Every year, on the last Thursday in June National Work From Home Day is celebrated. This year it is June 30. It is an occasion to recognize the cultural and technological evolutions that let our work be as productive anywhere in the world as it is in the office. Working at home, for years, had been the scope of specific types of jobs, or saved as a reward for employees while the rest of us fought with the daily commute. Nowadays the tools exist so that virtually any office job can be done at home without a loss of productivity. On this day, we celebrate those accomplishments and do so in our pajamas.
History
As most of the human history work was done primarily in and around the home, the history of working from home should probably be called the history of working. Working from home was more the norm than the exception for the earliest hunter-gatherers to the home-based shops of medieval Europe. After the Renaissance storefronts of mixed-use gave way to more centralized administrative buildings for government, and schools, and the idea of an office to go to for work even entered the dictionary.
The way we work in profound ways changed by the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century. The origin of factories with heavy and sophisticated machinery for making goods such as textiles indicated that people were incapable to do their work within the confines of their own homes. This formed the working outside of the home model consisting of professional workers that would ultimately develop into our own familiar office-style work model.
Work from home was relegated to specific professions throughout most of the 20th century, the most prominent being creative arts such as musicians, writers, painters, etc., and multi-level marketing jobs that in the 1950s and 1960s became widespread.
In the background, the technology was slowly developing and gradually reached the point where working from home was as technologically sophisticated and fruitful as working in an office. Technology has opened the door bit by bit to more and more remote work options from roughly the 1980s until today. In developing remote work culture great part was taken by the personal computer, the fax machine, mobile phones, the internet, video chat, and collaborative documents.
Many of the cultural barriers to remote work may be weakened or removed, revealing a renaissance in remote work professions as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on remote work is analyzed in the forthcoming months.
Timeline of National Work from Home Day
1500s (Centralized workspaces begin to form) – The Renaissance brought about a change in the way governments functioned, making them more centralized, and creating what we would now regard being offices.
1800s (Industrial Revolution Puts Work From Home on Hiatus) – Most people throughout the 19th and 20th centuries would work away from home with the start of factories and the basic work model they made.
2010s (Videoconferencing Becomes Widespread) – It wasn’t until the 2010s that it became powerful enough to deploy worldwide though the technology had been evolving since the 1930s.
March 2020 (COVID Creates New Paradigm) – The attack of the COVID-19 pandemic pushes millions of workers to become fully remote.
FAQs of National Work from Home Day
How Can I Stay Connected When Working From Home?
The best way to stay connected is to use collaborative work tools available like Zoom, Basecamp, Google Docs, or Slack.
How Can I Effectively Work from Home?
The first tip for effectively working from home is to set up a routine and stick to it. As if you were still in the office try to balance your work and home spaces, responsibilities, and relationships. And be certain about what hours you are working.
Calculate days from today here
Activities on National Work from Home Day
No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem – Supposing you have already chosen to celebrate National Work From Home Day by really working from home, why not take it a step further and fully avoid that office dress code. Want to type away in an old band t-shirt and cut-off jean shorts? Do it!
That Couch Looks Comfy! – By all means, your home office may be the latest in Sweden’s ergonomic work chairs but they don’t hold a candle to your couch. Rest your laptop on a throw pillow on your lap and start working.
Make a Gourmet Homemade Lunch – When we are in the office, lunch often consists of a limp sandwich or greasy takeout. But you have access to all sorts of foods and cooking materials when you are at home. Try to make the most of them. Spend a little time [breaks are healthy] and prepare a nice meal from the beginning. You will come back to your desk refreshed and ready as you will feel much better about your culinary choices.
5 Ways to Make the Most Out of Working from Home
Have a Routine – As long as you stick to a routine, it doesn’t really matter what it is. Routines make us more effective and lower anxieties about never leaving work.
Maintain Relationships With Your Coworkers – There’s no excuse for allowing our work relationships to go fallow, though we may have never felt so isolated in our lives. Organize a virtual happy hour, have lunches or treats delivered, chat on Basecamp or Slack, and celebrate personal and professional wins.
Boundaries Make Good Workers – As with a routine, it is important to set boundaries for your work life and your home life. Your office may be your couch but that is no reason to let the office takeover your home. Put the laptop away when the work day is done, and leave your home office.
Make Accommodations For Your Kids – It is easy to forget how tough it is to balance both at the same time when you’re working in an office and the kids are in school. Now that everyone is home [and those kids are likely bored] creating routines and rules for your children will help to decrease the frequency and number of interruptions.
Make your Breaks Meaningful – It is easy to miss the significance just chatting with your desk mate can have on resetting your brain’s productivity abilities. Try to take meaningful breaks when working from home, mostly solo. Do some light exercise, go for a walk, pick up a book and read for a few minutes. In order to maintain high productivity do things that help to give your brain the break it needs.
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Why We Love National Work from Home Day?
It Feels Almost Like a Staycation – We may be working, but when you ease into the day with a cup of coffee on the porch instead of worrying about beating the traffic to the office, it can nearly feel like having the day off.
Video Calls Can Be Fun – Video calls are a fact of life now but they don’t have to be bothersome, and fruitless conversations. Begin each meeting by screen sharing a fun game that everyone on the call can play, or flavor up with a clever background. Try to make your video calls more fun.
The Relative Freedom – When you’re working from home there’s a bit more freedom to control your day than there is when you’re under the microscope in the office. However, we are still expected to work our typical hours and be as productive as we are in the office. Taking advantage of that freedom can be restorative.
