3 Home Office Fuckups to Avoid
By: Dejan Stojanovic
Tags: Home Office, Failure, Habits For Success, Success, Covid 19

3 Home Office Fuckups

Photo by Magnet.me on Unsplash

During 2020 entire workforces moved their offices into their home due to COVID-19 and the following lockdowns in many countries. But while home office definitely has its perks, it equally bears quite a potential for fuckups — some of them rather funny, but some of them a reason to learn and adapt.

2020 — the year we all went home

Of course, this title might seem a bit exaggerated, but in fact, there have never before been so many home office workers as in 2020. The global situation with the pandemic spreading worldwide has changed our daily life quite a bit, not only the private but also the business part of it.

While we all had to get used to not seeing our family members and friends as much, not being able to travel as easily, not going out as usual or even staying inside our homes for several weeks, many of us also had to adapt to working remotely from home.

Not only did we have to adapt our homes in terms of finding a space to work from, get hold of the technological things such as for example cameras, microphones and even simple things as the right table or chair to feel comfortable when working. We also had to get used to meeting our co-workers online only, not having the usual coffee breaks or spending lunchtime together.

The world has changed one can surely say and while the ongoing changes bring many advantages, they have also been the source for quite some failures.

Advantages of remote work

Let us first talk about some of the perks the spread of remote work has brought to us. Many of us have been fighting for the chance to work remotely for a long time, facing objections such as superiors saying one could not work as efficiently from home, being afraid they would lose control over us, not being able to truly see us working.

Often the needed tools weren’t at disposal as well, making it hard to keep in touch while working remotely, keeping up with ongoing work at the office and making collaboration difficult.

With the pandemic and the lockdowns hitting the business world hard, business owners were forced to change their mindset. Suddenly what seemed impossible, was now the only way to go. Working remotely was not anymore something the working force asked for, but rather something businesses demanded — even needed.

As a result, collaboration tools spread widely, hundreds of teams started co-working online, exchanging documents, ideas and reaching objectives in a new way, while people have the chance to stay at home, maybe adjust their daily working rhythm a bit more to their private life, not being as rigidly put to a certain way of doing things.

The world of funny mishappenings

We have all seen them online by now: The videos of several online meetings going south for at least one of the participants. From the co-worker forgetting to log out of the meeting and getting up wearing underwear below his shirt, to the colleague having a “very interesting” discussion with his partner or kids, forgetting to mute himself and sharing the conversation with the entire team, or the co-worker somehow forgetting to turn off the camera during a meeting and visiting the bathroom.

One of the most well-known sweet fuckups during an online meeting, or broadcast to be precise, is probably the one below, where not only one but two kids busted into their fathers BBC News interview.

Fuckups to avoid & how to do so

While working remote brings advantages as well as very funny moments, it also contains some stumbling blocks, that you will want to avoid.

#1 Losing routine

While working from home brings more freedom and allows you to fit your work better into your daily life and rhythm, it might also lead to you somehow losing your routine. And although changing your routine can be a positive thing, you will not want to lose some kind of routine entirely.

After all, a certain routine keeps you and your work afloat and keeps you from either missing out on reaching your objectives or becoming a workaholic in some way. It’s recommended you find yourself some kind of daily routine, defining the hours you work and the ones you do not. Find a rhythm to your day and keep to it, do not things just go along, and the days just pass by.

#2 No boundaries

When work and private life take place in the very same space it is often hard to keep the boundaries between both. Whereas keeping those two parts of life apart up to a certain point is essential. You do not want to end up falling out of bed in the morning and directly hitting your working desk, from which you fall into your bed late at night, after finishing work.

Over a longer period of time, this will leave you draught and unhappy. It is essential you establish and keep a healthy boundary between work and your private life. Though on the one hand, you need to get your work done, on the other you also need to maintain a private life that allows you to relax, think of something else than work and spend some quality time. Not only will this keep you sane, but it will also allow you to regain energy and find space for new thoughts.

#3 Not keeping in touch

Working remotely, away from the office and your co-workers can make you distant, as in losing touch. Especially during a phase when no meetings take place or if regular meetings are not something that’s held up at your company, it is crucial to keep up the contact with your working environment. Even if you are working on something very intensely, remember to give your team a heads up on a regular basis.

During remote work, it happens too fast, that communication runs dry and that is one of the biggest mistakes that can occur. When it comes to communication while at home not communicating enough is the worst thing you can do. Remember that simply getting your tasks done is not enough information for your team. Keep in touch regularly and share your thoughts, your experience and let them know what you’re up to.