Working From Home
by Margie
Half of our team have taken up the option of working from home (WFH). The absence of these staff members from the office has allowed others to continue working in a safe environment with appropriate spatial separation. 
Listening to Wendy Harmer on ABC radio early this week highlighted some of the challenges WFH. She is now self-isolating and running her show from home connected to Robbie Buck via technology. When asked whether she was still in her pyjamas, she replied that she had dressed for work as normal and had her lipstick on. On the other hand, Wendy commented that sitting at home she began to notice how her office and the bathroom needed painting getting up at intervals to remind her husband of odd jobs.
WFH is fraught with distractions and self-discipline is required. Some tactics are suggested as, in my experience, it can be difficult to focus. Take breaks and leave the work desk, ‘clock off‘, walk around the garden, pull out a few weeds or attend to one of those distractions that might have caught your eye earlier. Importantly, have the conversation with partners and children to enlist their support in quarantining your time ‘at work‘ to ensure that the business remains viable.
Keiya, has instituted a novel regime, “We all change our clothes as usual in morning and walk out of home, then knock on the front door to come in to work/school. It works!” Dorelia suggests you simply, “Get up, get dressed, shut the door, and try your best!” 
You may have heard that the Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters signifying “danger” and “opportunity”. Although a quick Google search will show that this interpretation is hotly contested, it gives a helpful perspective. The opportunity I see in this global catastrophe is that it allows us to pause and take time to consider, very fundamentally, how we work and look for those step-change efficiencies that may have eluded us in a more predictable world.
Listening to Wendy Harmer on ABC radio early this week highlighted some of the challenges WFH. She is now self-isolating and running her show from home connected to Robbie Buck via technology. When asked whether she was still in her pyjamas, she replied that she had dressed for work as normal and had her lipstick on. On the other hand, Wendy commented that sitting at home she began to notice how her office and the bathroom needed painting getting up at intervals to remind her husband of odd jobs.
WFH is fraught with distractions and self-discipline is required. Some tactics are suggested as, in my experience, it can be difficult to focus. Take breaks and leave the work desk, ‘clock off‘, walk around the garden, pull out a few weeds or attend to one of those distractions that might have caught your eye earlier. Importantly, have the conversation with partners and children to enlist their support in quarantining your time ‘at work‘ to ensure that the business remains viable.
Keiya, has instituted a novel regime, “We all change our clothes as usual in morning and walk out of home, then knock on the front door to come in to work/school. It works!” Dorelia suggests you simply, “Get up, get dressed, shut the door, and try your best!”
You may have heard that the Chinese word for crisis is composed of two characters signifying “danger” and “opportunity”. Although a quick Google search will show that this interpretation is hotly contested, it gives a helpful perspective. The opportunity I see in this global catastrophe is that it allows us to pause and take time to consider, very fundamentally, how we work and look for those step-change efficiencies that may have eluded us in a more predictable world.
Cover photo credit: Claudio Schwarz
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