Work From Home in the Time of Coronavirus: my Top Tips for Mastering the Remote Work Mindset

As we enter the time of Coronavirus (a global pandemic), now is the time for anyone with valuable expertise to share it with the world. I have worked and studied from home extensively in recent years. Now I want to show you how i developed the mindset of working remotely.

As Columbia University, my graduate school logged into its first webinar after suspending all in-person instruction, I noticed the growing pains and questions of my classmates as we began the online lectures. How do I share my screen? Do I need to update my Zoom? (online video chatting software), will my pet tarantula distract the class? I already felt comfortable with online work, because all the work I did at Accessibility Modifications Solutions (an accessibility startup) was exclusively online, as was some of my philanthropic work . I have also received various forms of online education and certification, so I feel I have something to offer.

There are various sources that explore online video platforms, distance learning, and even fashionable outfits for working from home, so I want to focus here on how to how to think about remote work, and provide some small tips and tricks I have learned along the way. Perhaps you know some of these.

1. Think of your time as sacred and your workspace as prime real estate.

It takes less than 30 minutes for the average person to focus on a task, and each time you get up from your desk, you risk losing 30 minutes of your day after sitting down again. So keep the essentials near you, combine tasks when you get up from your desk (for example, consider batching all your important phone calls for the day), and leave space for the unexpected paper that will land on your desk.

2. When all else fails, power down.

In our world of clogged cloud storage, endless open tabs and crowded desktops, cluttered computers cause cluttered minds. This is why it’s important to remember to detach yourself from the screen. Printing out your work, for example—on recycled paper—detaches you just enough for you to see solutions you had not seen before. It seems old school, but you would be surprised how many tech whizzes have given me this advice. I once had a web design professor who would see the tiny yet fatal error in his code only after he printed his entire HTML file. Detaching yourself physically works the same way. Changing settings and taking a microbreak gives your mind the opportunity to reset, and air itself out just enough for the idea you hadn’t thought of to settle in. It is no coincidence that Archimedes solved a complex engineering challenge in the bath!

3. Think of all communication you send from the receiver’s point of view.

When you reach out to your boss or your colleague (I am assuming they are in a different location than you are), remember they may be dealing with a totally different challenge from the one you are asking about, which may interrupt him or her, so it is important to remember the way you send your message may be as important as the message itself, and the method you choose totally depends on your (busy) recipient.

Use the journalists’ inverted pyramid structure when you communicate, beginning with the most important information. If you are communicating via email, of course, put the most important information in your subject line, and make sure it is no longer than 40 characters or so, as most browsers will not display longer titles. If you are communicating via WhatsApp, or similar platforms where the last message you send is what your colleague will see first, use the last message as an opportunity to use phrases like “please advise” or “please let me know at your convenience” to indicate action is required on the recipients’ part.

• Use bullets instead of paragraphs wherever possible, and reduce the amount of adjectives you use in this kind of writing. Remember, most remote communication with your boss involves updating your colleague / boss, not describing, so focus on the facts.

• Also, use audio and video wherever possible. A lot of evidence shows these are less involved forms of communication that you absorb yet don’t require total involvement like in reading. Use the same pyramid structure as in writing when you compose an audio message.

4. Leave nothing to chance.

If you are preparing to present with a group via Zoom, GoToMeeting, or some other tool do a full technical rehearsal to make sure everything runs smoothly. Platforms like these are subject to updates, so please make sure you have the most-up-to-date version. I recently presented to a class via Zoom, and a required update prevented me from doing so, so be prepared!

Also, be careful with your editorial process. If you are collaborating with others on an interactive document like a Google Doc, make sure you have an understanding with your group on how you will edit your document. I encourage editing that preserves the original file (for example, making comments in the margin on Google Docs).

Generally speaking, it is a good idea for your team to use a team contract (not an official legal document but a reference point for your team to have a shared understanding,) which will answer key questions about your collaboration: when will meetings be? (important for geographically disparate groups), who will submit the work?, etc. Your team’s editorial process will also be a key thing to address in your team contract.

5. Never lose your sense of adventure.

“Keep Calm and Carry On,” a motivational poster designed in 1939 to prepare the British for WWII.

Our only choice is to go through this, so why should we struggle when we have the choice to embrace the journey? We will all emerge from this with a story to tell. Maybe our world leaders will use this moment to reset and rethink the wars we are fighting, and consider how to be a bit kinder to our planet.

The stoics in ancient Greece said there is a great deal we cannot control in life, but one thing we always control is the way we react to the events in our lives, and research shows there is validity to what the Greeks said so many years ago.

So “keep calm and carry on,” as the British said during World War II, and remember that in good times and bad you have a direct line to me. Please leave a comment or send me an email, I would love to hear from you—and I would love for you to hear each other too! Like those quarantined Italians who sing to each other from their balconies, we lift each other up.

We will be each other’s solution. But until then, wash your hands, and keep your distance!

Love,

The Sharpener

*Special thanks to Columbia university, for our interview on remote work.