Month: January 2020

Remote Work Roundup

Photo by Lgh_9 from Pexels

Or, what your friendly neighborhood Remote Blogger has been doing in her copious free time.

Happy Thursday everyone! The snow from last week is gone, and we’re back to our usual soggy winter. This post is more of a ‘Where’s Waldo’ remote work roundup of the things I’ve been up to in the last two weeks. My current work/life balance resembles a kid who just learned to ride a bike–as long as I keep moving, everything’s fine.

Somebody Said They Liked the Book

Book Authority named ‘Working Remotely’ as one of ‘11 Best New Remote Working Books to Read in 2020.‘ I am beyond chuffed. I tried to play it cool when I first found out, but I was definitely more Sally Field at the Oscars than Will Smith in MIB.

I Was On The Radio

Four times in 11 days. Business Lunch is a numbers-driven live radio program that broadcasts out of Chicago. My analyst heart loved the excuse to let my nerd flag fly. I really appreciated the way Ji Suk Yi kept things flowing. That’s a real art. Last Thursday I did a double header. First I talked with Alyssa Carpenter of Humanize Your Workplace. That episode will air in the future, but if you like quality programming, check her out. She has a lot of interesting guests. An hour after that I was on live radio with the Frankie Boyer show. Once I get a link to that interview I’ll share it here.

For those of you who are counting, that’s three episodes. There’s a fourth one, but the conversation was wide ranging and we’re still figuring out what the end product might look like. I’ll talk about that one more once we know what it’s going to be.

As an aside, it’s been interesting seeing the differences between pre-recorded podcasts and live radio. I’m not sure which I like better. Podcasts give you a chance to really dig into a topic–and if the host thinks you go on too long, they can edit you down. There are no do-overs on live radio. When your time is up, you’re done. It’s a little stressful, but it’s also a grand opportunity to be succinct.

I Wrote a Manifesto

Porchlight Books asked me to write a manifesto about getting along with your boss and others in the remote work space. I didn’t know until that moment that writing a manifesto was a life goal. Part of me wants to take the article and nail it to a door or something. The part of me that is older than age of three voted that down. Sometimes I’m really no fun.

I Shared a Book Excerpt

Forge, a publication on Medium, just published an excerpt from my book ‘Working Remotely,’ and they gave it the best title ever: Questions to Ask Yourself Before Marking Your Request Urgent. I’m beginning to wonder if everybody but me can write great titles. Thank you, Forge editors!

…and I Talked about Gender Equity in Remote Work

Naomi Cahn writes about women and gender issues on her Forbes column. We traded some emails back and forth about how remote work can both help and harm gender equity. That resulted in an article she published Wednesday called Getting the Most out of Telework.

If this sounds like I have a lot going on, I do. And I need to give a special shout out to my publicist Valerie, who knows how to find thoughtful places for me to talk about remote work. You’re awesome Valerie! I wouldn’t be this happily busy without you.

What’s On the Go Now

I just wrote a draft of another article that’s due at the end of this month. Once that’s done I have two other articles to write in February. Other than that, I’m trying to take brain breaks by practicing my guitar and knitting socks. And running. I restarted my couch to 5k nearly three weeks ago, and it was the best decision ever. I run because it’s hard and I play guitar because I don’t have to be good at it. It works for me.

Have a great week everyone!

How to Survive Remote Work During the Winter

4 Tips to Keep the Walls from Closing In

Vancouver had a snow day on Tuesday and the kids spent the day sledding while I worked. Yes. I was jealous.

Working from home means opting out of morning rush hour. This is a huge bonus when the weather outside is frightful. On Tuesday we had a heavy snow event that closed the schools and stranded buses on bridges. I was very happy to miss all of that mess.

Of course, there’s a less positive side to that privilege. If you aren’t careful, you can get to an unhealthy mental place where you both hate the inside of your house but have no motivation to leave. If you’re in this boat, there are things you can do that will help. Here are some ideas that have worked for me. Feel free to use them as jumping off points for your own troubleshooting toolbox.

Get Outside Anyway

Some people enjoy rambling walks. They don’t need an excuse to get outdoors. That isn’t me. I need a specific destination or a workout plan to get me out the door. This is why I’m always on some kind of run plan, usually with a race at the end to keep me focused. Not wanting to die during my spring half marathon kept me running through the rain and snow of 2016.

It wasn’t until the Spring of the following year that I realized the other benefit to running in nasty weather. I didn’t mind the weather so much because I was out in it. You would think that running in icy rain would demoralize me. Nope. Somehow going for a jog in the rain makes me feel like the weather isn’t winning. As a bonus, there are fewer people to dodge on the sidewalk.

Not all places have temperate winters. I have several friends in Winnipeg, where temperatures can easily get to -50 Celsius. That’s not something you linger in. If this describes your weather, you may want to consider a gym membership. Heck, I have a gym membership and my weather only dipped to -10c.

Pick a Second Office

Your second office could be a coffee shop, a library, or a co-working space. Take some time during your non-work hours to investigate new places and try out their wifi. And don’t be afraid to get creative. I once went to my local yarn store early and worked for a little while before the weekly knit night. I’ve worked in bars. If you try this, remember to support the establishment by purchasing something. And make sure it’s okay for you to be there. Don’t be that creepy person squatting in the aisle.

These first two ideas assume you can leave your house. Sometimes a blizzard comes along or you have to care for sick family members, and you can’t leave. These next two tips are for you.

Build Stations

When my children were in kindergarten, they had something called ‘stations’ spread across the classroom. These were spaces with a specific activity all set up. All the children had to do was go there and begin playing.

Consider setting up stations in your house. I have my guitar on a stand next to my couch, ready to play. My purse is a mobile knitting station. I have at least one project in there at all times. Sometimes you just need to walk away from your computer for a minute. Try placing a project in a different room or a different part of your work space. Separating your hobby from your work area can help you “leave” work when you can’t leave your home.

Some enterprising soul is reading this thinking ‘I should clean my house or do laundry if I’m taking a work break.’ If cleaning makes your soul sing, go for it. Cleaning doesn’t feel like a break to me, so I focus on other things.

Take a Virtual Coffee Break

Sometimes your house isn’t the problem. The issue is that you need human contact. Consider arranging a video call with a friend or colleague. If you want to talk to people outside your organization, you can join an online networking event like Networkplaceless. Or spend time talking to people via social media. I’ve met people on Twitter and ended up setting up meetings so we can talk about remote work in real time.

Working from home has a lot of positives, but it also has a unique set of challenges. One of those challenges is feeling marooned in your home during the winter months. The good news is that you can ease those claustrophobic feelings. Try these suggestions. Come up with some of your own. Do you have something that works for you? I’d love to hear about it.

Anniversaries and Un-Resolutions

A New Year Doesn’t Have to Mean New Business

Sometimes the best resolution is no resolution at all. Photo by Sonam Yadav from Pexels

Happy New Year friends! The last couple of weeks have been long-ish stretches of quiet time interspersed with short bursts of crazy. On January 4th we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary with a family party.

Our party theme was Minecraft Farm. We bought a Llama pinata, then beat it up and took all it’s candy.

I knit and crocheted many things for the kids.

My child calls these stuffies Mr. Kitty Hat and Blue

Slowly Walking Down the Hall Faster Than a Cannon Ball

In between making stuffed animals, I completed interviews for various outlets interested in remote work. If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you saw the post from Digital Nomad Sage last week. Another interview came out today from Remoters. I was also on the radio with Money Matters based in Houston. I’m on the radio again next week with Drive Thru HR.

I’ve been simultaneously on vacation AND working like a maniac. I took 2 weeks off from my day job so I could relax with the kids’ during their winter break. I scheduled that time off 8 months ago, before I knew the date my book would launch. Friends, my book launched today.

I nearly spent my entire vacation working on book stuff. Launching a book resembles planning a wedding. There are a lot of moving pieces and different players that work together before the main event. My book launch to-do list runneth-ed over. (We’ll just pretend ‘runneth-ed’ is a word.)

There’s a Fine Line Between Optimism and Delusion

I planned to cram a lot of writing time into the two weeks I was off. I use the word ‘plan’ loosely here. It was more of a wish list that had nothing to do with reality. I was going to: 1) Read a lot of research on psychological safety, 2) Work out every day, 3) Write three articles about remote work, 4) Spend quality time with my kids in between 5) Planning our family party and 6) Launching my book.

Then my oldest kid got sick on the first day of winter break. Shortly thereafter the second one got sick. And the rain of Vancouver closed in. Instead of focusing on my writing, I spent the first days of winter vacation knitting on the couch in between taking care of the kids. It should have frustrated me more than it did. But the fact was, I was mentally depleted. I needed time to let my brain go fallow. So I made the last-minute decision to work in short sprints so I could spend the majority of my time lazing about with the kids.

Who Says You Have to Vow to Resolve Anything in 2020?

Taking a break is hard if you’ve been running yourself ragged. It feels weird to just do…nothing for stretches of time. At least it was for me. I am a woman of action. It’s especially hard at the beginning of the year when everyone wants to hear your New Year’s Resolutions.

But you know what? New Year’s Resolutions aren’t the boss of you. If this is where you’re at right now–mentally depleted–the best resolution might be no resolutions in 2020. Or if you can’t quite do that, consider ‘take better breaks’ as your resolution of choice. My resolutions are usually hedonistic. One year I resolved to eat awesome cookies. Several years ago I went in search of better cheese. I wasn’t going to pick a resolution at all this year, but ‘take better breaks’ is growing on me. I’m going to sit with the idea in the back of my brain for the month of January and see how I like it.

Do you make hedonistic or subversive New Year’s resolutions? I’d love to hear about them.