the coronavirus pandemic has shifted an unprecedented number of skilled workers to makeshift home offices create structure and routine managers may fear that remote workers will be distracted by social media or house- breaking off from work alger sets up several daily 15-minute exercises before work and sets alarms to remind herself to come up for air through- ing up her kids or tackling yardwork home office in a hurry you're suddenly forced to work from on the fly? • a room with a door you can close for privacy and freedom from noise • a desk with ample space • nearby outlets where you can plug in your devices • a strong wi-fi signal • a bare wall or uncluttered area to serve as a videoconferencing backdrop •a desktop or laptop computer with headphones • a printer and printer paper • online productivity tools for easy sharing and collaboration with creation apps like google docs or microsoft's office.com gratis online file storage from amazon drive services such as skype or google hang- • antivirus and anti-malware software windows defender and malwarebytes store files on the cloud and practice good security by changing passwords remain connected even workers who enjoy remote work say they miss the rhythms of a shared workspace including bonding rituals like coffee breaks lunch dates and birthday celebrations gap with quarterly in-person daylong team meetings and shorter bimonthly meetings for hours and happy hours keep remote workers gourmet popcorn to workers' homes her northern california home freelance writer