I never really took this whole introvert vs. extrovert thing seriously until recently. Growing up, we took the Myers-Briggs tests in school to determine several things, including whether we were introverts or extroverts. For every test I came in as a clear extrovert and looking back I guess it totally makes sense. I have always been one to enjoy going to school, being part of a team, or just finding any reason to physically be around others. Now that I am a good eight years into my career, I am starting to take a closer look at what this all means to my day to day success. Coincidentally enough after I started this post, I saw Dan Pink keynote the 2015 Legal Marketing Conference in San Diego where I learned I am actually much more of an ambivert. Are you? Check out Dan’s assessment.
Last year, a great job opportunity for my husband prompted a move back to our home city of Chicago. As with any move there are many stressors and things to consider and LexBlog made it a bit less stressful on the job front as they allowed me to keep working with the company from Chicago. It was extremely hard to leave the day to day interaction with my team but it was a risk I was willing to take so that I didn’t have to sacrifice my career or my family.
I am here to tell you that working from home is not all it is cracked up to be, especially if you are someone like me who feeds off the energy of other people. Instead of dwelling on the things that I was missing, I find ways to feed my extrovert soul. Below are 10 suggestions/tips for all of my fellow work from home friends who might struggle with it from time to time.
- Get up and start your day as if you were going to the office.
- Do #1 but do not feel forced to “get ready.” Yoga pants are perfectly acceptable. I would just advise ditching the pajamas.
- For meetings with your team members (if you have them) try to utilize video conference or Skype.
- Plan your people time such as lunch breaks with friends or in person client meetings. I like to aim for at least twice a week.
- Get friendly with the local coffee shops and/or any comfortable place to work with Wifi.
- Set up a comfortable and motivating home office.
- Listen to music or podcasts.
- Plan breaks and try to shut off from working like you would when leaving an office.
- Work extra hard not to “take your work home” and spare your family members or roommates the non stop discussion about work when they walk in the door.
- Be honest with yourself. If at the end of the day working from home doesn’t work for you, don’t do it.
If none of the above work, I might suggest considering a co-work space such as wework. I was lucky enough to visit one in New York City last week and wow, super cool. Collaborative space, the chance to network, hold meetings and most importantly drink free beer. I have been thinking about checking a few out here in Chicago. Stay tuned.
Curious what other tips or ideas might be out there for those who also run into the challenges of working from home.
Image courtesy of salary.com