I have worked for the UN for almost 11 years. The first 10 of those were full-time across three different roles: as chief executive of Unicef in Australia; deputy director of Unicef’s global private funding and partnerships division in Geneva; and then head of UN women’s private sector relations in New York. They were dynamic and exciting jobs.
Then in the 11th year, as we were about to approach another winter in New York, my husband was offered a career opportunity in Australia which we agreed he should take.
I was torn: I loved living in New York. I was happy in my job and I liked working at the headquarters of an international organisation. I reluctantly agreed to relocate back to Sydney.
This move has brought with it some big life changes. Here are the three things that I’ve learned during the transition from busy office to remote working.
1) Things work out
Over the past nine months, the biggest thing I’ve learned is to trust that things will work out – though maybe not in the way you thought they would. I now consult for the UN trust fund to end violence against women, managing their private sector engagement and outreach globally. The trust fund is based in New York at UN Women but they are happy for me to work remotely. I’ve also been co-opted on to the global board of Amnesty International. Both roles have an international focus and the work is interesting and varied.
2) I love working from home
The second thing I’ve learned is that I love working from home. I love the flexibility, the lack of a heavy organisational structure sitting over me and I get far more done without the distractions of an office environment.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing, though. I’ve had a few sharp reminders that, for me, working from home requires a conscious creation of structure, a level of formality, vigilance when it comes to diary and time zones and proactive engagement with networks and communities.
Disasters have included missed conference calls due to IT issues (I’m responsible for the office of me. If there’s a problem, it’s up to me to fix it) and accidentally staying too long at the beach in the morning and forgetting meetings in different time zones.
There are challenges that come with this new lack of structure: I had a week in winter when I didn’t get out of my pyjamas for a few days and lost hours wandering around the online world of curious blogs.
Isolation can be a big issue. A lot of information is passed on informally in an office environment through coffees and chats. If you’re not in that environment it’s easy to become disconnected.
As I go into 2015, I’ve become better at keeping structured timetables so my work is done in the allocated time. I have a rigid system for my diary with pre-allocated slots for meetings in various time zones. I’ve developed an interesting online community of people around the world who are working on similar issues. I’ve booked regular scheduled Skype calls with colleagues in the office and I’ve got a back-up list of cafes with good Wi-Fi.
3) There’s more to life than work
I now realise that for 10 years I didn’t actually do very much other than work. I used to pride myself on making it to the gym once a week. We ate out all the time because it was easier after a long day. I would often fly into a country for work then fly out without appreciating where I was.
It has taking a while to figure it out and much of it has been trial and error, but for the first time in a long time I seem to have a balanced lifestyle. My priorities have changed. I’m healthier and exercise daily, I see more of friends, I’m starting to become part of the local community where I live and when I travel now I have time to focus on the country I’m in.
Most importantly, I am enjoying work more than ever, and so far this year I’ve only occasionally lost a few hours surfing obscure blogs.
