Telework
So today was my first planned telework day. I'd used the telework capabilities before to remotely log in while travelling or to keep from having to go in to the office on the weekends, but this was the first time I'd actually planned to work from home. And I have to say, I was pretty productive. Compare these two environments:
Work: My cubicle is frequently visited by various people asking various questions about various projects, and I figure that if they took the time to find me, I should take the time to answer them. But these visits frequently get interrupted by phone calls, at which time the visitor leaves and I start talking on the phone while reading over my continuous stream of email. By the time I hang up, I usually have three new emails. But by the time I'm mid-way through the first reply email, I get another visitor and the cycle repeats itself. If you noticed, that means my work load is growing faster than I can address it.
Home: Even though I was supervising two 4-yr-olds on a play date and a pre-walking toddler, I was somehow able to focus enough attention to knock out the evaluations of three 80-page project submissions, follow-up with a teleconference to come to a consensus, write a detailed project status updates for several projects, sorted and filed away my emails, and organized my digital files instead of just throwing every download into a "sort me later" bin. I never get that much time to focus on pure task accomplishment at the office. I now feel like I'm finally at the leading edge of the wave instead of tumbling around in the pipeline.
But of course, the one downside is that I can't sit on someone's desk until I get the results I want...so I guess I'm headed back to the office tomorrow.
Work: My cubicle is frequently visited by various people asking various questions about various projects, and I figure that if they took the time to find me, I should take the time to answer them. But these visits frequently get interrupted by phone calls, at which time the visitor leaves and I start talking on the phone while reading over my continuous stream of email. By the time I hang up, I usually have three new emails. But by the time I'm mid-way through the first reply email, I get another visitor and the cycle repeats itself. If you noticed, that means my work load is growing faster than I can address it.
Home: Even though I was supervising two 4-yr-olds on a play date and a pre-walking toddler, I was somehow able to focus enough attention to knock out the evaluations of three 80-page project submissions, follow-up with a teleconference to come to a consensus, write a detailed project status updates for several projects, sorted and filed away my emails, and organized my digital files instead of just throwing every download into a "sort me later" bin. I never get that much time to focus on pure task accomplishment at the office. I now feel like I'm finally at the leading edge of the wave instead of tumbling around in the pipeline.
But of course, the one downside is that I can't sit on someone's desk until I get the results I want...so I guess I'm headed back to the office tomorrow.
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