Tips for Working Remotely When Visitors Come to Town
The holidays are coming to town, folks! Depending on how you celebrate the holidays, that might mean traveling or just having a few low-key family gatherings.
For many people, though, it means family and friends are coming to visit. As much fun as that is, it’s not always conducive to productively working from home – especially if your guests are crashing at your house.
How do you make it work? Here are a few strategies you can use this year.
Holiday Visitors: Tips to Stay Productive
Plan Your Work Schedule in a You-Friendly Way
The holidays are great, but they’re *a lot* too. They’re even busier if you’re hosting guests because of all the added preparations and entertainment time on your plate. The ideal way to make life easier when you have guests coming to town is to take as much time off work as you need. In a perfect world, that would include the days when your guests are in town as well as a day or two before and after so you can prepare for their visit and then clean up and rest up after they leave.
If you do have to work while your guests are in town, try to also plan your work hours for times when it will be less disruptive to your schedule. You might opt for early mornings while your guests sleep in, for example, or you might plan your workday around taking a long lunch break to hang out with the fam.
Set Ground Rules
If you need to work while your guests are in town, it’s important to (*pause for putting on therapist hat*) communicate your needs. Let them know when exactly you’ll be working, and make sure they know that you need to have quiet, undisrupted time during those hours. Hopefully, they’ll be grateful enough for your hospitality that they will respect your needs.
Find a Second Work Location
I know, you have your home office or home work environment set up exactly the way you want it and it’s the perfect place for you to kick butt at your job. But if you have guests in town, it might just be too close to the action. You may need to take your laptop and head elsewhere to find your productivity.
Scout out some options ahead of time. Depending on the type of environment that works best for you, you might try a coffee shop or a library. There might even be a coworking meetup near you. A helpful hint, though: a lot of coffee shops, libraries, and other workspaces have adjusted hours around the holidays, so make sure you know when your favorite spots will be open.
Figure Out Entertainment Options Sans You
Some guests are great at entertaining themselves and might just want to relax while you’re working. Others…not so much. If your guests like to be more active during the day but you’re not able to take enough time off to be with them, look for some fun things in your area that they can do while you’re working. Light displays, museums, zoos if you have moderate weather – any of these options allow your guests to have a great time while you’re knocking your work out of the park.
This holiday season, balancing your work with your beloved visitors doesn’t have to be stressful. With some planning ahead, you can find ways to accomplish everything you need to while your guests have a fun and fulfilling visit. In the meantime, learn more about coworking options in your area by joining a Ladies Work Remote chapter near you.