The whole reason for this particular episode is even though it's not really in our normal vm. It to give this kind of advice with everything that's happening. We know that a lot of people in the UK across the world will be worked from home for the first time or at least working from home for the first time for an extended period and that can be an odd aspiration to be an oversee. Some people don't have the option of working from home and especially for those people who continuing to do shopping for us and look after us in other ways with us. An inch as the health service or or in other professions like cleaning and this jobs that often go unremarked but for those people who are network from my friend. Glenn. Fleishman has written a book. It's his contribution to keeping everyone saying and moving forward which he's pro for free is called taking control of working from home temporarily and is available at take control books dot com and it's full of advice from him and from friends across the world about how to make the very based of the changed circumstances of yourselves in and so because I knew Glen. I got him on the phone from Seattle Washington where he joins us now to go through the advice. That's in his book so joining us from Seattle. Here's Glenn Fleishman. Welcome Queen. Hello thank you for having me. You're very welcome. Thank you so much for writing this book and All. We'RE GONNA DO. This really is you. Take through the contents. You've written a book on literally am what should people working from home for the first time. Be Thinking about. Well IT'S A. It's an interesting time because usually when you advise people say you know. I'm thinking about working from home. Maybe a transition maybe leading one job and going freelance or they get a new job that gives them the opportunity. And you're like well we could. We could plan this out. Here's some ideas. Here's we think about. This is totally different. This is like no one has ever on. The scale of this never happened before that. So many people thrown on their own devices to change their pattern of working. So that's why I thought to my mind. I made the sexiest book arises in part because I made a joke on twitter about before this became even more serious. I think if you're still making jokes. Some twitter yeah exactly. This is a few a few weeks ago a few short weeks ago. It's like well if you're being asked to work from home or forced to work from home get a freelance bunny and they can tell you things like putting time lock on your refrigerator and so forth. I don't keep your account for typing on your keyboard and I got a remarkable response to that and I thought oh I'm making light of something it's a very serious for people and I thought why. Write a book about this and get advice from people like you and veteran work from home people so I talked to people who are work Some of them are employees have been employees doing telework. Some of them were fulltime for home for virtual company. That has no central office. Some are freelancers like me. And they've spent most or a huge chunk of their life especially in recent years working for a home space they created and we all had some time to plan most of us and I think the most critical thing. I think that everybody said I totally agree. And this is kind of what got me into a Home Office. Also after renting space outside the home when Seattle's real estate market was a little cooler than it is. Now it's Guinness. Set a space for yourself and that's going to be hard for a lot of people because if you didn't plan this you know. Most people do not conveniently have An extra several rooms in their mansion. They don't have their jato sitting there and oldest oldest shift off the record and so forth. It's you know some people may be lucky enough to have an extra room or room. That's their their sewing room there. Dan a kids playroom that they say look. I need a space where I can define the sum. You're not to turn that over So that if you're very lucky you of that you could close the door. If not you're going to need to find a space in somewhere in your home and I know for some people listening. This may be your roommates. You may have a partner. You may have children the parents living with you than maybe living with. You talked to numerous people who are suddenly living at home because of where they are and these are people. Sometimes in the thirties forties The current crisis others have had their parents move to them so they're closer by to help whether this and provide for them so we are in unprecedented time. A resident living situations. Our children will be home for weeks if not for the rest of our school year in my house and being able to define space. That your workspace being able to find both physically. Here's where I'm working in a way. That is not invasive of other people but that that you communicate to them that is the space you need to work in being able to set it aside. Psychologically so yeah in that space. You're working you're not you're not yet. I think actually key so as you say a lot of people will have the luxury of separate even have a Home Office of some kind or a space can vividly purpose into a Home Office. Even if you don't that idea of some High D. marketing space that will be yours and that might be a purely notional barrier. Right might not be anything physical. It might be just saying when mummy is over here. She's going to be working. Yeah the writer. Mary Robinson cow was a science fiction writer. Whose work may people know she? Has This Co Creative Commons licensed. Pdf she made for working at a writers workshops. It works really well for home to she. Basically you print this out in stiff paper and fold it and you put a paper on a paper clip a clothes pin on it and you put it in different positions of your laptop. Whether you're available not available or goofing off right and you just literally a sign of. I talked to one fella who is tips in the book. A colleague of his used a hugh. That's H. E. controllable lightbulb. Put it outside his office so when he's His Google calendar is tied into Was So when he has an appointment at actually lights up his family knows. He's an assessment. Incredibly Geeky way of doing things but you can do much more. Gripe you could just literally have a series of colored people that stick to the door or you as you see that difficult will flag on your laptop or even just you know simple rules about times between this time and this time the one of the things that he liked was talking about you know almost a traffic light system. So it's raid really. Is You kind of interrupt me? I might be broadcasting or might be. I'm really focusing piece of writing or might be doing. Something just requires focus green is. I'm just goofing off. You can come in whenever you like and I think you said I'm a little while or keeping Jason seeing ethical while to work those rules. Where if your wife commits you're working space during that amber thomas she can come in and then just just pause for a second. Let me finish the thought a writing and then. I'm completely talkable and those can have rules of social interaction can be quite difficult to to to get to so what shortcuts. Can you have for us to those good sports a bit more quickly? I think it's going to be a combination of physical barriers and symbols and signs And also some digital tools and it'll depend obviously on the age of of kids and parents and sophistication as well as a three year old is not gonna be checking your shared. Calendar your wife or husband or other partner May Be checking account under for you And you know I think we're going to those of us who can rely on digital purposes. Especially I'm thinking you know I know people in the bay area in the San Francisco Bay area who Maybe seven to a house and that may sound worse than it is. It is as bad as it sounds because of the cost of housing there and these people are all roommates and the I don't think any of them are romantic partners in in one case And they have some bedroom summer sharing a room and they may all be thrown in an even working different shifts in the past so they have to figure out some system but all these people are digital natives digitally literate they can all put stuff in a calendar maker share calendar You know it could be as simple as putting up a curtain sticking a couple hooks in the ceiling for the time being or getting a little stand guy. These actually very inexpensive photos stands are designed for putting up backdrops on but you can get these kits typically very inexpensively with Telescoping tripods and you could just hang a curtain or use a photo type Divide on it and just be. That is your office and you move it out of the way at night when it's no longer your office. I think one of the things that's worth seeing as well as that and something like that. You know putting hooks into the ceiling to hang something from scare some people not right from the point of view but it tends quite drastic but it is worth seeing without being in any way alarmist we might be looking at a few months of this Especially with schools closing people having to work from home to support their their kids so it it it it far to do that work. No right and get a working as well for you as possible than to Heathrow something together. It's just kind of you know kitchen table and we'll sorta all I if you do that for two weeks. You might suddenly find the actually. You're not in a particularly good place and a month down the line that I think is exactly it is is is also I? I say this again and again the book and I'll say it again and again what we're talking is be kind to yourself too because this is going to be difficult for you. Your employer has no idea what's going on because no no one has ever lived this kind of experience before in the history of the world people have gone through play and so forth. No one has gone through of disease. That's this survivable yet. Requires this much disruption. I mean what we're being asked for us to be as far away from everybody else as possible and keep working. Keep working which we need because we need to make money. We need the money to keep going. So we're actually inviting vital. Working is a vital function. But then you know you all these other stresses on top of you so set it up like maybe you need psychological. Say I can't set this up as a three-month office or a six week office on setting up a two week