Always Wear Pants (and Other Tips for Working Remotely)

EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Brian Maher for writing today's blog post. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. 

Working from home is a luxury that has been increasingly afforded to many of us in the tech industry (and a growing number of other industries too). About 6 months ago, I was given the opportunity to join the millions of Americans who already work remotely full time...only my switch to a remote workplace was going to be a bit more involved than for most.

I wouldn’t just be working remotely in another city, or office, but instead in another country, in another timezone, with literally no possibility of coming in to the office if I needed to. The extreme nature of my work-from-home setup left me feeling anxious about the experience, so  I read various blogs in efforts to make the move a positive learning experience for myself and a productive one for my employers.

A few days before departing to my new home in Brazil, I met with a few of my co-workers for drinks. Two of them work from home frequently, but in the same city as the office headquarters. While chatting with them, the topic of my departure came up and I asked them if they had any special advice about working from home and what I could do to make it a positive experience. The answer: “always wear pants.” I thought it was funny at first, but those words stuck with me and their meaning really sunk in weeks later when settling into my home office.

The reality is that working from home is difficult. There are great benefits, like being able to eat home cooked meals, be surrounded by your pets, play music without headphones, and have no commute time to work; but there are disadvantages as well, and those are often overlooked when people think about working from home. Some of the common disadvantages that I noticed early on were: not being able to attend the social events, missing the watercooler conversations, and the struggle to maintain a sense of “presence” in the office. Perhaps the biggest issue though, is one that is very common, yet often overlooked: the ability to separate work and personal life.

As I began to grow into my remote lifestyle and face some of its challenges head on, that advice from my co-worker came back to me: “always wear pants.” It means more than literally putting on pants in the morning. Instead, it symbolizes having a routine for yourself every morning and every afternoon to mentally separate yourself from your work and personal life, when physically separating isn’t possible.

Months before I left for Brazil, I had a discussion with our VP of Product Development about the challenges and anxieties I was facing in my decision to work remotely. He also emphasized the importance of separating work from home life, and told me about a man who would get dressed in his work clothes in the morning, kiss his wife and kids goodbye, go outside, walk around the house, and enter his home office from an external door.

Of course this sounded absurd and over-the-top to me, but I can see now the value of having a ritual to ensure that your work and home lives stay organized and separated. I’ve found some solutions that help me in this area, and if you are working remotely, you may find the following useful in keeping your work and personal life separate:

• Have a separate room where you work. Working from your bedroom, for example, could not only lead to decreased productivity when working, but can also disrupt your sleep come bedtime.
• Tell anyone else who may be home that you are working, and are not to be disturbed.
• Put up a “working” sign outside of your home office door.
• Turn off your computer at the end of the day.

Rituals like these are necessary to maintain a productive work environment, as well as maintain a social life that isn’t interrupted by the fact that your office may be a few doors down from your bedroom.

Today, I have my own ritual to separate my personal and work life, and yes it involves putting on pants in the morning.