Working from Home: Setting Up Business When Virtual goes Viral
-Blog Post by Jane Taylor, working from home since 1997.
 
Corona is the new C-Word. If it has not already affected you professionally, it soon will. As we face unprecedented uncertainty in the marketplace, in the office, and in our careers, we will have to dig deep FromWithin.
 
It feels like we are being tested, but whether as an act of self-quarantine or as simple self-advocacy, many of us are going to have to work remotely.
 
“The coronavirus is putting remote work to a gigantic test, and at a totally unprecedented scale. Throughout China, Italy, Japan and South Korea, workers have been on lockdown.”[1]

Universities are moving to remote methods of learning; we and our clients are preparing for that inevitability. Much of our work is already engaged remotely, we’ve got years of experience to share.
 
As you join the ranks of newly remote workers and learn to practice social distancing, you’ll want to stay connected. In this series on working remotely in the Viral Age we will touch on keeping the human connection we need without touching any germs or extensive handwashing and examine ways to:

• Make your virtual office work for you
• Insulate yourself without isolating yourself
• Be proactive with your employer/clients
• Build immunity and resilience into your career

 
Let’s start with your virtual office. Working remotely can be extremely productive when you set yourself up for success. Here are our favorite tips:
 
Time
Stick to your work schedule. Work when you would normally be working. Use your morning commute time to get some exercise or walk the dog. Use your evening commute time to organize your accomplishments for tomorrow. End your workday at a reasonable hour.
 
Professionalism
Dress for work. You may be tempted to work in your pajamas, but such garb inspires a certain laissez-faire unprofessionalism. Take a shower, shave, get dressed. Go to work.
 
Workspace
Make a clean and organized workspace. It need not be large; let it not be chaotic. Set up a dedicated work environment. Do not eat at your desk.
 
Distractions
Your home is filled with your life distractions. Your garage needs sorting, your laundry needs washing, your motorcycle needs riding, Fido needs walking. Commit to your work before letting yourself be distracted. Whether that means fully completing a project or dedicating 90 minutes to it without diversions, make the commitment. Stick to it. Set a timer, if you need to. Your garage can wait.
 
Communicate
Working from home can create freedom, but it can also create discord. Your team is no longer one desk away; make sure communication with them is open, frequent, and clear. Make your expectations known. Make your accomplishments known. Use common courtesy and good manners. If you fear your message could be misconstrued, it probably will be. Take time for clarity: read your messages out loud before sending. Let your team, colleagues, clients know when you will be available. Be available at the time.
 
Insulate yourself from Corona without isolating yourself from creativity
Working remotely can be lonely. Steve Jobs was a famous opponent of remote work, claiming that “Creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.”[2] But spontaneous creativity can also happen by text. Your closest collaborators are only as far away as your phone. Keep your channels of communication open. Schedule and keep regular Zoom, Skype, or FaceTime meetings with your colleagues.
 
Necessity is the mother of invention. With time, exploration, and practice, working remotely can become as creative and rewarding as working at the office.
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[1] https://www.npr.org/2020/03/09/812898220/laundry-between-emails-working-from-home-goes-viral-in-the-time-of-coronavirus
[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/technology/working-from-home.html

Thank you Jane Taylor for this timely blog post. 
​Folks - the world is changing quickly. 
FromWithin Coaching is going to be here to help you make sense of the chaos happening in the world right now. And help us as well as we are human beings and nervous as well. We are a community for each other...stay posted as we share ideas of "insulating" yourself from the chaos, not isolating. 
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-Amy Magyar, Owner of FromWithin Coaching and Human Being as nervous as anyone else, but dedicated to help us all find solace during these times. 

With “New Year’s Resolution Season” upon us, many rush out to change themselves with the turn of the calendar page – it is almost like with that one day change that takes you from one year to the next, you will suddenly gain all of the will power you need to make the change that has eluded you all year. Or worse, you think that suddenly you will become the person you have always wanted to be…overnight, just because you resolved to do so. But I invite you to consider this year, instead of making a “New Year’s Resolution” that you instead consider making a life resolution and hire a Coach.

Why a Coach? Because we think you are “enough” as you are. We believe that you hold amazing power, knowledge, and capacity as you are as a person, today. And that you are not broken and need fixing. Instead, we believe as Coaches, that you are enough and that the support that you need is about expanding that “enough”. We look to expand and reinvigorate the strengths you bring to the world every day. We remind you of the tools you already possess to not just set goals, but get them as well. We challenge you to not allow your “buts” (those excuses that often have the world “but” in the middle of them like, “I have always wanted to do that BUT I just don’t think I can survive on that salary) to get in the way of your dreams.

We believe that the change you seek is most often the product of steady, sometimes circuitous effort; that what we do every day matters more than what we do once in a while. Our job is to help you create an environment of success around that steady effort. We take the long view of the game of change instead of the “30-day challenge” but by making it an expanded view of possibility and opportunity, our clients find a great deal more success that lasts a life time, versus just a short New Year’s Resolution period of time. But most importantly, we make help our clients identify that THEY are the most powerful ones to support themselves in this journey of change. And the ones they can trust the most when they become committed in change, not just interested.

So instead of putting money down for a gym membership that you won’t use, a new pair of $200 sneakers that won’t make you want to run no matter their color, or invest in a new resume because surely is going to help you get clear about what you want out of life – contact a Coach. And let them walk through with you what is really important to you and let them help you see that you are enough as you are – and that change is indeed an important part of growth, let them show you how to navigate change to not only set the goals you want out of life, but get them.

See you in 2020! 
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