It’s been a full week now since I’ve been into my office, and I’m already feeling the effects of working from home full-time due to the coronavirus. Some of them were things I anticipated; others caught me by surprise. Here are a few things I learned from my time at home.

We tend to undervalue the social side of going to work.

I think I took for granted the social value of going into the office to work. Being stuck at home, I immediately found myself missing the face-to-face interactions between my team and I. I always knew this would happen on some level; I didn’t expect to feel it so suddenly and acutely though. It gives me a newfound appreciation both for those who work from home full-time and have found a way to cope with the isolation, and for the fact that I don’t have to.

My after-work routine has flipped on its head.

Most days after work, I come home tired and ready to relax for a bit on the couch. This past week however, it’s been exactly the opposite. After a day of working from home, I want nothing more than to get out of the house and go do something.

Obviously that flies in the face of the measures we’re all taking to try and flatten the curve of this coronavirus, but I can at least go for a walk to get some sun and fresh air! The point is that, regardless of whether I work within my home or outside it, my body, mind and spirit crave balance. If I’m out, I want some time at home. If I’m home, I want some time out and about. No surprise, just interesting to observe.

Setting boundaries is more important than ever.

My train ride home is the psychological neutral zone where I mentally switch from work mode to home mode. Without that change of scenery, it throws my headspace all out of whack, and I’ve needed to consciously work to find another way to disconnect from work.

I’ve found going out for a long walk with my dog after work to be a convenient substitute for the train ride. It’s a change of scenery, it’s good exercise, and I come back in a more-relaxed headspace than I left with.

So is maintaining standard work routines.

There tend to be more distractions at home than there are at the office, and it can be tempting to give in to those when you have some downtime. To make sure that doesn’t happen, I’ve tried to keep my standard work routines as much as possible.

Those include waking up and signing on early while I sip my morning coffee and read the news, scheduling time to get up and stretch my body, and logging off at the same time every day. Keeping this sense of normalcy is going to be important not just for staying productive at home, but also for minimizing the shock to my system when we all go back into the office.

Wrapping it Up

A Facebook post I saw summed up the coronavirus situation well: “Our grandparents were called to war. We’re being called to stay at home on our couches. We will get through this.” Zero argument here, for sure. But it has been an interesting experiment so far, and one that I think companies can learn from.

For all the companies that fear that work-from-home employees are less productive, I can tell you from what I’ve seen from myself and my team so far that you guys are just dead wrong. Regardless of where they work, employees who bring a get-it-done attitude to the office will carry it into their homes as well. It’s just that the habits they need to maintain in order to support that mentality need to change a little.

At least, that’s been my experience. It’s hasn’t been painful; it’s just been interesting. I am looking forward to the day when we can all return safely to the office after this coronavirus stuff is past us, though!