April 2020

A Work From Home “Newbie” Shares His Perspective An interview with Mike Melchers, District Sales Manager – Ohio District at ABB Working from home is new to you? How are you adjusting? I have worked from home in previous roles at my company, so I have some experience. However, in my current role, I am expected to lead a sales team that regularly interacts with customers on a face to face basis. While we are only 1 week into a 100% remote work arrangement, we are preparing a “Remote Work Playbook” for our team to outline new priorities from training, to digital customer interaction.  What is your general routine?  I still try to get up at the same time, shower, dress, etc to keep my morning routine. I often read news for 20 minutes in place of my normal drive time when I would be listening to news/podcasts. This is a good “buffer” between home and work to prepare for the day. I have a dedicated workspace where I can close the door and focus on work. I try to focus on work in 1-hour chunks, and allow breaks for snacks, bathroom, etc. In the morning I review my daily schedule and block off some 1/2 hour or 1 hour times where I can spend helping the kids with homework or exercising as well. After work is complete, I try to shut down my computer as I normally would and focus on family.  How do you ensure you do not get distracted by things to do around the house? It’s very difficult to do in a work from home arrangement. When I notice myself getting distracted by TV, kids, Twitter, etc I try to refocus on work by either turning off my phone or personal computer and putting it out of reach. Often areas of distraction exist just because they are there. Sometimes you have to take action to move those things out of reach or eyesight, even if you have to do so by moving to a new room or area of the house to re-focus. What is your set up like? (Technology etc) I have a dedicated home office with a personal laptop, a work laptop, and one large screen in the middle, which I can connect to either laptop I am working on at the time. This helps me stay focused so that whatever is on my large screen is my priority at that time. I try not to have both laptops open at the same time otherwise my attention cannot be focused and I get off track easily. I also have my iPad and Phone that during work hours I try not to use unless I really need to for work. How is having your 3 daughters at home impacted your routine?  Tremendously! At ages 4,6 and 9 there is a broad range of educational needs and attention span. The 9-year-old is somewhat self-sufficient, however, she still needs a lot of help with complex concepts before she can complete her assignments. The 4 and 6-year-old both need almost constant help with focus, schedule, and individual attention. When 1 person is teaching all three, it’s extremely difficult to stay on task and help all of them at once. Unfortunately, there is rarely a time that both my wife and I can both help as we both work full time, so we are trying to divide our schedule so that one can work, one can focus on the kids.  What does remote learning look like for them?  We are still learning the routine, but so far each teacher is sending assignments for the week via OptionC, their school online website. The real challenge is consolidating all of this information, and then putting it into a schedule. It’s at least 4 hours of prep work before we even get it to the kids to start so it’s like having a new part-time job at night.  Some of the teachers have started posting some online videos which are very helpful and keeps them connected with their teachers. At this time we don’t have a great way to turn assignments in digitally so we are doing the best we can to organize all of this paperwork. Overall I would say we are all adjusting to this new routine, and it’s clear both the schools and parents don’t have the digital tools to make this process as easy as it could be. How does she like being at home with dad?  The kids love it! What tips do you have for people that are working from home with kids?  Set a schedule, and write it down. Ours is hanging on our wall and the kids know each day what to expect. It’s also great for parents because it takes those decisions out of your day for “what to do next”. Anytime you can automate those small decisions, it gives you more time and energy to focus on the actual tasks. Considering the 24 character strengths, what strengths do you think will help you and  your girls through this new reality? Self Control and Perspective are 2 strengths I would say we value in our house. We always teach our girls that we can’t control what other people say and do, but we can control how we react. This teaches them the internalize what has happened, think about it, and plan their reaction.  Perspective is important. When I start to feel down or that things are out of control, I often think about others that are more financially strained or don’t have the resources or education, or living conditions we have in this country. There are many people that struggle to maintain their house or eat, so our problems are small in comparison. We will get through this just fine, and need to focus on how we can help others through our actions, or donations. Your wife works in a hospital and works long hours and does not have the option to

Expert Tips From A Work From Home Veteran An interview with Chris Beiting, Content Manager, Digital Product at Solution Tree How long have you worked from home? I have worked from home off and on ever since 2009. But full-time since the spring of 2014. What is your general routine? A routine is important. In order to get into the work mindset, I have to get up, get showered, and get dressed for work. Now, I don’t mean wear business casual or a suit. But I need to at least not work unshowered and in my pajamas. I start my workday typically around 8/8:30am. I will typically take a quick break around 9:30/10 to let the dogs out and grab coffee or water. I then break for lunch and then have another break around 2:30. It’s important I end the day at 5 pm. It’s easy to get into the mode where you’re always working. And it’s even more important to have that division when working from home. So I do my best to stop at 5 and not work evenings or weekends — unless there’s a deadline or things need addressed that can’t wait. How do you ensure you do not get distracted by things to do around the house? The trick for that is to have a dedicated work area. I’m fortunate enough that I’ve usually been able to have a dedicated room in my house to set up a home office – but even if you don’t, it’s important to set up space. Don’t work from your bed. It’s setting you up for failure. Now, that being said…I’d be lying if I didn’t toss a load of laundry in during one of my quick breaks. You’re home and laundry will never die. Might as well multitask a little. What is your set up like? (Technology etc) I’m a video producer and product manager for an education company. So I have a wide variety of computers — both Mac and Windows. I always at least run two machines at once, connected by a virtual keyboard/mouse switch. That way I can share work between the machines and use two displays. Since I’m editing video, I always need the most power. The less time I take rendering a video, the more time I can spend finishing projects or balancing my work/life. I also get a lot of emails answered on my iPhone and iPad. While I typically don’t work at night, I will usually at least answer an email back when I get it. People might disagree with that mentality, but it’s always worked for me. How has having your daughter at home changed your routine? My daughter has never known her dad to not work from home. When she’s been sick or just off from school most of the time she will be here with me. In the summer, she is usually at daycare. With the recent events, it is looking like she is going to be here with me during the day for the foreseeable future. Thankfully she’s 8, so there is some self-sufficiency that happens. But I need to be mindful so she’s keeping up on the tasks that her school has given her. It usually results in me taking more frequent breaks to follow up with her. She also isn’t afraid to come into the office. I usually always give her a heads up if I have a video call or meeting, so if there’s a need while that is happening she’s allowed to send me a message through iMessage on her iPad. What does remote learning look like for her? Since this kind of caught a lot of schools off guard, they’ve had to more or less adapt on the fly. Thankfully her school is a one-to-one school with Chromebooks, so all the students from K-12 have had exposure to learning with technology. While the students under 4th grade aren’t allowed to take their Chromebooks home, the school did give us all the login information so if we wanted, or had the ability to we could log in from home. Thankfully a few years ago I bought a Chromebook, and it’s been sitting around collecting dust. This week I updated it…added her login info, and she’s been completing her tasks. Her teacher is pretty tech-savvy, so she’s been engaging with the students through video. I believe my daughter is more skilled at Google Apps than me. How does she like being at home with dad? With the social distancing, she’s been bored. She understands that I am busy, and I have a lot going on — but I am making time to make sure she’s engaged. I like her being here. Kids grow up so fast and before you know it, they don’t want to hang out with you. I’ve been extremely fortunate that I’ve been able to participate in her daily school life since the beginning. This is just another version of that. We’re making the best out of a weird time in history. What tips do you have for people that are new to working from home? – Create a specific workspace. If you have an extra room, use it. If not use your kitchen table, but have a consistent spot where your daily work will be completed. – Get dressed and ready for work. It sounds nuts, but trust me it mentally prepares you for it. – If you have a dog/cat have them in your workspace with you. It helps and gives you something to talk to. You get lonely quickly. – Video call with your co-workers if possible. Using Zoom, Skype, FaceTime, Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger. There’s no excuse to not use it. It helps you stay connected. Again, don’t like the loneliness set in. – Create a daily to-do list. It will let you collect your thoughts, and keep you focused and on task throughout the day. Since you’re at home it’s easy to get distracted. Working on

Today is find a rainbow day! 🌈 Download this fun activity for your family.  As you walk around, notice what you see around you. Can you find an object for every color in the rainbow? As you find each color, draw or write about the object in the matching color square on your worksheet. When you have all of the colors, you can come back to the table and show your finished worksheet for a prize. While you are working, see what other things you notice. What sounds do you hear? What do you smell? What can you touch? How many items can you find for each color?