Overdoing It

I l @ ve RuBoard

In light of the common backlash that can occur when an employee makes a move to teleworking, there can be a tendency for teleworkers to overdo it. They feel they have to overcompensate for being "allowed" to work from home.

While efficiency and all the aforementioned commonsense advice is the mark of a smart telecommuter, you don't have to pull an 80- hour workweek and heap extra on your proverbial work plate to prove that you are, indeed, really working and not visiting your local tanning salon.

Let go of the guilty emotions. Step away from your desk. We're ordering you to. These are very common emotions. Said one telecommuter: "I know I do the work of two people to prove that I deserve to work from home and that I really AM working! I can't seem to let go of this workaholic tendency."

One effective way to combat this and also to prove to your superiors and peers that teleworking is a viable strategy is to track your productivity. While this can be a little tricky, sometimes it's possible. For instance, in publishing, each editor is expected to handle a certain number of "titles." When Erica teleworked, she handled an average of four more books at any one time than anyone in the office. At that point, she started to see that some of her fears that she would be perceived as "slacking" were unfounded. Which was not to say she still didn't catch the occasional dirty look.

Step back and see the big picture. After you get used to teleworking, remind yourself that you don't have to "prove" yourself as a worker just because you happen to work from home. Remember, as we pointed out elsewhere in the book, time that is wasted at on-site offices in useless meetings, water cooler chats, gossip, and just "downtime" is essential to sanity ! You can stop and have lunch at home. You can greet your kids when they get off the schoolbus before they settle in with their homework. You can have an "off" day when you have a head cold. Relax and learn to love the 60-second commute!

I l @ ve RuBoard