{"id":21727,"date":"2021-01-02T20:03:42","date_gmt":"2021-01-03T00:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=21727"},"modified":"2021-01-03T19:16:10","modified_gmt":"2021-01-03T23:16:10","slug":"hourglass-method","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hourglass Method for Working From Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is the hourglass method for convincing your boss to let you work from home? How do you use it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before you can work from home, you have to make a case to your boss. You can use the hourglass method to convince your company to let you work remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about how to use the hourglass method and start working remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Hourglass Method for Remote Work<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of working up to full-time remote like the five-step method, <strong>in the hourglass method, you start by going fully remote, have a brief trial period of combo remote\/in-house, and then go back to remote.<\/strong> Here are the steps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Come up with a reason that you need to leave the office for two weeks, for example, a family issue.<\/li><li>Tell your company that you\u2019d like to keep working during this time.<\/li><li>Suggest that you work remotely. You can offer to take a pay cut for the remote period after it\u2019s over if people weren\u2019t happy with your work. However, never offer to take a pay cut again.<\/li><li>Get your boss to help you figure out the logistics so she feels involved.<\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/be-more-productive\/\">Be more productive<\/a> over the two remote weeks than you\u2019ve ever been before.<\/li><li>Like the five-step method, show your boss numbers that demonstrate how you were so productive and explain why. Suggest a trial where you work a few days remotely per week for two weeks.<\/li><li>Be extra productive on the remote days and extra unproductive on the in-house days.<\/li><li>Suggest you move to full-time remote work.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What If It Doesn\u2019t Work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re an employee and can\u2019t swing remote work, you\u2019ll have to quit or get yourself fired, or else you\u2019ll never be able to work fewer than 40 hours a week.<\/strong> (Getting fired is sometimes better\u2014then you might end up with severance or unemployment benefits.) See Chapter 12 for some advice on how to leave your job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is the hourglass method for convincing your boss to let you work from home? How do you use it? Before you can work from home, you have to make a case to your boss. You can use the hourglass method to convince your company to let you work remotely. Read more about how to use the hourglass method and start working remotely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,43,30],"tags":[175],"class_list":["post-21727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-self-improvement","category-work","tag-the-4-hour-workweek","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Hourglass Method for Working From Home - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you want to work from home? You&#039;re going to have to convince your boss. 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Try the hourglass method to start working remotely.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-03T00:03:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-03T23:16:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cheese-anticipate-change.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"955\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"573\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"The Hourglass Method for Working From Home\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-03T00:03:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-03T23:16:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/\"},\"wordCount\":334,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cheese-anticipate-change.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"The 4-Hour Workweek\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career\",\"Self-Improvement\",\"Work\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/\",\"name\":\"The Hourglass Method for Working From Home - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/hourglass-method\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/cheese-anticipate-change.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-03T00:03:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-03T23:16:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you want to work from home? 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