Jeff Apter is more than familiar with the concept of working from home - he's been doing it for more than a decade.
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The Keiraville author has written more than 25 books. His first - about the Red Hot Chili Peppers - was published in 2004 while his latest work is a bio of The Easybeats' George Young and will hit the shelves in August.
Many of them have been written in the bedroom of his Keiraville home, at a desk pushed into the corner.
While many of us are coming to terms with working from home thanks to coronavirus, Apter has already got it sorted.
In the pre-COVID-19 days he had a working from home window - between when he took his child to school and when he picked her up.
That limited window taught him the crucial thing about working from home - the need for discipline.
In a nutshell, to be successful at working from home you need to know what you have to do and how you're going to do it. There's no skiving off to watch TV for a few hours or playing the hot new game on your phone.
You're at home, but you're still working.
"I know exactly what I have to do," Apter says.
"If someone had to adapt now to working from home, the best thing to do is to know exactly what you need to do that day - the day before.
"You should have it almost like a school timetable."
Getting a dog has been a real help in getting him focused. He says every morning when he takes Neela for a walk, he runs through the jobs he has to do that day; it helps him further map things out and get started as soon as he sits in front of the computer.
The discipline was something Apter worked out over time. When he first gave up working in an office for the home, it didn't feel like real work.
"For years and years I was so used to being in an office, clocking on," he says.
"But to suddenly not be in that space took a bit of adjusting. There were days when I felt like I was skiving off work."
And sometimes, if he'd finished his work for the day early, he'd feel guilty about having some free time.
Apter reckons all the tips in the world won't help some people, because he says not everyone can be focused and productive enough to making working from home successful.
"The interesting thing about this new world order is that some people are just not cut out for it," he says.
"Some people really need someone to tell them what to do. If you're that sort of person you're going to find working from home really difficult.
"There might still be a boss checking in on you but it's not that physical presence."
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
