November 2015. Since then, I’ve worked remotely from Washington, D.C., mainly from home, while making occasional trips up to the SELF offices in New York City. It’s pretty clutch but not without its obstacles. (Like neighbors who unceremoniously start incredibly loud construction projects that last all day without giving me proper notice, but I digress!!!)
Overall, working remotely is great. I love it, and I’ve had years to experiment with how to make it work best for me. Here are my tips for staying productive while working remotely, plus some input from other people who do it too.
1. Don’t dive into work the moment you wake up.
I sometimes fail at this, but I’m trying. I used to open my laptop as soon as I woke up so I could start scanning emails and notes from colleagues on Slack, the instant messaging platform we use at SELF. It seemed like a great way to take advantage of the whole no-commute thing. Then I realized that I didn’t need to automatically fill the time I’d gained from not having a commute with work. Starting to work as soon as I woke up made it feel too much like most of my purpose in life came down to my job.
Now I try to start my days with something like a little bit of meditation or reading, an at-home workout (today I did this one), or some QT with Sonny, my absolutely perfect prince of a ginger tabby. This is a morning habit that’s really great for my mood, so I’m trying to make it stick. If you work remotely from a coworking space, you may still have a commute—but starting your day with something fun and restorative can be really great no matter what.
2. Set up a physical workspace.
When I first moved to D.C., my room had the most perfect little work nook. It was right in front of huge windows showing off picturesque rowhouses across the street, had enough space for a big desk, and was also sunken in enough that it somehow felt separate from the rest of my room. Then I moved to a place with a smaller bedroom. I still have a desk in there, but I want my bedroom to be the most stress-free sanctuary possible, so I now work from the dining room table. It’s not ideal, but it’s also not infringing on the spot where I relax the most, so it’s good enough for now.
Diana T., 27, who sometimes works remotely in her role at a nonprofit, agrees that this is a really important aspect of working remotely. “Creating a physical space in your home for work helps you get into the mindset of being ‘in the office’ during the day. It can also help you leave the office behind at the end of the day and force you to disengage,” she tells SELF. “Sometimes it can be motivating to set goals, like ‘Once I finish this email, I get to leave this office and go do something fun.’”
3. Experiment with different workspaces too.
Even if you think you’ve discovered the perfect remote-work situation, trying something different can help you learn more about what makes you feel most creative and efficient. I’ve worked from coffee shops on my own and with friends, and for some time I belonged to The Wing’s D.C. coworking location. All of this helped me realize that industrial-strength milk steamers are loud enough to ruin my concentration, I unsurprisingly don’t focus quite as well when I work with people I love talking to, and I really, really, really enjoy not having to commute, period. So, working from home it is. But you may realize your perfect remote-work situation is totally different. You’ll only know once you try out some options.
4. Set reminders to take breaks.
This is one of the work-from-home tips I hear from remote employees most regularly. For a while, I had phone reminders ping me a few times a day to remind me to take deep breaths. Those little breaks offered a quick way to center myself, even when things got hectic. (Now it’s enough of a habit that the calendar reminders are no more.)
SELF’s features director, Sally Tamarkin, is excellent at taking breaks throughout the day. Sally works from home in Philadelphia and says this is her “biggest thing” when it comes to being productive as a remote employee. “In an office, you take a break to go get coffee or because a coworker stops by to chat or because you hear people talking and you want to join in their conversation,” she says. “Without taking regular breaks I start to lose focus and get distracted. It’s a lot tougher to be productive,” she explains, pointing out the crux of the remote-work problem here: “There are none of those breaks when you WFH unless you make them. So make yourself take a 15-minute break every hour or two.”
When I feel like my schedule is so packed that I absolutely can’t pull myself away, I remind myself that my work is important, but the world won’t collapse if I take five minutes to get up, stretch, and top off my coffee or grab something to eat. (And that I conveniently work better when I take breaks!)
5. Upgrade your internet if you need to.
Once we started using the conferencing software Zoom at SELF, I realized my internet was slower than I’d thought. (Fast enough to handle me watching Vanderpump Rules while browsing my 1,532 open tabs on the weekends yet still slower than I’d thought.) It took only a few times of my video freezing midmeeting for me to upgrade my internet so we’d all waste as little time as possible repeating ourselves or recapping what someone didn’t catch the first time around.
6. Test your technology before big calls and meetings.
On a similar note, I’ve found it really helpful to make sure everything on my end is ready to go before video meetings and phone calls. Are my phone and laptop charged or plugged in if they don’t have enough battery? Do I have strong enough service or Wi-Fi? Do I have the phone number or meeting ID I need? I also usually test any new software, like a conferencing system, with a friend or colleague before the first time I really need it. These kinds of small steps can cut back on technological mishaps that make meetings longer and eat into my productivity.
7. Get a hotspot if you can.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been working from a coffee shop or an airport gate or a train only to realize the Wi-Fi is nonexistent. My phone’s hotspot, which is password-protected and gives me enough internet to get by in these dicey situations, has saved me pretty much every time. It’s included in my phone’s unlimited data plan, but even if it weren’t, I’d cough up some money to add it on so I always have it when I need it.
8. Find background noise that doesn’t distract you.
Background noise is a tricky beast. The wrong kind really distracts and annoys me. (Industrial-strength coffee steamer, I’m looking at you.) The right kind, on the other hand, helps get me in the perfect groove for work. (Never leave me, The Read!)
I was trying to figure out how to describe my favorite kind of background noise, and Lisa V.,* 30, who often does her nonprofit job from home, hit the nail on the head: “If I’m going to have background noise on, I make sure it’s reruns of shows I’ve seen a dozen times so I’m only minimally distracted (hello, Schitt’s Creek!),” she tells SELF. That helped me realize that I usually have a podcast or TV show on in the background that I’ve either heard or seen or know I will listen to or watch much more closely in the future. Even then, I’m pretty discerning about which episodes do and don’t do it for me. For example: No podcast episodes featuring a live audience. For whatever reason, the applause and cheering jolt me out of my ready-for-work mindset.
9. Use Slack statuses so your colleagues know when you are and are not available.
Instant messaging software like Slack has its benefits, like being able to share news ASAP, get quick answers to questions, and bond over pictures of staffers’ cats. Our #lechatroom channel is so cute you wouldn’t believe. But the constant stream of messages can be really distracting when I’m in a meeting, and especially when I’m working on a complex story that needs every bit of my attention. In those cases, changing my Slack status so my colleagues know I’m working but not instantly available is really helpful. It takes the pressure off so I don’t feel like I need to multitask instead of focusing on what’s in front of me.
If you don’t use anything like Slack in your remote work, giving colleagues a quick heads-up before you dive into something that might take a while can be similarly helpful, depending on your office conventions.
10. Get on the phone when necessary.
Since technology is pretty wild and advanced in 2020, it sometimes feels like I can do most of my job without needing to actually...use my voice and talk to people. But it’s been really helpful to realize when I can work something out with a colleague or writer via email or Slack versus when it would make the most sense to just get on the phone. If it’s taking me too long to figure out how to phrase something on my computer, that’s a good sign that talking it through on the phone might be a better option so I can get or give clarity and move on to the next thing.
11. Write out the next day’s to-do list at EOD.
It’s a tale as old as (working) time: Sometimes even when I try to disengage from work, a story or project I need to finish refuses to leave my mind. When I can tell that’s going to happen, it’s really tempting to just keep working in the hopes that I can make enough headway that I won’t have whatever it is hanging over my head for the rest of the evening. It’s not like I have to physically get up and leave to commute home, after all. To combat that, I sometimes write out the exact next steps I’m going to take with that story or project the following day. Writing it down kind of tricks my brain into feeling like I’ve already accomplished the task or don’t need to worry about what to do next so I can leave it behind for a bit.
12. Wear work-from-home shoes.
You might have heard that, if you work from home, you should dress up just as you would to work from an office. If that tip is golden for you, amazing. I, however, hate doing even one stitch of unnecessary laundry, especially if it involves dry cleaning, as a lot of my working-from-SELF outfits do, so that’s a firm no from me.
Since I do have video conference meetings basically every day, I make sure to wear something respectable, but it doesn’t necessarily meet the level of what I’d wear when going into the SELF offices. With that said, adding work-from-home shoes to my daily wardrobe has been a game changer. (Thank you, Sally, for the tip.) Something about the mules I chose for the job—perhaps it’s the cognac color, maybe it’s the architectural gold buckle—makes me feel a little more pulled together and ready to start the day.
*Name has been changed.
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