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+#+title: Leaving Office-Based Work in the Past
+#+date: 2022-02-10
+#+description: My thoughts on the current surge of remote work and what that means for full-time office-based roles.
+#+filetags: :audit:
+
+* The Working World is Changing
+There has been a trend for the past few years of companies slowly
+realizing that the pandemic is not just a temporary state that will go
+away eventually and let everything return to the way it was before. In
+terms of business and employment, this means that more and more jobs are
+being offered as permanently remote roles.
+
+I had always dreamt of working from home but thought of it as a fantasy,
+especially since I did not want to move over into the software
+development field. However, I have found that almost all roles being
+sent to me via recruiters are permanently remote (although most are
+limited to US citizens or even region-locked for companies who only
+operate in select states).
+
+I decided to take a look back at my relatively short career so far and
+compare the positive and negative effects of the different work
+environments I've been in.
+
+* In-Person Offices
+** Retail Internship
+I started my first job as a management intern at a busy retail pharmacy,
+working my 40-hour weeks on my feet. As these retail stores don't
+believe in resting or sitting down, you can guarantee that you will
+spend entire shifts standing, walking, or running around the store.
+Unfortunately, I worked at a time when our store didn't have enough
+managers, so I spent the majority of my tenure at the store running and
+breaking a sweat.
+
+Now, things aren't all bad in retail stores like this. It is definitely
+tiring and inefficient to force employees to work constantly, or pretend
+to work if there's nothing to do, and not allow anyone to sit down.
+However, if you are able to operate a retail store with a limited crew
+and provide enough comfort and support, I believe these jobs could be
+both comfortable and efficient.
+
+** Semi-Private Cubicles
+#+caption: Semi-Private Cubicles
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220210-leaving-office-based-work-in-the-past/private_cubicles.png]]
+
+After about a year, I was able to find another internship - this time,
+it was in my field of interest: internal auditing. This was for a life
+insurance company that was well over 100 years old. The age of the
+company shows if you work there, as most people in management are well
+into their 40s-60s with little to no youthful leadership in the company.
+Likewise, they owned a large headquarters in a nice area of town with
+plenty of space, parking, etc.
+
+One upside is that each person gets their own large L-shaped desk,
+formed into cubicles that house 4 desks/employees. These "pods" of
+4-person cubicles are linked throughout each floor of the headquarters
+(except the sales people, who had that open-floor concept going on). The
+walls of the cubicle were tall and provided a lot of privacy and
+sound-proofing, except when I used the standing desk feature (I'm over 6
+feet tall, so probably not an issue for most people).
+
+I loved this environment, it allowed me to focus on my work with minimal
+distractions, but also allowed easy access, so I could spin around in my
+chair and chat with my friends without leaving my chair. This is the
+closest I've been to a home office environment (which is my personal
+favorite, as I'll get to later in this post).
+
+** Semi-Open Floor Concept
+#+caption: Semi-Open Floor Concept
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220210-leaving-office-based-work-in-the-past/semi_open_office.png]]
+
+When I shifted to my first full-time internal audit job out of college,
+I was working at a company that was headquartered on a floor in a
+downtown high-rise building. The company was only about 20 years old
+when I worked there and were trying a lot of new things to attract young
+talent, one of which was a semi-open floor concept for the office. My
+department worked just around the hallway corner from the executive
+offices and used that "modern" layout young tech companies started using
+in the 2000s/2010s.
+
+Each desk was brief, and you could look most coworkers in the face
+without moving from your chair, I hated this so much. Directly to my
+left was the Chief Audit Executive (our department's leading boss), and
+his desk was pointed so that his face would stare straight at my desk
+all day. I spent more time thinking about who was looking at me or
+checking on me than actually working.
+
+The other annoying part of the open concept they used was that the
+kitchen area and pathways were too close to everyone's desks (since the
+desks were spread out, to provide space or something), so noise and
+conversation would be constant throughout the day while you try to work.
+For someone like me, who needs silence to get work done, that was a
+non-starter.
+
+** Hotel Office Concept
+#+caption: Hotel Office Concept
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220210-leaving-office-based-work-in-the-past/hotel_desks.png]]
+
+I currently work for a company remotely (for now) and travel to the
+office every once in a while for events and to help coach the staff
+underneath me. The office I visit uses the hotel desk concept, where you
+need to check in at a touch screen when you enter the office and "rent"
+a desk for the day. The same goes for offices and meeting rooms.
+
+These desks are flat-top only and do not have any walls at all. In
+addition, they're stacked with one row of 4 desks facing another row of
+4 desks. These pairs of desk rows are repeated through the office.
+
+This means that when I go, I need to rent a random desk or try to
+remember the unique ID numbers on desks I like. Once I rent it, I have
+to make sure no one sat down in that desk without renting it. Then, I
+can sit down and work, but will probably need to adjust the monitors so
+that I'm not staring in the face of the person across from me all day.
+Finally, I need to wear headphones as this environment does nothing to
+provide you with peace or quiet.
+
+Luckily, you can rent offices with doors that offer quiet and privacy,
+which can be very nice if you have a lot of meetings or webinars on a
+certain day.
+
+* Home Office
+#+caption: Home Office
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220210-leaving-office-based-work-in-the-past/home_office.png]]
+
+Okay, now let's finally get to the home office concept. I have worked
+from home for a little over two years at this point, across three
+different jobs/employers. Over this time, I have experimented with a
+plethora of different organizational ideas, desks, and room layouts to
+find what works best for me.
+
+These things might not apply to you, and that's fine. Everyone has a
+different situation, and I really don't think you'll know what works
+until you try.
+
+** Tip #1
+Let's start with my top rule for a home office:
+
+#+begin_quote
+If you live with others, working in a shared space is not effective.
+
+#+end_quote
+
+It just does not work. If you have another person sleeping in your
+bedroom, it is difficult to manage your work schedule with their
+sleeping/work/school schedule. If they wake up after you need to start
+work, you might wake them up or have to suffer the agony of staring at
+bright screens in a dark room.
+
+In a similar vein, working from a location such as the living room
+likely won't work either. Distractions will come far more frequently:
+televisions, cooking, cleaning, deliveries, etc. If you're like me,
+you'll end up playing a game instead of actually doing any work.
+
+** Tip #2
+Okay, the second thing I've discovered that works for me:
+
+#+begin_quote
+Use the pomodoro method (or something similar) to balance work tasks
+with personal tasks.
+
+#+end_quote
+
+I use a very casual version of the pomodoro method where I will work for
+1-2 hours (usually set in strict intervals like 1, 1.5, 2 hours) and
+then will allow myself 30-60 minutes for personal tasks. This schedule
+works for me, since my work schedule really only comes to 3-6 hours of
+work per day.
+
+In this case, I'll work through my list of tasks for an hour or two and
+then give myself personal time to get drinks and food, wash dishes, put
+clothes in the washer, get the mail, etc. If you're in a convenient
+location, this usually gives time for things like getting groceries (as
+long as you're not a slow shopper).
+
+** Tip #3
+While I listed this one as number three, I don't think I'd accomplish
+anything without it:
+
+#+begin_quote
+Document everything: even things you didn't before - such as task lists
+and notes from casual calls or meetings.
+
+#+end_quote
+
+I've noticed that staying in an office gave me more constant reminders
+of outstanding tasks or facts I had learned in a conversation.
+Translating everything to a digital world has made me lose a bit of that
+focus (perhaps since I don't have visual reminders?).
+
+Keeping a running task list of all things I have to do - even potential
+tasks! - has helped me keep up without missing anything small. Likewise,
+keeping notes for ALL meetings and calls, no matter how casual/quick,
+has improved my retention immensely. Beyond helping my mental
+recollection, it has saved me numerous times when I need to do a keyword
+search for some topic that was discussed 6+ months ago.
+
+** Tip #4
+Okay, last one for now.
+
+#+begin_quote
+Keep your work area clean.
+
+#+end_quote
+
+This one is straightforward, but I know some people struggle with
+cleanliness or may not believe it makes a difference. Trust me, keeping
+your desk area clean and organized makes a huge difference, both
+mentally and emotionally.
+
+Just think about it, you walk into your home office and see a clean desk
+with a laptop, dock, monitors, keyboard, mouse, and a notepad with a pen
+on top.
+
+Now imagine the opposite, there's an office with the same equipment, but
+there are clothes hanging on the chair, empty drink bottles, candy
+wrappers and dirty plates. This can take both a mental and emotional
+toll by bringing constant disarray and stress into your working
+environment.
+
+Just keep things clean each day, and you won't need to do any big
+cleaning days to recover.
+
+* My Preferences
+I've talked about the different environments I've worked in and
+expressed some honest thoughts on pros or cons to each, but what do I
+prefer? Well, if you're reading along, you should be able to tell that I
+much prefer a home office above all else.
+
+Being able to control my own day and allot my time as needed has brought
+a calmness to my life and has allowed me to maximize each day. I feel
+far more effective and efficient in a home office than any other office,
+especially open-office layouts.
+
+If I do need to return to an office part-time in the future, I really
+hope the office will have privacy and quietness in order for me to get
+my work done.
+
+Cubicles are good! I agree with Alice (from the comic Dilbert):
+
+#+caption: Dilbert comic strip
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220210-leaving-office-based-work-in-the-past/dilbert_120109.png]]