{"id":9869,"date":"2020-08-03T15:23:14","date_gmt":"2020-08-03T19:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=9869"},"modified":"2020-08-03T15:23:14","modified_gmt":"2020-08-03T19:23:14","slug":"staying-productive-and-healthy-in-the-home-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/staying-productive-and-healthy-in-the-home-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying productive and healthy in the home office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Discipline makes it happen<\/strong>
\nStructure. A mundane word that lies at the heart of successfully working from home. Without the “quality of being organized,” laboring in the confines of mi casa can become a stressful and less-than-productive experience.<\/p>\n

How do we know this? Because virtually every aspect of successful living is centered on self-control and motivation. The ancient Greek philosophers taught us that 2,500 years ago. But achieving those timeless goals in an environment that were previously the heart of relaxation and ease is a challenge.<\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s castle has, for many, become today\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

One impressive example of home office motivation is Jack London, the American novelist, journalist, and author of Call of the Wild. The man penned 50 books and hundreds of articles. Almost every day of his adult life, London wrote 1,500 words; a goal any professional writer today would be pleased to achieve.<\/p>\n

What makes his literary achievements even more impressive is that London died at the age of 40 of kidney disease. His famous quote: “I would rather my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot,\u201d sums up his grab-life-by-the-collar philosophy.<\/p>\n

With COVID-19 placing the Nation in lockdown, millions of office workers are attempting to convert their corporate office into a home-based one. To succeed, it\u2019s helpful to seek out how it\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

But rather than pull research from the wealth of literature on the subject of hearthside productivity, let\u2019s visit with three area residents who’ve been working from home before the world changed six weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The Hagarty Real Estate Team <\/strong>
\nBrian Hagarty, 52, lives just north of Warrenton. He and his wife Diane have been selling real estate for over two decades, the last five of which have been out of their home. Sales are generated by hours of work in the home office and consummated when showing properties that have been digitally previewed by buyers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first thing to establish is a daily schedule and stick to it,\u201d said Brian Hagarty. \u201cI get up at 6:30 a.m., Monday through Friday. If you sleep till 9, it\u2019s going to result in lost business. If you worked in a typical office, would the boss allow you to show up in mid-morning? I doubt it. When working at home, you are the boss.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cautions the benefits—no commutes, for example—will be countered by the difficultly of staying focused. He thinks more intensity and mental focus is demanded working inside the home. Establishing that discipline will initially be a tough challenge.<\/p>\n

He muses that there is a temptation to act like every day is the weekend. The urge to do yard work, surf the web, stream a good movie, or drop by the fridge is ever constant. Good habits take time to create. Invest the time.<\/p>\n

After discipline, distractions are the next snake lying in the weeds to derail work. Hagarty shared that recently he was on the phone with an important client when one of his two dogs began aggressively barking outside, likely in pursuit of a raccoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat triggered my inside dachshund to start barking loudly too. Through experience, I quickly muted my iPhone so that I could hear the client, but he couldn\u2019t hear the racket. It permitted the conversation to proceed while I was calming the dogs down.\u201d<\/p>\n

On video conferencing calls, he makes certain he\u2019s dressed appropriately and has no unkempt household items lying in the background. Professionalism prevails in the home just as in the office.<\/p>\n

Video conferencing using apps like Zoom and Skype are a productive and enjoyable way to conduct business today. \u201cBut be sure the lightening is good on your monitor, and the background is free of distractions.\u201d<\/p>\n

He closes by sharing that real estate listings are down 49 percent from the same period last year. \u201cThat\u2019s huge. It\u2019s a great time for sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rex Cooper, consultant<\/strong>
\nRex Cooper, 55, is a lifelong Warrenton resident who sold his sensor instrument company in 2018 and subsequently sold his office space last October. Given his experience, he continued to work for the firm as a consultant. He\u2019s been working for seven months now out of a small, comfortable, home office, located above his garage.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, he installed high-speed internet about a year ago. Hence, his work on writing contracts and generating new business mirrors his former work life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI typically arrive in my office around 8:30 a.m. and work till about four in the afternoon. My mornings are the busiest times. It quiets down in the afternoon. During those times, I do research on the internet, prospect, and help write contracts.\u201d<\/p>\n

He augments his computer work by regularly checking his cell phone since business flows on both devices. If he is away from the home office, he uses his eveready laptop to engage clients or business colleagues.<\/p>\n

Cooper advises new homebound office workers to be on alert for distractions. \u201cI think it\u2019s easy to get distracted by things like a leaky sink that you\u2019ve wanted to fix for weeks and not gotten around to it. You need to keep a normal business schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach morning I tell the family, \u2018I\u2019m going to work,’ as I head for the home office. So, I\u2019m kind of leaving the house. I go into the office and close the door.\u201d He echoes Hagarty\u2019s thoughts on eliminating as many distractions as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell my wife and kids please don\u2019t pop in and start asking me questions every five minutes. Secondly, keep a set routine. It\u2019s important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colleen Rathgeber, account executive<\/strong>
\nColleen Rathgeber, 43, lives in Haymarket and holds an MBA degree and is a mother of three. She has worked for several nationally known firms, including AOL, the Los Angeles Times, Yahoo, RealtyTrac, First Data, and more.<\/p>\n

Like many executives today, when an opportunity for advancement presents itself, she springs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as there is not a decrease in productivity, I think the pandemic is going to increase home office jobs when it\u2019s over. The cost to firms offering work at home can be significantly lower than operating a traditional office.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if a person has worked for an on-site company that was highly social, with a lot of interacting among colleagues, it\u2019s going to be hard to adjust. A lot of people don’t understand that and don\u2019t plan for that adjustment period.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo deal with the problem, homebound employees need to have interaction with people via the computer, phone, and teleconferencing.\u201d
\nThe upside is it can increase your productivity because you do not have to deal with a commute. \u201cAlso, after putting my kids to bed, if necessary, I can go back and log on for an hour or two of more work. The flexibility is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rathgeber also thinks work-life balance is critical. It can include midday work breaks for exercise like walking or jogging. As is often heard, rising at the same time each day, grabbing a shower and getting dressed sets the stage for a successful workday. \u201cHow you look and feel can seep into your online and phone business demeanor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rathgeber has a walking treadmill desk, a stand-up desk, and a conventional desk. Some people question how much work can be accomplished when walking and typing at the same time, but she adapted very quickly. \u201cI love the exercise options these kinds of desks provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published in April 2020 in the Fauquier Times.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discipline makes it happen Structure. A mundane word that lies at the heart of successfully working from home. Without the “quality of being organized,” laboring in the confines of mi casa can become a stressful and less-than-productive experience. How do we know this? Because virtually every aspect of successful living is centered on self-control and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[617,958,1064],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n