Remote work — how to make it work

Until recently I worked full time in a lab and worked as a writer after hours. A few months ago, I switched to working in person half time, and working remotely as a writer the rest of the time. This made me curious about how to make remote work actually work for me. 

Many science-related jobs can be done remotely (though not yet bench research!). In fact, many of the people I’ve profiled for this column work at least part time from home, including patent agents, writers, a scientific director at a rare disease advocacy group, a regulatory consultant and a data scientist at 23andMe. While there’s talk in the news about companies wanting their employees back in the office, for the time being, remote jobs aren’t going anywhere. 

So this week I talked to people who have been working remotely for a while and asked what they’ve learned. Most of the advice fell into one of four categories: space, time management and scheduling, physical activity, and social connections. 

Space

The most obvious difference between working at home and working at the office is the lack of a default dedicated office space. Working somewhere that isn’t your bed seems to be the way to go (I say as I write this from my bed; sorry, my dog is here), but there isn’t one correct answer for where or how. 

That non-bed place can be a desk in your bedroom if you’re in a small city apartment, a dedicated office room if you’re in a bigger place, or  — if you live somewhere rural and have enough space — a separate building.

Abi Locatis Prochaska works remotely at an environmental nonprofit and lives in rural South Carolina. She works in an outbuilding across the yard from her house where she can have some space away from her toddlers during office hours.

Life circumstances make a big difference. Laura Hobbs, who works in health care economics, addressed this.

“If you're lucky enough to have the space and the capital to be able to experiment [with what works for you], so much the better,” she said. “If you're doing it in a tiny crowded apartment on a shoestring budget, you will struggle much more to find appropriate separation — physical and mental —  to allow you to conduct your work at full capacity, and I don't have an answer for that.”  

Hobbs found that a dedicated space with all the accoutrements of an office including a real keyboard and mouse was what she needed.

“Do not use your laptop on your couch,” she said. “If you can, [use] a dedicated office of your own with a door to close, if needed, for an important call.”

On the other hand, Halim Rizk, a longtime nonprofit employee, doesn’t love having one dedicated space for work. “I've found that having enough space to shift throughout the day helps,” he said.

He’ll work for a while at a table, them move to another room and then maybe even work outside. That partially makes up for the walking around he used to do when he worked in person in an office.

Stephanie Kane, a video producer and editor, has a different suggestion, perhaps more practical for people living in small city apartments.

“If you are in a position to, try to work outside of the house,” she said, suggesting options such as a coffee shop, library or even backyard  “to create some separation between your workspace and your home space.”

Besides location, appearance can make a difference too. Stefanie Ernst, a patient access coordinator, said making an office area your own can help.

“Make your space comfortable visually and less cluttered,” she said. “Make it you.”

Ernst keeps written prayers in sight, so when work becomes stressful, she can look at them and center herself.

Time and schedule 

Everyone I spoke to mentioned the importance of routine, both for making sure you get your work done and for making sure work doesn’t take over your whole life.

“Set your alarm and get up at roughly the same time to start your workday,” Hobbs said. “Don't treat this like a joke. Your livelihood is important.”

Nick Giangreco, who works as a data scientist at a pharma company, stressed the importance of scheduling and routine outside of work.

“One thing that I keep up when working from home is having a regular, consistent morning schedule before the workday,” he said. “I get up, drink a lot of water, stretch, do a little reading, exercise, then get ready to start the workday. I do this pretty much every day, with some variation of course.

“I think that starting your day and doing things before work starts helps to mentally and physically prepare you for a mostly sedentary workday.”

Giangreco said a schedule after work also helps prevent work from creeping into all your time.

“If you can, try to schedule something, whether it’s errands, dinner or just doing something personal when you should STOP working,” he said. “It’s easy to get caught up and not stop working. This can become a habit and be very draining and take away from your identity as a person, not just a worker.”

Kane also pointed out the importance of a schedule to prevent all your time becoming work time.

“Work–life balance can be very difficult to manage when your home and your office are the same,” she said.

If you’re looking for remote work, Kane suggested getting a boost on schedule-setting by finding a company that has set/synchronous work hours. “That way it creates an environment closer to working in an office where you have work hours and non-work hours.”

Physical movement

Ernst stressed the physiological aspects of working from home. She swears by her standing desk.

“The fact that you are home makes you too comfortable already,” she said, “and being sedentary will prevail.”

If a standing desk isn't possible or isn’t your thing, Ernst suggested trying other ways of being less sedentary: Go on walks. Stretch from time to time. 

Human connection 

Working from home can be isolating without coworkers to turn to and chat with throughout the day. Hobbs suggested that people working from home should be intentional about planning social activities.

“Even introverts need some social interaction,” she said, “and we lose most of that by being work-from-home.”

Final thoughts

While working remotely has many benefits, there are some real challenges to overcome.

“Full-time work from home means you need to make serious lifestyle adjustments in order to keep your mind on work when it needs to be on work and keep your social needs met since you've lost that key aspect of an office.” Hobbs said.

 And working remotely definitely isn’t like being on vacation all the time. 

“I think one of the biggest misconceptions about working remotely is that you work less,” Kane said. “In some cases, I’m sure that this is true. But in my situation, I’ve never worked more than the last few years that I’ve been entirely remote.”