Working from home, with serious interruptions
在家办公可能会遇到的严重干扰
This week, I spent part of my morning working from my parked car inside my dark garage. The lights and heat were off, even though it’s winter in Chicago. I had no choice; I needed total silence to record a podcast for work, but my two young children were home and I couldn’t risk interruption.
这周，我早上有部分时间在停在漆黑车库的汽车里工作。尽管芝加哥现在还是冬天，我还是关掉了所有的灯和暖气。但我别无选择。为了录制播客（Podcast）我需要一个绝对安静的地方，可是我的两个年幼的孩子还在家里，我不敢冒任何被打断的风险。
I always knew I wasn’t the only one attempting to pull off spy-calibre manoeuvres in the name of working from home. Robert Kelly, political science professor and international relations expert, had the misfortune of being uber-interrupted on live television while conducting an interview with the BBC on the very serious topic of the impeachment and removal of South Korea’s president.
我知道我肯定不是唯一一个为了在家工作而努力掌握间谍技巧的人。政治学教授和国际关系专家罗伯特·凯利（Robert Kelly），最近在接受BBC英国广播公司关于韩国总统被弹劾以及罢免这一严肃话题的电视直播采访时，非常不幸地被严重打断。
博雅公关的克里斯汀·本顿（Christine Benton）在家工作时经常被她的爱驹可可（Coco）打断
Like the millions of us who telecommute, Kelly and I have something in common: we use smartphones and computers to work remotely and — even if we have a dedicated office — it’s usually not a soundproof space for those calls that require total silence.
作为几百万像我们这样的远程办公人员，凯利和我有些共同点：我们使用智能手机和电脑远程办公，即便我们在家里有自己专用的办公室，但是对于那些需要绝对安静的通话而言，那里也绝非隔音的空间。
And it isn’t always precocious children interrupting. Christine Benton, a senior director at communications firm Burson Marsteller, has had to explain another kind of intrusion. When her horse started neighing at the office window to get her attention during a conference call, Benton turned her computer camera on Coco grazing in the yard and apologised for the distraction. That’s not something soon forgotten.
其实会来打扰的并不总是可爱的孩子。博雅公关公司（Burson Marsteller）的高级总监克里斯汀·本顿曾经不得不为另一种打扰做出解释。在她开一个电话会议时，她的爱驹可可开始在办公室窗外嘶鸣想要引起她的注意，本顿把她的电脑摄像头转到正在院子里吃草的可可身上，并为受到干扰的事情表示道歉。这种事可不会被轻易忘掉。
“If you talk to the client, they would remember that,” says Benton, who has worked from home for the past 13 years and owns a rural property near San Diego in California. But, she says, when Coco does make herself known, it’s served to be a way to bond with clients.
"你和客户谈话时，他们会记得那事，" 本顿说，她在过去13年间都在她加利福尼亚州圣地亚哥附近拥有的一处乡间房产里办公。但她说，如果客户记得她养的马的话，这也增进了她与客户的关系。
Even so, distractions can create a more stressful situation and make for some awkward moments. When Kelly was interviewed for BBC News this week, from his home office in Seoul, the video went viral as his children barged in to the shot. The comments on social media were largely sympathetic. Parents around the world identified with the plight and weighed in on how they would handle the situation. Others thought he seemed a bit too aggravated about the distraction.
尽管如此，干扰事件还是会制造压力，甚至产生一些尴尬的瞬间。当凯利在他位于首尔的家庭办公室里接受BBC新闻的采访时，因为他的孩子们闯入镜头，这段视频在网络上迅速火了起来。社交媒体上对此的评论大部分是抱有同情的。世界各地的家长们都很认同这种囧境，并对他们会如何处理这种情况各抒己见。其他人觉得他看起来对这种干扰有点儿太过恼火了。
No longer a career hazard
不再是事业前程的危害
Being called out for these types of distractions is not as career-derailing as it once was. “Co-workers and clients understand that life can get in the way,” says Jill Jacinto, a New York-based career coach who specialises in helping millennials. “There’s less of a stigma.”
发生这种干扰事件已经不再像以前那样会让事业受挫了。"同事们和客户都理解生活有时候就是这样，"吉尔·哈辛托（Jill Jacinto）说，他在纽约工作，专为千禧一代人做职业指导， "这没什么好丢脸的。"
Working remotely can seem like a stress-reducer — no commute, fewer distractions from colleagues, the hum of a coffee shop to work in. But, a joint report from Eurofound and the International Labour Organization found that 41% of employees who describe themselves as highly mobile complained of stress, versus 25% of employees who described themselves as office workers.
远程办公似乎让压力减少了，没有通勤的压力，很少有来自同事的干扰，在嘈杂的咖啡馆里也能进行工作。然而，来自欧洲改善生活和工作条件基金会（Eurofound）和国际劳工组织（International Labour Organization）的一份联合报告发现41%自称高度依赖移动办公的员工抱怨他们压力太大，与之相比只有25%的办公室人员有此抱怨。
Few of us are likely to encounter distractions on live television. But, to prevent embarrassment, veteran telecommuters suggest warning colleagues about potential distractions. Often times, Mark Oser, New York-based founder of Anteris Consulting Group, tells clients ahead of a call that he has children in the house, which can make later disruptions less of a surprise.
我们没几个人有机会遇到在现场直播的电视节目上被突然打扰的事儿。但是为了预防尴尬，经验丰富的远程办公人员会建议提前提醒同事有可能发生的干扰事件。总部位于纽约的安特里斯咨询集团公司（Anteris Consulting Group）创始人马克·奥泽（Mark Oser）一般都会提前告诉客户家里有小孩儿，这样能让接下来的干扰不那么令人感到惊讶。
Oser also allows his two school-age children to enter the room when he’s working, but only when he’s talking with associates that are familiar with his work-at-home setup, but tells them to be quiet and stay out of the room when speaking to newer clients. But even that’s not a perfect solution, he admits.
奥泽还允许他两个上学的孩子在他工作的时候进入房间，但也只有当他与那些熟悉他家庭办公环境的同事们谈话时，而当他与新客户交谈时就会告诉孩子们保持安静并且不要呆在他的办公室里。尽管这样，他也承认这不是个完美的解决方案。
“If the kids start a fight during the middle of me making a presentation, I hit mute and say ‘excuse me.’ Then I take the kids out to [tell them to stop] really quickly and turn on the TV for them,” he says.
"如果在我做一个陈述时孩子们开始吵架，我会说一句'对不起。'并按下静音键，然后非常迅速地把孩子带出房间告诉他们住手，并给他们打开电视机，"他说。
Understanding varies
理解各不相同
As companies struggle to retain talent — especially younger workers — even larger firms are more understanding of the issues that crop up in a work-from-home setup, says Chris Layton, a managing director at Manpower Group, a global human resource consulting firm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the US.
位于美国威斯康星州密尔沃基市（Milwaukee, Wisconsin ）的全球人力资源咨询公司万宝盛华集团（Manpower Group）的总经理克里斯·莱顿（Chris Layton）说，随着公司为了努力留住人才，特别是年轻员工，越大的公司甚至更加理解这种发生在家庭办公环境的突发事件。
It’s not so different, he contends, as the adjustments you have to make when you’re working with people in different parts of the world. “The traditional model is shifting,” he says.
这没什么大不了的，他认为，当你要同世界各地的人们共同工作时这是你必须做出的调整，"传统模式正在发生改变。"他说。
Of course, not everyone is so understanding about work-from-home distractions, warns Lynn Wu, assistant business professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In her research, Wu found that younger workers without children may not be able to identify on a personal level and assume child-related distractions are unprofessional, she says.
宾夕法尼亚大学沃顿商学院（Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania）的商学助理教授琳恩·吴（ Lynn Wu）提醒我们，并不是每个人都理解在家办公带来的干扰。吴的调查显示，没有孩子的年轻员工可能不会切身体会这种事。她说，他们会认为被孩子干扰是一种缺乏职业素养的表现。
“Working parents are much more understanding, but younger people are not,” she finds. “They thought, ‘that is very unprofessional to take care of your kids and work at the same time’.”
"在职的父母对此更能理解一点，但是年轻人就不会，"她发现，"他们认为，'在工作的时候还要照顾孩子是非常不专业的'。"
来源：好英语网
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