content/blog/2022-02-10-leaving-the-office.org

  1#+date:        <2022-02-10 Thu 00:00:00>
  2#+title:       Analysis of Transition from Office-Based Employment to Remote Work Models
  3#+description: Examination of factors influencing the shift from traditional office environments to remote work, including benefits, constraints, and implementation recommendations.
  4#+slug:        leaving-the-office
  5#+filetags:    :remote-work:home-office:career-change:
  6
  7* The Working World is Changing
  8
  9There has been a trend for the past few years of companies slowly
 10realizing that the pandemic is not just a temporary state that will go
 11away eventually and let everything return to the way it was before. In
 12terms of business and employment, this means that more and more jobs are
 13being offered as permanently remote roles.
 14
 15I had always dreamt of working from home but thought of it as a fantasy,
 16especially since I did not want to move over into the software
 17development field. However, I have found that almost all roles being
 18sent to me via recruiters are permanently remote (although most are
 19limited to US citizens or even region-locked for companies who only
 20operate in select states).
 21
 22I decided to take a look back at my relatively short career so far and
 23compare the positive and negative effects of the different work
 24environments I've been in.
 25
 26* In-Person Offices
 27
 28** Retail Internship
 29
 30I started my first job as a management intern at a busy retail pharmacy,
 31working my 40-hour weeks on my feet. As these retail stores don't
 32believe in resting or sitting down, you can guarantee that you will
 33spend entire shifts standing, walking, or running around the store.
 34Unfortunately, I worked at a time when our store didn't have enough
 35managers, so I spent the majority of my tenure at the store running and
 36breaking a sweat.
 37
 38Now, things aren't all bad in retail stores like this. It is definitely
 39tiring and inefficient to force employees to work constantly, or pretend
 40to work if there's nothing to do, and not allow anyone to sit down.
 41However, if you are able to operate a retail store with a limited crew
 42and provide enough comfort and support, I believe these jobs could be
 43both comfortable and efficient.
 44
 45** Semi-Private Cubicles
 46
 47After about a year, I was able to find another internship - this time,
 48it was in my field of interest: internal auditing. This was for a life
 49insurance company that was well over 100 years old. The age of the
 50company shows if you work there, as most people in management are well
 51into their 40s-60s with little to no youthful leadership in the company.
 52Likewise, they owned a large headquarters in a nice area of town with
 53plenty of space, parking, etc.
 54
 55One upside is that each person gets their own large L-shaped desk,
 56formed into cubicles that house 4 desks/employees. These "pods" of
 574-person cubicles are linked throughout each floor of the headquarters
 58(except the sales people, who had that open-floor concept going on). The
 59walls of the cubicle were tall and provided a lot of privacy and
 60sound-proofing, except when I used the standing desk feature (I'm over 6
 61feet tall, so probably not an issue for most people).
 62
 63I loved this environment, it allowed me to focus on my work with minimal
 64distractions, but also allowed easy access, so I could spin around in my
 65chair and chat with my friends without leaving my chair. This is the
 66closest I've been to a home office environment (which is my personal
 67favorite, as I'll get to later in this post).
 68
 69** Semi-Open Floor Concept
 70
 71When I shifted to my first full-time internal audit job out of college,
 72I was working at a company that was headquartered on a floor in a
 73downtown high-rise building. The company was only about 20 years old
 74when I worked there and were trying a lot of new things to attract young
 75talent, one of which was a semi-open floor concept for the office. My
 76department worked just around the hallway corner from the executive
 77offices and used that "modern" layout young tech companies started using
 78in the 2000s/2010s.
 79
 80Each desk was brief, and you could look most coworkers in the face
 81without moving from your chair, I hated this so much. Directly to my
 82left was the Chief Audit Executive (our department's leading boss), and
 83his desk was pointed so that his face would stare straight at my desk
 84all day. I spent more time thinking about who was looking at me or
 85checking on me than actually working.
 86
 87The other annoying part of the open concept they used was that the
 88kitchen area and pathways were too close to everyone's desks (since the
 89desks were spread out, to provide space or something), so noise and
 90conversation would be constant throughout the day while you try to work.
 91For someone like me, who needs silence to get work done, that was a
 92non-starter.
 93
 94** Hotel Office Concept
 95
 96I currently work for a company remotely (for now) and travel to the
 97office every once in a while for events and to help coach the staff
 98underneath me. The office I visit uses the hotel desk concept, where you
 99need to check in at a touch screen when you enter the office and "rent"
100a desk for the day. The same goes for offices and meeting rooms.
101
102These desks are flat-top only and do not have any walls at all. In
103addition, they're stacked with one row of 4 desks facing another row of
1044 desks. These pairs of desk rows are repeated through the office.
105
106This means that when I go, I need to rent a random desk or try to
107remember the unique ID numbers on desks I like. Once I rent it, I have
108to make sure no one sat down in that desk without renting it. Then, I
109can sit down and work, but will probably need to adjust the monitors so
110that I'm not staring in the face of the person across from me all day.
111Finally, I need to wear headphones as this environment does nothing to
112provide you with peace or quiet.
113
114Luckily, you can rent offices with doors that offer quiet and privacy,
115which can be very nice if you have a lot of meetings or webinars on a
116certain day.
117
118* Home Office
119
120Okay, now let's finally get to the home office concept. I have worked
121from home for a little over two years at this point, across three
122different jobs/employers. Over this time, I have experimented with a
123plethora of different organizational ideas, desks, and room layouts to
124find what works best for me.
125
126These things might not apply to you, and that's fine. Everyone has a
127different situation, and I really don't think you'll know what works
128until you try.
129
130** Tip #1
131
132Let's start with my top rule for a home office:
133
134#+begin_quote
135If you live with others, working in a shared space is not effective.
136#+end_quote
137
138It just does not work. If you have another person sleeping in your
139bedroom, it is difficult to manage your work schedule with their
140sleeping/work/school schedule. If they wake up after you need to start
141work, you might wake them up or have to suffer the agony of staring at
142bright screens in a dark room.
143
144In a similar vein, working from a location such as the living room
145likely won't work either. Distractions will come far more frequently:
146televisions, cooking, cleaning, deliveries, etc. If you're like me,
147you'll end up playing a game instead of actually doing any work.
148
149** Tip #2
150
151Okay, the second thing I've discovered that works for me:
152
153#+begin_quote
154Use the pomodoro method (or something similar) to balance work tasks
155with personal tasks.
156#+end_quote
157
158I use a very casual version of the pomodoro method where I will work for
1591-2 hours (usually set in strict intervals like 1, 1.5, 2 hours) and
160then will allow myself 30-60 minutes for personal tasks. This schedule
161works for me, since my work schedule really only comes to 3-6 hours of
162work per day.
163
164In this case, I'll work through my list of tasks for an hour or two and
165then give myself personal time to get drinks and food, wash dishes, put
166clothes in the washer, get the mail, etc. If you're in a convenient
167location, this usually gives time for things like getting groceries (as
168long as you're not a slow shopper).
169
170** Tip #3
171
172While I listed this one as number three, I don't think I'd accomplish
173anything without it:
174
175#+begin_quote
176Document everything: even things you didn't before - such as task lists
177and notes from casual calls or meetings.
178#+end_quote
179
180I've noticed that staying in an office gave me more constant reminders
181of outstanding tasks or facts I had learned in a conversation.
182Translating everything to a digital world has made me lose a bit of that
183focus (perhaps since I don't have visual reminders?).
184
185Keeping a running task list of all things I have to do - even potential
186tasks! - has helped me keep up without missing anything small. Likewise,
187keeping notes for ALL meetings and calls, no matter how casual/quick,
188has improved my retention immensely. Beyond helping my mental
189recollection, it has saved me numerous times when I need to do a keyword
190search for some topic that was discussed 6+ months ago.
191
192** Tip #4
193
194Okay, last one for now.
195
196#+begin_quote
197Keep your work area clean.
198#+end_quote
199
200This one is straightforward, but I know some people struggle with
201cleanliness or may not believe it makes a difference. Trust me, keeping
202your desk area clean and organized makes a huge difference, both
203mentally and emotionally.
204
205Just think about it, you walk into your home office and see a clean desk
206with a laptop, dock, monitors, keyboard, mouse, and a notepad with a pen
207on top.
208
209Now imagine the opposite, there's an office with the same equipment, but
210there are clothes hanging on the chair, empty drink bottles, candy
211wrappers and dirty plates. This can take both a mental and emotional
212toll by bringing constant disarray and stress into your working
213environment.
214
215Just keep things clean each day, and you won't need to do any big
216cleaning days to recover.
217
218* My Preferences
219
220I've talked about the different environments I've worked in and
221expressed some honest thoughts on pros or cons to each, but what do I
222prefer? Well, if you're reading along, you should be able to tell that I
223much prefer a home office above all else.
224
225Being able to control my own day and allot my time as needed has brought
226a calmness to my life and has allowed me to maximize each day. I feel
227far more effective and efficient in a home office than any other office,
228especially open-office layouts.
229
230If I do need to return to an office part-time in the future, I really
231hope the office will have privacy and quietness in order for me to get
232my work done.