As I continue transitioning into parenthood, advice has become a big part of my life. I get it from loved ones IRL, but even more is coming at me from the nameless, faceless internet. It seems to me that from the second my algorithm discovered I was pregnant, I was flagged as the number-one audience member for advice about everything from baby registries and dressing a bump to breastfeeding and sleep training. It continues to this day… there’s advice everywhere!
Over the last few months, all of this has inspired me to think quite a bit about the nature of advice and how we can best integrate it, even if it’s hard for us to hear. I’m still working through that for myself and need more time to share where I’ve landed, but in the meantime, I’ve been inspired to kick off a new series in this space.
Welcome to the first installment of A Word of Advice to Advice.
In each volume, I’ll examine and weigh in on the advice that the internet is offering to a specific group of people or on a specific situation.
As someone who once made a substantial chunk of her living by penning exactly the kind of advice-driven listicles that I plan to explore in this series, I like to think that I have a unique perspective on both ends of the advice-giving and advice-getting transaction. In an effort to be fair, I’ll choose and review online advice geared at demographic groups and audience segments with which I actually identify.
Let’s start with a type of advice that many people have been searching for over the last few years: advice on working from home.
According to Forbes, 12.7% of full-time employees in 2023 were working from home 24/7, while another 28.2% functioned within some sort of hybrid model. At the height of the pandemic, it seemed like almost everyone I knew was transitioning to WFH life—a transition that has laid the groundwork for greater flexibility in many industries and workplaces. I’ve been working from home full-time since the fall of 2016, when I left my job in the sales department at a major publishing house to try my hand at freelancing.
For me, working from home has been a pretty natural fit from the beginning. As an introvert who has no problem establishing and sticking to routines, I have more energy to give to my work and my loved ones when I’m not spending hours in an office. I know this is a privilege not afforded to everyone, and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to lean into a work arrangement that supports my natural tendencies.
Nearly eight years in—and as someone who started working from home before it became a necessity amid a global health crisis—I like to think that I am qualified to evaluate the internet’s advice about creating a productive, healthy #WFHlife.
Currently Reading: Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni
After my little spree of fantasy reading, I’m back to my typical contemporary fiction… and I’m having such a good time with this book! It deserves every little ounce of love it’s gotten in the form of endorsements from readers in my circle—and I think it deserves more love and attention from readers more broadly. Put this on your TBR if it’s not already!
For the purposes of these A Word of Advice to Advice posts, I’ll be compiling a list of advice nuggets from a variety of sites and sources. Since I’m not here to promote or trash talk the people writing or posting the advice, I won’t be calling out author names or offering links. You’ll just have to take my word for it that the advice is out there being packaged as Gospel for the masses to read!
Let’s get into my Word of Advice to Advice on… working from home.
We’ll break down what the internet is telling people (you!) about maximizing what seems to have become the coolest way to work. Here’s what online advice-givers have to say to the WFH-ers of the world—and what I have to say to them!
Start early. Maybe it’s just my morning person talking, but I can’t agree with this enough. Working from home makes it easy to blur the lines between the personal and the professional, and not starting early increases the likelihood of getting distracted or pulled into other things before you actually sit down and get to work. If you have some agency and flexibility over your working hours, I highly recommend starting the day early. You can enjoy the pros of already being in your comfort zone later on and at quitting time!
Establish a morning routine. We’ve been conditioned to think of a morning commute as the last step of whatever set of activities a person goes through to start the day. Take away the commute and you might drop the other activities, too. I’m a big believer in routines, anyway, but for WFH-ers, a structure-bolstering routine is that much more important. I agree that a consistent morning routine sets the tone for a great day at the home office.
Get ready for the day as if you’re going to an office. Here’s where I start to disagree. While I’ve never been one to work in my pajamas, I don’t necessarily think you need to be in an ~outfit~ or have a full face of make-up to have a productive day. If I have a call or meeting, those things have their place! But I’m a testament to the fact that you can successfully work from home while wearing athleisure 90% of the time.
Create a designated workspace. If you have the space and resources to pull this off, it certainly doesn’t hurt—but I’ve lived in places that have allowed for many versions of a home office, and I don’t think you need anything especially official. One thing I do think is necessary is a place to store and organize your things. If you have that, in my opinion, it doesn’t really matter whether you’re actually working from the couch or a fancy desk.
Take time to leave the house. This one’s all about personal preference! At certain points in my WFH journey, I’ve needed more changes of scenery than I do at others. If you’re more extroverted, you might crave a coffee shop work session… but I’ve also fallen victim to shelling out a little too much cash for snacks and drinks while working at a coffee shop!
Skip out on social media and limit other distractions. I’ll be honest: even when I was working in a “real” office, I checked on my social media regularly and indulged in little distractions like music and podcasts. I still do! I think we give distractions too much power over us when we create blanket rules about the role they should (or should not) play in our workdays.
Stick to a to-do list. Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I had a lot more to say about this in a previous post, so I’ll let that speak for itself:
Take breaks. Outside of stepping out to walk my dog and completing “life admin” tasks, I’m not much of a break-taker during the workday. I prefer to get in a groove and keep going—and maybe it’s a little paranoia or a chip on my shoulder, but I’ve never wanted to be perceived as having too much flexibility as someone who works from home. That being said, if you can take breaks and if they help you be more productive, go for it.
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