Thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic a lot of folks who traditionally worked from an office daily are entering the new world of Working from Home (WFH).

It is pretty clear to me that this is not just a temporary situation. Things will never be 100% back to not WFH again.

It seems like everyone and his brother are on social media discussing this and explaining how to do it successfully. I am no different, however, I have been doing it for over 14 years! I have a simple set of 4 rules to live by that have worked for me.

1. Be dressed and at your desk by 9AM every morning.

2. Set daily work and personal objectives for the day and week. There are many planning tools that you can use but I find that a simple spreadsheet with no more than three columns works best for me. (Someone once said that if you have more than 3 priorities then you have none!) 

In my case they are Work, Personal and Technical Community tasks. (I run a  1,500+ member Microsoft Azure Users Group that I founded and run in Nashville Tennessee as well as my “day job” as an Azure Architect with Planet Technologies helping our clients adopt Azure successfully.)

Here is a sample of mine. (Redacted of course )

Incidentally, I also keep a log of how I spent my time each day.

Yes, I know I cheat a bit on the subject of only three priorities since I have separate list for education. (I spend about two hours a day keeping up with Azure.)

3. It is OK to do personal stuff in the middle of the day, but see rules 2 and  4.

4. Keep close track of your time!  It is a precious commodity and will disappear quickly if you are not careful.

Welcome to the new world of WFH!

Bill