Fridays in the remote office

I am reading on LinkedIn that productivity is up when work is performed in a home office. Perhaps.

I guess that assumes you can work while disobeying the beckoning call of the kitchen, “yoo-hoo, it’s snack time”.

Or you can resist puttering around the house.

But it does save on commute time and sitting in traffic. I have embraced the work-at-home ethic for 20 years now and find my days fuller and more rewarding than in my former corporate days.

But, the phone no longer rings, so not interrupting as it used to. Not because business is down, but because phone calls are no longer made. Unless it’s really urgent, right?

Emails and texts and Whats App calls and all the rest are scheduled distractions. Good distractions mostly.

And part of entrepreneurship is being mentally present and physically accounted for in the home office, not in front of the refrigerator.

I am almost always present when seated at my desk but I do admit I take some short walks around the yard for mind-clearing purposes. Or for thinking-harder purposes, about problems that seem to resolve tending the garden for a few minutes. Still present when standing too, not just sitting.

I’ve learned a lot about myself being on my own. My past corporate life prepared me, but I carried the process a lot further. The pandemic magic-carpeted me to find ways to grasp new ideas and great new colleagues all over the world, from in front of the circle light and the glow of the PC screen.

Fridays are my days to reflect back that light on the past week: what I accomplished and what I have yet to start (or finish) next week. I won’t beat myself up for having to push something off to the next day or week, so long as no one is expecting it from me today or this week.

On a zoom chat this week I heard a colleague tell how he writes down what he learned in the past week on Fridays. I am not that organized. Intriguing idea, though.

Fridays are mine, to succeed, just like the other days of the week.

How do you handle Fridays in the pandemic remote office?