talk to me about your telework day

[thebulldog]

my new job will give me two work from home days per week. This is going to save me a decent amount of time and money cutting back on my hour-ish commute each way on these two days.

i have worked from home sporadically at different jobs but have never had a set two days like this.

how do you maximize your at home time? I am not insinuating I am going to louge on the couch while I should be working but switching laundry loads or having something cooking in the crock pot seems like a start. i am trying to free up weekend time to avoid chores.

[raangoli]

I’ll do laundry during the day. I figure it’s not much different than me getting up to go chat with a coworker for 5 or 10 minutes. I’ll throw it in and then when I need a break to get up and walk I’ll switch it to the dryer or fold.

During lunch I’ll make time to workout or go for a walk.

I don’t really do dinner or meal prep since I do that all on Sunday. I might run to the grocery store in the morning after drop off but that’s about it.

Sometimes I’ll wipe down counters or the bathrooms if I’m not doing laundry as a break instead. In piecemeal of course bc doing it all at once would take a lot of time.

But mostly I just work longer bc I lose track of time and the next thing I know it’s like 6:00.

[scm1011]

Nov 3, 2019 14:14:19 GMT -5 raangoli said:

I’ll do laundry during the day. I figure it’s not much different than me getting up to go chat with a coworker for 5 or 10 minutes. I’ll throw it in and then when I need a break to get up and walk I’ll switch it to the dryer or fold.

During lunch I’ll make time to workout or go for a walk.

This. 

I'm actually more productive from home because my normal morning commuting time becomes my coffee and read email/check the boards time (which at work, is generally the first 20-30 minutes I'm there). So I pretty much work 8-noon (with a laundry switch or 2), go for a run/take a shower at lunch, then work 1-4, and then spend 15-30 minutes doing dishes or bottle/lunch prep before grabbing the kids at daycare. 

[covergirl82]

I also usually do laundry during the day, but wait to fold it until lunchtime or in the evening.

I will also sometimes run an errand (usually to the grocery store to pick up a few things) during my lunchtime. I may also clean bathroom counters or toilets (piecemeal, as PP said due to time) throughout the day as a break.

I like to make a crockpot meal on my WFH days because I find that the days I go into the office, the food is in the crockpot too long (it cooks for 6-8 hours, but may stay on warm for another 2-4 hours).

[lessel]

ALL OF THE LAUNDRY.

Seriously, working from home cuts down on basically all laundry time over the weekend. I usually do one load on the weekend to wash the boys nap blankets that come home on Friday. That's it.

On a regular work from home day, I will try to fold and put away laundry too--like if I'm listening to a conference call or something. But if it's super-busy then I just fold at night. Sometimes I try to prep food for dinner, but it's less consistent that I'm able to do that.

My "commute" time in the morning is instead spent cleaning up the kitchen and tidying up a bit. So I tend to start my workday at the same time as if I'd had a half-hour drive to the office.

[shaynaatl]

I have one day telecommute day per week.
I’ll typically throw laundry in, but will fold it at another time. I run our robot vacuum upstairs while I work downstairs. I’ll hit up the gym during my lunch break. I’ll do some dinner prep but nothing that is time intensive. I also stay online longer because I don’t have a commute.
Overall I love having this work perk.

[ssmjlm]

Same as pp, I usually do laundry. I make sure to log-off for lunch and give myself a true lunch break. I usually go for a walk or sometimes will run a quick errand.

I will sometimes do some meal prep, but DH gets home with E at 4:30ish and I'm on the clock until 5, so it just depends on what's on the menu.

[Wallflower]

If I didn't get up to walk around some, my body would atrophy. Seriously, about once an hour, I get up and walk around. Sometimes that means going to the basement and moving laundry from washer to dryer. Sometimes that means unloading the dishwasher. I figure that in bathroom time alone, I'm saving time at home (bathroom next to office) compared to the office (bathroom waaaaaaaay down the hall, outside locked office doors). And the only co-workers I talk to in my kitchen meow back at me, so they're much shorter conversations.

[ESF]

I often tidy up and empty the dishwasher on conference calls. It's not possible on every kind of call, but if I don't need to be taking notes and it's the kind of call where I'm doing more listening than talking, I'll wander around the house and pick things up.

Mute button and a handsfree headset are my best friends. Even just the standard iphone headphone/speaker combo work.

[preppy]

I WFH full time and do a lot of crockpot meals since I can prep before my day starts or during lunch. I do laundry 1-2x a week during work - I sort it out the night before then switch throughout the day and fold at night. I have started working out more at 5:30am these days but when I can't workout early I will do my workouts at lunch. I also will run simple quick errands at lunch - post office, CVS, etc.

[steamboat185]

I typically do laundry, run the robot mop, and will empty the dishwasher or clean the counter when I’m on calls that only require me to listen. I try to start my day a bit earlier and sign off a bit earlier than normal that’s often when I start dinner.

If I can do a chore in under 5 minutes I try do one once every hour to 90 minutes.

[mlkgls]

This may not be exactly what you were looking for in terms of suggestions, but I would recommend investing in a secondary monitor for your at home setup. I purchased one from amazon for around $100 and also invested in both a wireless mouse and keyboard; it makes all the difference during the 1-2 days a month I WFH.

I try to throw in a load or two of towels, but don’t typically get to do much else. A crockpot or IP meal would probably be easy to work into the schedule. 

I wish I was able to WFH a little bit more. I always feel so productive!

[lessel]

Nov 4, 2019 19:51:24 GMT -5 mlkgls said:

This may not be exactly what you were looking for in terms of suggestions, but I would recommend investing in a secondary monitor for your at home setup. I purchased one from amazon for around $100 and also invested in both a wireless mouse and keyboard; it makes all the difference during the 1-2 days a month I WFH.

I try to throw in a load or two of towels, but don’t typically get to do much else. A crockpot or IP meal would probably be easy to work into the schedule. 

I wish I was able to WFH a little bit more. I always feel so productive!

Ditto the monitor suggestion. Depending on what your work provides you for your home office, I would recommend filling in the gaps on your own dime. It's worth it. I have a work laptop that I just used at home but it was small and starting to exacerbate some neck problems I have. So I have a laptop docking station, a large monitor (kind of regret not having two, but maybe I'll add one soon), and a wireless keyboard and mouse.

[covergirl82]

Speaking of monitors, I am planning to buy one around Black Friday. I currently just use my laptop, but a bigger screen (or two screens, because then I'd have a monitor plus my laptop) would help me be more efficient. I probably will also look for a keyboard on Black Friday as well.

[heliocentric]

I squeeze in small things like putting laundry, changing sheets, and unloading the dishwasher. Sometimes I might start dinner if we need to eat early. It's also nice that I can take the dog to the vet or run a quick errand, if needed. Honestly, one of the best perks is the ability to take a quick nap during lunch.

I used to move around in the house, but I've found it's much better if I work in my home office (I have a dedicated space). I absolutely need a monitor and separate keyboard / mouse that I connect with via a docking "hub." My desk is old & ugly but it has a keyboard tray at the proper height, which is critical. For years I just used my laptop and it started causing shoulder / neck pain. A real desk chair also helps. Having a proper set up made a big difference not just in my comfort, but also in my ability to stay focused.

If you're on the phone a lot a bluetooth headset that holds a long charge is nice.