ArcaMax

Now that there are zero degrees of separation between our homes and our jobs, we face 24/7 workdays with no way to escape phone calls, emails and, of course, Zoom meetings from hell.

It wasn't always the case.

Long ago, we had our beloved commute, twice-a-day interludes of calm and reflection as we traveled between the home and the office. ...Read more

Got an important Zoom meeting scheduled? Got the meeting invitation burning a hole in your inbox? I have advice for you.

Don't.

Don't open the invitation. Don't schedule the meeting. Don't even think of attending.

Yes, your absence will be noted, and, of course, your manager will be peeved, but when the meeting ends, you'll have something the...Read more

Promoting yourself at work was never easy, even when you were actually at work.

Still, you could always arrange to "bump into" an important manager at the snack machine, prompting a fun conversation about how much weight "Chubby" had put on since you last saw him.

Or, arriving at the parking lot, you could ding the door of the Tesla S of a ...Read more

Let's face it: Our new work-from-home lifestyle has created many wonderful new business opportunities for consultants.

I'm talking about IT consultants, who are using their Ph.D.s in computer science to advise you on how to insert wacky beach backgrounds in your Zoom feed. I'm also talking about fashion consultants, who will help you create ...Read more

You know what they used to say: Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone.

Not today. Today, everybody is crying, and the world is not laughing with you; it's laughing at you.

Who can blame it?

Whether your workplace is a massive corner office or the crowded corner of a wobbly kitchen table, the future looks bleak, and the ...Read more

Just because I drink my kombucha from a Harvard mug while sitting in my Harvard sweats and waving a Harvard pennant, singing "Fair Harvard, we join in thy jubilee throng," people think I went to Harvard.

Can't imagine why.

The truth is that I didn't go to Harvard, but I did do the next best thing: I read an article in the online version of ...Read more

Remember when going to work meant you actually left your house?

Remember when you sat next to someone who wasn't your roommate, your spouse, your child or your doodle?

You tried to work, but it was impossible. You were constantly distracted by endless interruptions and meaningless conversations you simply had to overhear, all amid the ...Read more

Everyone loves virtual meetings, right? When we hear Zoom, our hearts go "Zing!"

Or do they?

Once you've had a few dozen virtual meetings (today!), you know that success in cyberspace exposes you to a new set of challenges.

Consider early morning meetings.

To participate, you have to turn on your computer, which means you have to find your...Read more

Got your invitation. I really wish I could Zoom with you, but (choose one):

A. I've already scheduled a high-level Zoom meeting with Oprah.

B. I've been abducted by Martians, and Martians, as everyone knows, prefer FaceTime.

C. I don't have a computer.

Did any of these lies satisfy you? If not, I've got plenty more. Once you've given up your...Read more

Don't throw your cat.

In video meeting etiquette, that's Rule No. 1.

A Vallejo, California, planning commissioner interrupted a video meeting to "introduce my cat" -- perfectly normal and totally acceptable business behavior. But once said tabby had met the other participants, the planner casually flung his cat off camera. The cat landed ...Read more

Has your job put you in a bad mood?

That's good.

That's right!

When it comes to success in business, and maybe in life, bad is good.

Ask Hugh Grant. The "loveable, floppy-haired prince charming" on screen is so crabby and gloomy off screen that ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley calls him "Grumpelstiltskin." Did Hugh's bad mood keep him from a...Read more

Bad news, bub: Everything you know about working is wrong.

Well, maybe not everything. You still have to suck up to your boss, and it still is something of a positive if your mother is the CEO of the company, but the simple day-to-day, hour-to-hour behavior that was essential to success has changed.

If you doubt me, ask William Arruda.

Arruda...Read more

What do experienced work-at-homers know that you don't know?

It can make you crazy. It can also make you fired.

It's true!

There are advantages to working from home. The hours you used to spend sitting in traffic will become a distant memory when your daily commute consists of making your way from your desk to your refrigerator and back again...Read more