Information gathered by Terry Haycock

To help us all while social distancing, three VPC members offer tips for working at home.

From Sande Snead 
My tip is to get a dedicated space for your office that is quiet and away from the rest of family activities as much as possible. I once had my office in a closet — no kidding! Also, I had rules when the children were little. They were charged $1 if they stepped one foot in my office without asking permission, which cut down on a lot of interruptions, and they still adhere to it to this day. They are 27 and 30 years old!

From Gail Kent 
Learn to use Zoom https://zoom.us/. It’s not difficult, and it’s free for up to 100 participants for up to 40-minute group meetings and unlimited one-to-one meetings. FreeConferenceCalls.com offers unlimited audio and video calls.

Also, put on street clothes (but wear comfortable ones) rather than lounging in nightwear all day. It helps you mentally transition from “off” time to “on” time, and you will be more productive.

From Julie Campbell

Having started freelance work last fall, I have been making even more use of my home office, where I do all my work, pandemic or not. On March 13, I finished a big editing project, and I am pondering a request to serve as a writing coach. I can do those kinds of work remotely. I have duties for VPC (as contest chair) and for NFPW (as board secretary). The NFPW board will, in fact, conduct its spring meeting via Zoom April 18–19. We were supposed to meet in person in Little Rock, Arkansas; needless to say, we had to rethink that plan. We already hold our monthly board meetings via Zoom. I also use Zoom every Friday morning to meet with my Richmond memoir-writing group. For these occasions, I dress up a little: maybe a scarf, definitely some nice earrings. (For the NFPW board meeting, I may go glam with a touch of makeup.) The only hazard to Zoom that I have encountered is the occasional appearance of one or both of my cats during the meeting, because my office lacks a door. Other than that, it’s good to see everyone’s faces, and I much prefer Zoom to conference calls.