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-date = 2022-02-10
-title = "Leaving Office-Based Work in the Past"
-description = ""
-draft = false
-+++
-
-# 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
-
-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
-
-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
-
-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
-
-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:
-
-> If you live with others, working in a shared space is not effective.
-
-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:
-
-> Use the pomodoro method (or something similar) to balance work tasks with
-> personal tasks.
-
-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:
-
-> Document everything: even things you didn't before - such as task lists and
-> notes from casual calls or meetings.
-
-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.
-
-> Keep your work area clean.
-
-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.