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I’ve been working from home part or full time now for over ten years.  Frequently people tell me “I could never work from home” or that sort of thing, and I’ve even had coworkers who work full-time in a different office ask me “how do you do this everyday?” when they work from home for a single day.  I’ve certainly done things wrong and learned over the past ten years – here are some of the things that have made it easier for me:

• I need to have a dedicated workplace, ideally my own office/den, but at least a corner that’s “away” from everything else.  It truly helps to have the boundaries to call an area “work” and the rest “home”.  When I first started working from home, I didn’t have this boundary – partially because I didn’t have much space for it.  I found myself working nearly nonstop.  At one point I had my desk and computer right off the kitchen, which made it really convenient for me to work through every meal, while I cooked, from dawn past dusk.  It may have been “good” for the company but it was terrible for my personal life.  If you don’t have the space, I suggest setting up as far out of the way as your normal home life can be.
• I need to have that mindset of “going to work” and “coming home”.  Currently my office is in it’s own room in the basement so that’s an easier transition, but even when that wasn’t the case I tried to think that way.  I tell people I’m going to work and I’m leaving work still, even if all I’m doing is walking up and down the stairs.  That separation helps me to focus on the right thing at the right time and not blur the two together.
• The workplace needs to be comfortable for a full day’s work.  This is already true at the office (most places at least), and I believe it should be at home.  If I was working on a folding chair with a laptop precariously propped on my knees and my cell phone pinched between my ear and shoulder all day… well, it wouldn’t be long before I’d be getting up and stretching and wandering – and losing my focus on work.  My office is at least as well setup as any office I’ve worked in, with a full desk, comfortable chair, dual monitors, printer within reach, and everything setup as ergonomically correct as possible.
• My kids need to understand that “I’m at work”.  I think this is where so many people struggle on their random days working from home – because their kids aren’t used to it or trained for it.  My kids are old enough this isn’t a problem, but when I first started and they were young, they had to be taught – much like teaching them to not interrupt you when you’re on the phone.  For REALLY IMPORTANT work items, I closed my office door and they knew (were trained) that someone better need to go to the hospital or the house was burning down before they knocked on that door.
• I don’t do personal things on my work computer – nothing more than I would do in a traditional office.  Similarly, I don’t do any more work business on my personal laptop than I would if I worked in a traditional office.  That separation helps me to avoid the blur and the distractions from doing what I should be at that time.
• I still have a morning routine, which involves working out (most days), showering, and getting dressed – I simply have only stairs for my commute.  I’m always surprised by the number of people I talk to who don’t shower or dress for work when they work from home.  No judgement, but I can’t help but wonder if/how that affects their work attitude.  I have always been a fan of dressing for work even if it was a casual workplace and changing when I got home, so maybe this is more of that routine.  It’s rare that I video-conference, so I’m certainly not doing it for that reason.

That’s what works for me.  Feel free to comment with your thoughts, additions, or subtractions from this!

Enjoy your day!

Steve

I’ve heard it a number of times in a number of forms: “You don’t have a degree??”  Regrettably, it’s true.  I’m a huge advocate of secondary education and have set the expectation for my children that I expect they should go to (and complete) college with at least a bachelor’s degree.  When I work with Boy Scouts or other youth, I’m similarly talking about it – seeing if they have plans and goals for it.  For some, they’ve already had years of struggling with school and it’s not a likely future for them, or something they’d enjoy or benefit from.  I can understand that – when it fits and isn’t just a lazy answer – and for those, I discuss what their other options are for discipline and career.  For some, the military may be a reasonable next-step for them; others may benefit from a trade school or apprenticeship.  Everyone is different, and a college degree isn’t for everyone.

So, what’s my story?  Why are friends and coworkers surprised to learn that I don’t have one?  I suppose the best that I can say is that I tried.  Perhaps I failed, however, I always have the dream that I’ll find a way to finish it off with something that’s a fit.  I’m reasonably educated, I have a decent vocabulary and excellent grammar and spelling, and I’m very capable of speaking, writing, and articulating my thoughts – seems like I am college educated, right?  Those who know me know that I went to college – I even put in four years there – so what happened?  Math.  Math is what happened, and it’s surprising because I love math, I’m good at math, and people regularly rely on my math skills.  Unfortunately, all the advanced math, statistical math, and especially the theoretical math was very hard for me to learn, retain, and pass.  I used to joke that the number after the course (Calc I/II/III/IV) was the number of times the average person had to take it.

But I’m a computer guy – why was I taking so much math?  There were three contributing factors:

1. At the time (late 80s), I saw the future of computers in the CHIP development, not writing code.  Understand that programming was evolving, and (at least in my mind) the limitations always had their roots in what the processor was able to do.  I’d done machine level programming on a number of different processors, and believed I needed to become an Electrical Engineer to advance “computing” along.  I may not have been completely wrong – if we were still limited to a 486 processor or the first Pentium, this would be an entirely different world.
2. I went to Lawrence Tech – a very prestigious “tech” school that was focused on Math/Engineering/Technology.  When I started, it was an Institute and was very technically focused; shortly after I started they changed to a University, but their degree offering and focus was still very technical.
3. There was no “Computer Programming” degree then (at least at Lawrence Tech).  Most computer classes were mainframe languages such as COBOL and FORTRAN, and if you were going to get a degree in “Computer Science”, the option was a math major with a computer minor.  That route involved even more math than my EE course list!

I struggled through four years of taking courses – many of the math classes I had to withdraw to save my GPA and retake until I could pass.  Certain courses weren’t available to me because I didn’t have the (math) prerequisites and to maintain full-time status I took other electives.  After four years, I looked around and realizing I was failing at college.  My assorted credits didn’t even amount to an Associate Degree, I was already working full-time in the computer industry, and was “wasting” a lot of time and money struggling through courses.  I looked at other schools who were starting to offer computer majors, but I found that my potpourri of tech-based courses, along with the conversion factor from Lawrence Tech’s trimester calendar they had when I started left me in a place where I would virtually…. start over from scratch.  *sigh*  So I stopped.  I dropped out.

Nowadays, 25+ years later, when I encounter a potential employer who is grilling me about not having a degree (or requiring it for eligibility), I have to question what they’re looking for in a degree.  I have more than 20 years of experience as a high performer, along with references from nearly every manager I’ve worked for – so I’m an established veteran and not theoretical potential.  Understanding that going to college and earning a degree shows a commitment – but doesn’t going to college for four years and struggling through day after day show a level of commitment also?  Yes, I failed to achieve earning my degree – the end goal of going to college, but if I didn’t even have an Associate’s worth of success after four years – does stopping and reevaluating show something?  Personally I prefer to work with management that can realize when they need to change course.  I’m still not sure what drives employers to rule me out on this criteria.  I once had an HR person tell me that I needed the degree to learn my skills.  Knowing that I already wasn’t moving forward, I scoffed and asked how much work were they doing with mainframes and using FORTRAN.  Had I earned my degree, it would have been before Windows 95 or smartphones were created, not to mention before the Internet, cell phones, or even laptops were mainstream.

I still regret that I have never finished my degree, and I never mean my story to sound defensive or justifying not earning one.  I have aspirations of earning it someday, though it will likely be alongside/after my children earn theirs.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.