WFH Files: Sticking to Deadlines
By Tyler Boisvert (Nu Sigma ’10)
Working from home inherently brings a number of challenges; one guiding principal, however, should be your deadlines and schedule.
Philosophy
Just as you have deadlines in a typical work environment, time management and calendars become especially important when working from home. As someone who’s been working from home for years, here are a few tips that help me accomplish tasks by a deadline:
Working with a calendar
- Calendars are sacrosanct – make sure yours is up to date so that your coworkers or classmates know what your availability looks like
- If you need time to accomplish a task without distraction, put that on your calendar
- If in different time zones, make your working hours explicitly clear. If you’re working EDT hours but you live in PDT, make sure your calendar indicates you won’t be working after 2PM Pacific
- Keep track of everyone else’s calendar. In an office environment, it’s easier to see if people are busy. If you don’t have access to someone’s calendar, ask for it!
- Separate business and personal calendars but be sure to block off any necessary personal time on your business calendar when needed
Time Management Tips
- If you have too many things going on, you will not accomplish any of them. Set aside time to accomplish each individual task
- Work your normal day, take your normal lunch. Set office or study hours that you plan on working and continue to separate them
- If managing or working on a team, be sure to schedule regular check-ins with your associates
- Consistently utilize your available communication tools. Zeta Psi utilizes Basecamp for Project Management and Communication with chapters; the staff have our own Basecamp as well. However, communication can get lost when we also use Basecamp pings, Google chat, texting, phone calls, etc. Determine the appropriate line of communication for a given relationship and stick to it