Do you remember the last time you consistently worked in an office? For some of us, it’s been a long time! Remember when we had inside jokes IRL and crumbs in our keyboards? Sometimes we wore dress clothes and did our hair! We went to lunch and meetings and happy hours with people.

When the pandemic prompted news organizations to move journalists out of the office and into their homes, we all had to adjust. I haven’t worked from an office consistently since 2019, so this isn’t new for me. I guess my experience in working remotely is what led many of my friends and former colleagues to ask me for advice on how they should adapt to WFH life. They were forced into it by a pandemic — I chose it.

Many of us had to make a few changes to work effectively from home:

• I had to upgrade my home computer situation to accommodate that WFH life. So I (eventually) stopped working from the couch and bought an inexpensive desk that fits into the corner of our bedroom, next to the dirty clothes hamper. It’s not a very glamorous workspace, but I have a second monitor, an array of fidget toys, and a nonstop view of the shoppers heading into the department store across the street. It works for me.
• Creating a dedicated workspace made a huge impact on my focus and productivity. This was the place where I went for meetings; the light from the window made it unnecessary for me to get a ring light (but get one if you have the means). It also made it a little more of a challenge for my two cats to infiltrate my workspace.
• I also found that keeping a consistent schedule is key to keeping my sanity. At home, it’s so easy to get sucked into working unnecessary hours, just because you have nowhere to go.
• On that note, get out of the house! Go for a walk, do a fitness class online, or engage in some other kind of exercise. I did this every day in one way or another — think lots of walking phone calls outside, etc. — and it always improved my mood even on the coldest days.

We all had to find a way to work effectively outside the office. Now that we’ve been doing it a while, I suspect many will be lobbying to keep working from home, even if it is just a few days a week. We’ve gotten into a groove — and really, who wants to put dress shoes on again, anyway?