remote latin community

[sanmalvis]

Are there any more Latinos working remotely?  If there are any more, (and for the non-Latin too), how did you make the people in your household to understand that working from home isn't having a free slave in the house every day. 

[Daisy81]

Hi @sanmalvis, 

I don't live in LATAM, but I do work remotely and I think you brought up such a great point on work from home culture, and communicating to people who share your home that you're not a live in maid! I don't have kids, but I bet parents especially feel this pain.

For me personally, I try to maintain work hours, sticking to a 9-6 schedule as best as I can, and I also try to keep my work contained in my home office (with a door is best so you can close it!). That way, I don't get distracted by washing dishes or laundry, which sometimes sets expectations that I can walk away from my work. From a family expectation perspective, it's definitely hard! My husband mostly goes into an office, so many of the house things I tend to do because I'm available for it. I've gotten better at trying to set boundaries though, and even sharing what times of the day I have big meetings and absolutely can't be bothered. Not sure if I'm giving you any helpful advice, but I empathize and hope that you're able to carve out more dedicated boundaries for your work! 

[ahmedmousa]

Hey @sanmalvis! I'm not Latinx buuuut I occasionally have to remind my wife that I don't call her at her office unless there's an emergency. 😅 I'm fortunate enough to have a home office and keep the door closed most of the time I'm working. If I didn't have one, I'd probably spend a lot more time at coffee shops and/or coworking spaces.

[lala]

Hi @sanmalvis I totally get you! As a Brazilian woman, whenever I am working at my parent's house, they think I am free to do whatever. 

As I don't always have a separate room to work from when I am working at their home, my agreement with them is that anytime I have my airpods on, it means I am not available. 

If I am not in meetings, I will be listening to some music to help me focus or even not listening to anything at all! Whenever airpods are not on, it is okay for them to come and ask something (although it doesn't mean I will be free to do that). I also do what @Daisy81 said and I try to stick to regular working hours (even for lunch) so they know when is okay to talk.

Have you implemented any strategies to help? Which one did you have most luck with?

[sanmalvis]

I've been trying to do the same, but the bad habits of my parents is to make as much noise as possible whenever I'm in call, so I've been putting a hue hand drawn sign saying "please be silent, I'm making money". 

[lala]

What kind of headphones do you use?

My flatmate (@marinaleme) swears that her life changed once she got her noise-cancelling headphones. She uses the JBL Tour One.

[StefanaZ]

Not a Latina (though I often say I have a LATAM soul), but I also have a problem with my household members who don't understand that I need to focus and work even though I'm home.

Unfortunately, I don't have any life-changing advice, but what I do is that sometimes I pretend I'm on a call so no one bothers me. 😅 

The hardest part is explaining to my husband that it's not "just 5 mins" because he interrupts my focus and stream of thoughts, which is frustrating if I'm writing an article. I remember reading this statistic a while ago: after a Slack message interrupts your focus, sometimes you need as many as 20 minutes to get back in the game.

Sadly, I can't mute my husband like I do with Slack notifications... 🤣

[Roxane]

Hi @sanmalvis I luckily have a separate room to work so it helps with the noise and interruptions. I made clear rules: 1. when the door is closed I am in a call or focusing; 2. if someone needs me, they can gently open the door and check if I'm on a call – usually even if I'm not on a call I put some music on to focus so it seems like I'm on a call anyways 😋 and when I'm doing tasks that don't need focus like admin or perhaps checking the situation on Slack, I welcome them with a big smile and see what they need! 😁 nothing ground breaking but sometimes setting rules is important and explaining them of course! 

[juanmcortez]

Hey Guys! I have been working for most than a decade remotely ... I have a daughter that has seen me work from home since she was a baby ... so the transition has been really easy for me. They know that I conduct meetings with clients in a foreign language and that sometimes I need some quiet time. I have to be honest ... my whole family has been really understanding ... and to my luck, everytime they have a guest in the house, they were able to communicate them that I was working and not simply sitting at the computer staring to the "void" ... 😂
If it gets noisy ... which happens from time to time ... just put the headphones, some music and try to focus on work. It takes time to get used to it but it's worth it!
But always remember! You are at home with your love ones ... and they care and want to interact with you ... be flexible and understanding ... we are not required to be at 100% focused on work all the time ...
We are human beings and have a life and a family ... that's what makes the difference while working from home ... we get to enjoy life a little bit more ...