The New Corner Office by Laura Vanderkam [Book Summary – Review]


It feels like a dream that works from home. No commuting, snacks on hand, and you don’t have to confront your chatty co-workers. However, what comes with additional duty is all this freedom. Staying productive is even struggled by some.

Fortunately, the New Corner Office is here to assist. It was used by time management specialist Laura Vanderkam, her two decades of expert achievement research experience as well as numerous interviews with executives, workers, and freelancers around the globe to put together this practical guide to remote work.

Consequent? A simple set of tried and tested strategies to stay productive, creative, and happy while working from afar. By the logical suggestions in these chapters, it will get you to help to stay on task, sticking to your routines, and achieve your aims – all without catching fire.


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Chapter 1 – During operating at the house, consider not only in terms of duties but also time.


Puppies love to play is not a secret. However, can a job be taught to us by them? The answer of Meredith Schwartz, CEO of wedding planning company Here Comes the Guide, was a big yes.

When her first puppy was taken by Schwartz, it was decided by her to spend a few weeks operating at the house when the new pet settled down. In the beginning, she felt uneasy about not being efficient during working out of the department. However, it was discovered by her the opposite truth. Instead, she worked more.

In case, the experiment was so successful that it gradually shifted her whole company to far work. Presently, her team started to work at home. Well, how do they keep effective? They concentrate on completing tasks instead of hours.

Conventional job-day demands us to work 40 hours a day, nine to five times a week. However, most of the time these hours are not associated with any results. After all, the entire dates were wasted by us sitting at the table doing nothing, just as expected. Manage your day more effectively rather than eliminating timelines and evaluating your productivity depending upon what you do.



Making a list of duties for every week is a good way to reroute your workaround productivity. Plan and write what you desire to do next week, every Friday. This should involve separate tasks that can be done in a day and milestones to be met in long-term projects. If you’re managing workers, you can build accountability by getting your employees to send you their lists weekly.

After taking your agenda, disremember about the hours. Concentrate on getting off the list every day. Some days you reach your goal both quickly and early. Don’t worry – you can always get tomorrow’s tasks to work. However, don’t forget, if you are going to take care of everything, there is nothing wrong with giving up at noon. When working from home, you are in charge of your schedule, and knowing when to finish is as important as knowing when to begin.

At the end of each day, complete your to-do list with a “to do” list. This is a document of everything you achieve every day, whether it’s on your first agenda or not. Tracking your progress will encourage you to improve your time management for the following week.


Chapter 2 – Create a daily program full of your job.


Let’s go to a monastery. Here, pious priests spend their days diligently in calm harmony. At dawn they stand up for compliments, in the afternoon they engage in housework, and in the evening, they relax with vespers. And all of this is doing Abbott’s without micromanaging the process.

Now, it isn’t needed by you to take sacred vows to have that kind of concentration and discipline. However, like these monks have shown, keeping your schedule stable and predictable is a virtue. While teleworking allows us to give up the office’s rigid schedule, it’s still smart to structure your day at the correct rhythm.

When you work from home, the liberty is owned by you for fulfilling your days as you see appropriate. Although this wide-ranging program is nice, without institute’s any shape that caused mental duress plus losing attention. You spend hours plus power making up your mind whatever to happen plus whenever. Avoid this trap by planning a rough schema of how to step up your labor times.



Creating one rite for substituting your coming and going to work is the first step. While rush hour traffic is horrible, the commute routine sets the limits of the workday. Express your transition while moving in and out of a professional mindset with simple applications. You can begin the daytime cum either one little pace or careful one entermise plus finish with a closing activity like keeping a diary or taking the children off college.

Next, share your working hours into a rough program. Keep track of your energy levels and learn out what time of the day you feel most awake. It can be whether for two hours in the morning or at a specific time in the afternoon. Take this time to complete your most challenging duties. It will be found by you that focusing your attention on particular periods holds you concentrated and increases productivity.

Remember to plan breaks, too. By even the most devoted employees, it is begun to glide without a few minutes to rest their mind. Search until you discover a working balance. While for some people, it assists to balance 25 minutes of work with a five-minute rest, for some of them, it feels more comfortable for 45 minutes to 15 minutes.

Well sure, provided that you are a member of an organization, what will also need to be in line with the pace of your co-workers is your daily rhythm. It will be taken a look at handling these relationships in the next section.


Chapter 3 – You can also develop close relationships while working remotely.


You should listen to the Best of Both Worlds podcast. By Sarah and Laura, who are the hosts, it has occurred joking, teasing, and chatting are like old friends. As the fit is so warm and fluid, you would never suggest that two human-beings on the microphone will not be in almost the same room. In actuality, they only met face-to-face a few times.

Still, even though separated by thousands of miles, the servers built a strong friendship through consistent virtual communication. Between recording sessions, the duo is continually texting, sending emails, and video checks.

Thus, even though working from home may seem insulating, it isn’t necessary to be like that. With a little effort and planning, what even can endure a close and collaborative society is a remote workforce.

By skeptics of remote work, it is often argued that the lack of face-to-face interaction prevents the strong individual relationships a company needs to thrive. While it is true that sharing a physical space makes it simpler to socialize, many tools are owned by us to recreate the old office water cooler in the virtual globe.



One way to establish personal connections at a distance is to set aside specific times for more casual conversations. For instance, providing that you’re possessing a weekly video call with a remote team, the first ten minutes must be spent chatting. Begin with a few jokes or maybe a few open-ended individual questions to get everyone talking about topics outside of work.

What can be even recreated by you is normal squad-creating events on the internet realm. Either try planning a video chat either daiquiri times or imaginary supper bash to get your co-workers an opportunity to talk about one further unofficial environment. Don’t think you will fear failing while being creative. By Erin Ruane, a marketing executive at Homes.com, employees are invited to organize led tours of their homes and introduce their kids and pets on camera.

Despite all this technology, there is still something unique about individual communication. If it can be, try to gather your remote workforce for face-to-face meetings once or twice a year. Nor do they need to be extensive. It would be nice if the entire team could fly to Fiji for a one-week holiday, but even a few hours at a local conference center or bar can do a lot to build closer working relationships.

In general, the most significant thing is to promote an atmosphere of openness. What is desired by you to build a work environment where achieving out for casual conversation is a regular part of your team’s repertoire.


Chapter 4 – Reach your potential by all-time searching for new difficulties.


When working for a conventional company downtown, it’s simple to spot superstar experts. Generally, they have a large edge office and personal secretary on the top floor, and they walk around in expensive designer clothes.

Expert achievement may seem distinct during your work remotely. While the C-suite office can be an edge of your living room, a pair of sweatpants may just be this strong suit. The reason that the outline of an avid career way is a bit vaguer is without the typical status marks leading your ascension.

Yet, although the telework lifestyle does not require you to give up your high expectations, you may require to embrace some fresh strategies to hold your eyes on the reward.

When working from home, it’s straightforward to neglect the globe outside your four walls. Therefore, it is especially significant to constantly check your purposes and want to stay on the right track and guide yourself. To do this, making a “100 Dream List” is suggested by career coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine.

This is a basic list of things you desire to do. Don’t restrict yourself to doing this. These items should involve anything that interests you, personal or professional. Ideally, it should be listed by you for both specific, short-term aims such as finding a mentor, and broader, long-term aims such as being your boss. After creating the inventory, it can be used by you to lead your actions.



Imagining your ideal workweek is one way to narrow down specifically what you desire out of life is. Ask yourself the question: “If everything went excellently, how would I spend my time?” You can desire either beginning every day with a workout or dedicating the evening to your friends and family. With these concrete aims, you will have a goal to achieve while organizing your expert way.

Ultimately, always be open to unexpected occasions. Don’t permit an overly strict remote work routine to border your imagination. If you have a different idea from the traditional, give it a chance and see what appears. Perhaps this means undertaking a project that is slightly outside of your field of ​​expertise or meeting an unexpected customer. Unless the effort interferes with your core duties, it can have unimaginable returns.


Chapter 5 – Optimize your working experience by building a relaxed atmosphere.


Until now, you might assume that workers at home are a little more satisfied with their layout than their commuting colleagues. However, how happy are home workers? Statistics about that exist.

In a survey conducted by TINYpulse, a company that studies employee engagement, it was discovered that home workers scored an average of 8.1 points on the ten-point happiness scale. Other workers average close to 7.5. What’s more, in other research, it is shown that remote workers take fewer sick days and can work more hours a week without being exhausted.

Working at home has its benefits. However, embracing this way of working does not always come inherited. Let’s assume that you are fresh to working remotely, you may require some tips and hints to get the most out of your home office.

Unless you are always working from home, your home space may not be decorated like a professional office. Although it may seem superficial, having the correct furniture and opportunities can do a lot to increase your productivity. After all, it may be comfortable to curl up on the couch with your computer, but after a while, you will discover yourself either nodding or worse dealing with back pain and eye strain.



Preserve your spine by investing in a suitable workspace. What will assist you to stay comfortable when you put in eight hours a day is both a sturdy desk, ergonomic office chair, and proper lighting. And that doesn’t mean your home office must be cool or sterile. Spend your time to make your workspace attractive with individual touches such as decoration and abundant plants. A beautiful sight also always helps. Therefore, if you can, try installing it next to a window.

By adding space to keep active, it can be further boosted, by you, your remote working experience. Even though it is not necessary to add everything to a home gym, getting a few items such as resistance bands, dumbbells, or a yoga mat makes it simple to combine your workouts into your days. Thanks to this equipment near you, it can be fitted by you a short workout into your frequently programmed breaks. What will assist you both in staying healthy and eliminating excess energy preventing you from concentrating is that.

A home office may not be perfect for everyone. However, through trial and error, you will find out the best mix of routines and tools for you. So, you’ll never miss the office again in a few weeks.


The New Corner Office: How the Most Successful People Work from Home by Laura Vanderkam Book Review


While it is still dubious by some employers about home-based workers, there are several benefits offered. With the adoption of simple strategies, such as both defining a daily rhythm and checking your co-workers frequently, it is probable to stay productive, connected, and avid while working home. If you get it to invest in the appropriate office equipment and arrange your days according to duties rather than time, it will get remote work meaning for you and your company.


Attend small adventures.

Working from home has one disadvantage: those days are less varied. Let it rock your calendar by deliberately adding a dose of excitement with little adventures. Try something fresh a few times a week. It can be as easy as making a novel recipe or strolling through an unexplored neighborhood. Thanks to innovation, it will get life to keep a little more exciting.


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Savaş Ateş

I'm a software engineer. I like reading books and writing summaries. I like to play soccer too :) Good Reads Profile: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/106467014-sava-ate

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