Make sure not to ‘work’ at home

Unless I’m snowed in or had surgery three days prior, I tend not to make working at home the focus of what I do, instead using it to supplement what I do in the office at the beginning or end of the day. I also used to do it once in a while on non-crucial days back when I had a long commute, but that’s not an issue now that I live close to my office.

So while my experience is nothing like Ken Rosen’s, I would like to add one tip to his.

If you’re going to work at home, actually get something done.Years ago, I had a coworker who was almost never around — which in a way was good, given that our jobs required being out of the office a lot if we were doing it right — but submitted timesheets saying he “worked at home” for 60 to 70 hours a week. The only problem was that his output in no way resembled what it should have been if he was working those kind of hours anywhere.

I’m not saying people noticed, but we did turn it into a verb meaning “claiming to work at home but apparently doing nothing” by adding an “-ing” to the end of his last name.

So yeah, don’t be that guy.

Advertisement