WFH Tips—Your space isn’t the problem (aka how to not take calls from the bathroom)
I’ve been living and working from my 400 sq ft studio in New York City for a while now. My husband used to work from home on Fridays, but now with the COVID-19 quarantine, we’re both home working full time.
I'm seeing lots of unhelpful content flying around the internet like "have a distinct place to work" and other things that you can't possibly change right now. Essentially, all of the well meaning advice is pointing to your space being the primary problem, rather than the problem being how you handle yourself and your schedule. Not to say that a big gorgeous space wouldn’t be lovely and make things easier, but chances are your space is hard to change right now.
So in that spirit, I’ve jotted down some quick tips to help you make the most of the space you already have (even if it’s really small!). With a little thought and consideration, you can make it work just like we are.
FYI: This is a scrappier post than I usually write, but I wanted to share these helpful tips now rather than delay due to photography or more editorial.
Working from home in a studio
Create a “distinctive” workspace
I hear a lot of people stating on the internet that you must have a distinct work space in order to be productive and to keep your work life and your home life separate. Welp, that’s fine advice but some of us live in a studio or just can’t manage to make that work for whatever reason so here’s how to fake a “distinctive” workspace.
Make your bed
Making your bed or, if you have a wall bed, putting it away is an easy way to kick off your day with an accomplishment. Sure, you can answer emails in bed, but our brains associate places with tasks—so do you really want to train your brain to think about email when it’s time to sleep?
Keep work supplies together in a “work box”
My charger, mouse, keyboard, reading glasses, business cards, paperwork and anything else physical that is related to my work is kept all together in a wooden box. Each morning when it’s time to work, I pull it out and get what I need. At the end of the day when it’s time to eat dinner, I clear off the “work table” and transform it into the “dining table”. I find that keeping everything together in one box makes it easier to quickly get out and put away the things I need. But more than that, it’s a mental cue that I’m shifting gears.
Set a schedule and stick to it
When you’re at home all day it can be tempting to multitask and some people can pull it off. But if you’re struggling to stay focussed and motivated, I recommend setting working hours on your calendar and then sticking to it. However, your schedule does not have to be 9 am to 5 pm! During covid your schedule might look different. Maybe you grocery shop in the morning to avoid the crowds and do laundry on Wednesdays during lunch. The key is to set an intentional schedule and then stick to it so you have working time and you have quitting time!
Something just might have to give
This pandemic is unchartered territory for everyone. Everyone is suddenly trying to work from home and that is a big adjustment—for you, your coworkers, and your boss. And now you have to get on Zoom calls all damn day and the internet sucks.
Just know that a pandemic is not a creative retreat. Nor is it a time to be pretending that it’s business as usual and we’re all somehow going to be just as productive as before. And certainly not more productive! Hey if you’re in the groove, that’s cool, but please don’t expect that from everyone else.
If someone is giving you a hard time (or maybe you’re giving yourself a hard time) just be reminded that the meeting actually can wait until tomorrow. The project can be delayed a bit. Everything that isn’t life or death will work out eventually so best keep our priorities straight. Unless you’re an essential employee—than thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!!.
If you’re sharing your space with someone also working from home
Take the time to figure out your workstations
My husband was a bit resistant to spending the 20-30 minutes to strategize where we should each set up our workstation. I eventually convinced him to brainstorm with me and move some furniture around to make sure we had the best possible setup (still not great, let’s be honest). Figuring out the right setup was totally worth the time and just remember that whatever changes you make don’t have to be permanent.
We are share our rolling CB2 table—we sit on opposite sides, with a bit of free space to the left of us both. It’s tight but we’re making it work.
Share/synchronize your schedules
Each morning my husband and I look at our calendars and send each other an email of our meetings that day. That way I’m not loudly making lunch while he’s presenting to a big group on Zoom.
We even took synching our schedules further and rearranged our work meetings (whenever possible) to have quiet work sprints throughout the day and designated times for meals and connecting.
It’s hard to explain exactly how big of an impact this has made! We’re both happier and more productive since synching our schedules. I think before, each day was monotonous and lonely, even though we were both in the same room. The “always able to connect” made it hard to be productive because we would interrupt each other with whatever. But then since we are always home together, there wasn’t a lot of intention happening about when would be hang out time.
Highly recommend considering synching up your schedules!
Our schedule looks like this:
7:00 am : wake up, make coffee, clear the cobwebs
7:30 am: Two hours of focus time (we both have important personal projects that aren’t officially “work”)
9:30 am: Take a break, make more coffee, have a snack or go for a short walk
10:00 am: Officially start work and focus diligently for two hours with zero interruptions
12:00 pm: Lunch together, perhaps a short walk around the block
1:00 pm: Two hours of focussed work time (again zero interruptions but we know we’ll be able to connect at 3pm).
3:00 pm: Quick 30 minute break for a snack or a walk. I swear we don’t just snack and walk all day.
3:30 pm: Two more hours of focussed, dedicated work.
5:30 pm: Work out, take a shower, and make dinner together
7:30 pm: One more hour of focussed work, but this time again for our personal projects.
8:30 pm: Home free! We will jam on our instruments or watch something on Netflix.
10:00 pm: Lights out!
Remind each other 10 minutes before a call is starting
By reminding your new coworker when you have a call coming up (even if you emailed them that morning with your schedule), it gives them time to fix themselves a coffee or snack. Or, if they were also about to hop on an impromptu call, it gives you both time to figure something out (ie relocate to the bathroom or reschedule).
I used the NextStand and Ryan uses the monitors
Sometimes we switch.
Create a popup office
At first I was taking calls in the apartment building hallway or our bathroom. I have my own marketing consulting business so trying to close business and help clients from the bathroom was not ideal.
Solution: I’m in the middle of converting our entryway to an office popup! I’ll share properly soon but here’s the plan:
Installing a double layer curtain between the entryway and the main room to dampen the noise when we both need to be on calls.
Installing a proper shoe storage so our shoes aren’t ugly on the back of the bathroom door.
Move the folding sling chair and a side table into the entryway during the day so someone can pop in there and pull the curtain closed.
Extra perks: replacing the default closet door knobs with adorable ones and covering the electric panel with an exotic bird print.
Put on focus music
If you’re not used to working in such a tight space together, small things might become big annoyances—such as loud typic, chewing, or slurping coffee. I find putting on some focus music (no lyrics) is a good way to drown out any distracting noises. Try this Spotify playlist: Tranquility with a beat or anything with “spa” in the title.
Be patient, gentle and kind
Remember that no one living has ever been through something like this. It’s completely unprecedented and you might react in unexpected ways. Mood swings that are out of character are perfectly understandable right now. You’ll get through it besides being safe and healthy, the next important thing is how we treat the people we care about. So go easy on yourself and others.
Managing sick days when you’re sharing a small space
With COVID going around and just the general fear and anxiety of living in a pandemic, you or your coworker might need a sick day. Sick days are already tricky in a studio (there’s nowhere to escape the coughing) but it can be especially hard if one person is under the weather and the other is under a deadline.
Here’s a few tips if one person is sick:
Put on a spa playlist to have relaxing music that softens typing or work calls.
Better yet, have the sick person wear ear plugs or headphones to drown out your typing.
If they are sensitive to light, but it would be demotivating to work in the dark all day, have them wear an eye mask.
Offer up lemon water, hot tea, medicine, and lots of patience. This is a really tough time for everyone. Be kind and gentle with yourself and your loved ones.
That’s all for now! I’ll add more tips for working from home in a small studio as they come to mind. Let me know how working from home is working out!
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