I’m all for working from home for two main reasons.
One. I can get a lot of work done without anyone interrupting my flow. Or, two. I can use my “work from home” day to catch up on a little pupcakes and chill. Don’t worry. I make sure I tap my laptop with my paw every 30 minutes to make sure other pups in the office know I’m being “productive.”
But, after day 21 of this work from home social distancing situation, I’m over it. Especially, since there’s been a new dynamic added to my work from home schedule.
For the first time ever, my human and I are working from home…TOGETHER.
While I love my human dearly, this situation is a bit different. I’m not one of these pups that sits at home all day waiting for her to come home. And even though social distancing has caused me to close Pupcake Sugar for a few weeks, I’ve got work to do.
It’s pretty distracting to map out my next pupcake recipe, take a pupcake photo, or even plan out my next menu when I’m hearing “sorry I was on mute” or “can you see my screen” from your human’s co-workers every 15 minutes.
Building a pupcakery and spa without my human finding out is tough enough. However, running your own business when she’s home all day is taking it to an entirely different level. But in the words of George Lois…
Creativity can solve almost any problem.
So, I decided to set some rules of my own to create a better work from home situation for the both of us.
UNDERSTAND YOUR HUMAN’S WORK FROM HOME SCHEDULE
Owning my own business has taught me the dynamics of working around a human’s schedule. Building a pup business under your human’s nose without her knowing isn’t easy. Pupcake Sugar is only open when she’s not home. However, knowing and understanding my human’s schedule allows me to continue to live out my “crazy idea.” So, all I had to do was adapt that mentality to my work from home strategy. So, rather than try to get her attention while she’s on a conference call, I’m off in another room taking pictures of my pupcakes for my blog. I know she’ll be occupied for a while.
SET A QUITTING TIME
When I’m in the office, there’s no way I work all day and all night. I have to shut everything down before my human gets home. Plus, that’s no way to live. So, I’m bringing the same rule to my work from home strategy. And, if my human misses the memo that it’s quitting time, I have no problem pawing on her leg or laptop until she shuts everything down. While working from home it can be easy to work a lot longer than usual. So, set a quitting time and spend the rest of your time in pupcakes and chill mode with these Cinnamon Banana Pancake “Pup-Brunch” Pupcakes.
CREATE YOUR WORKSPACE
Believe it or not, when I first started my journey of pup business ownership, I created my own workspace. I needed a place to map out plans without my human accidentally finding them. So, now that both my human and I are working from home together, I use that space as my work area. While my human works in her office. This way we can both get work done without being a distraction to one another.
KNOW WHEN TO BARK…AND NOT TO BARK
The biggest thing I’ve learned through this working from home situation is that barking and my human’s conference calls don’t mix. Every time I barked to another pup while she was on a conference call, my human would peak her head out of her office to see what I was doing. And, let’s not forget the stare and hand signal to be quiet. So, I realized that if I didn’t want my cover to be blown, whenever she was on the phone all barking needed to cease.
This working from home situation has been a learning curve for all of us. However, there’s one positive side. I do get to spend more time with my human. However, I’d love to hear from you.
How do you create a successful work from home environment? Or, what have you learned by being your human’s new co-worker thus far?
Please share in the comment box below.
