myKotty Home office and cats – the purrfect match? Sure it is! That is until your cat assistant decides to sit their esteemed tushy on the keyboard, change the laptop’s settings or remind your co-workers about their vocal talents during a video conference. We’ve been working remotely here at myKotty for 9 years now and we know one thing for sure: a home office with cats can make us cry-laugh, even on the toughest and work-heavy days. But how to distract a cat assistant when we really need to sit down, do the work and sign all the documents which for sure have some cat paw stamps already? We have some true and tested tricks for you, fabCats.
Cat challenges in a home office setting
Thinking about a home office with a cat, the first thing that comes back to us like a boomerang is all those files and texts that disappeared irrevocably from the screen with a touch of a magicat cat’s paw. Eliminating a risk of that is your top task, fabCat – we guarantee you that disappearing reports, documents and invoices are not the best of cat pranks.
What can you do? Firstly, we recommend getting into the habit of saving everything at all times (autosave function is a saviour here) and locking your keyboard or logging off anytime you’re leaving your computer unattended. Keyboard shortcuts that may be useful here are: Windows + L for Windows computers or Ctrl+Cmd+Q on macOs, which will allow you to quickly lock your screen. And the keyboard can now be safe as a red carpet for your kitty.
Locking your screen doesn’t only help with your cat accidentally deleting your files or text from the document you’re currently working on, but also with your cat opening unwanted programs and commands or blocking your accounts by putting the wrong password in too many times – believe us when we say that if cats were coming up with key combinations for passwords, only cat hackers would be able to break them.
Cat and a neat office space
Keeping your office space neat can’t be missing from your list of challenges in a feline home office. But we don’t mean that the cat will leave a mess behind – oh no, no! When we work in a home office, cats can show their true pedantic side at the least appropriate moment and with a smash of a mug on the floor tell you that you should always be bringing your dirty coffee mug back to the kitchen, not leaving it on the desk.
Documents flying around everywhere? Hooman – forget it. Every paper that doesn’t get properly filed and put in a folder will get a stamp of cat doom. Or end up under the feline hole maker, depending on your cat assistant’s mood.
Conversations with cats in the room
Your cat is your key assistant in a home office setting, watching over your work so it doesn’t get too boring. And the best time to spice it up a little are definitely all conversations, conference calls and e-mail exchanges between the hooman and their co-workers, clients or bosses. As you know, the communications with you, fabCats, are all handled in our team by Tosia. But we can tell you in secret that her hooman has to decipher all of Tosia’s tips and complements for you before Tosia manages to hit “publish”! Now that’s a challenge.
What can we recommend? Just like with securing your files, before you walk away from your computer always make sure to close all your communications, mail boxes and other apps. Don’t let your cat send your boss a code that even Enigma couldn’t break. And if you’re having a voice conversation and don’t think there’s time for a break with a cat concerto in the background, try to find your cat some better task beforehand.
Make your space cat-friendly
Working from home definitely has its upsides, but often means that we don’t have one, dedicated space to work at. With a laptop, you can sit at a desk, but also on the couch, armchair, a hammock or at the kitchen counter. Anywhere you go with your work station, make sure there’s a cat-friendly space too. After all, that same armchair, hammock, couch or desk could be the best spot for a cat nap!
- Cat path. Crossing the desk is an obligatory element of your cat’s parade around the house? Let them walk around the keyboard and choose a route with better views instead. A good idea here would be a cat superhighway with shelves above your desk or some free space behind the computer screen.
- Cat desk. Cats love being close to their hoomans, especially when they play the honorable role of a meowsistant at the home office. Let’s make them their own, comfortable space right by your work station – on our desks there’s always a mandatory TOBI scratcher from which our boys can observe us fiercely tapping on our keyboards.
- Sleeping space. A nap at work – mandatory, at least if you are a cat. But to make sure the keyboard doesn’t end up as the cat bed, cats always get their own places to sleep – TOBI on the desk, MIA cat house or OTI cat bed by the armchair, PADI pillow on the couch, when we’re working with our phones and responding to your comments. Your furry assistants will be happy.
Remember, fabCats – a cat-friendly space has its benefits for you too! Letting go of some stress before an important call? Your cat is right there, waiting to be pet 🙂
When a cat calls for a break
There’s no other way. After all, two breakfasts, three dinners and two suppers have to be served at the right time and the litter box has to be always clean – talking to your boss can wait for 5 minutes. Cats don’t know, though, that sometimes hoomans have to switch off and working up a good daily routine helps here a lot. A routine that fits both your work schedule and your cat’s needs. We treat it as a way to better organise our time – breakfast and playtime at a certain time of day allow us to have a short break from work and refresh our brains while the cats have the feeling they’ve won and really ordered a break for everyone.
Why is it so important? Because we’re sure, fabCat, that you don’t want to listen to your cat’s dirges sung from under the desk while you’re talking to a client? Or rescue your potted plants which have suddenly become your cat’s snack? Well, that’s what happens when a cat is bored and doesn’t understand why the hooman is constantly on the phone or the computer instead of waving the wand toy.
What else? When your cat calls for a break, use it actively:
- Play so that your cat gets tired and heads off to a land of catnip and tuna in their dreams,
- Include sniffing and interactive toys, like mats and feeders – you can set them around your house, sending your cat to search for treats while you’re dealing with your work stuff,
- Teach your cat some martial arts – with our KungFu toy of course. Throw your cat the KungFu kicker filled with the best stuff on the market and they’ll surely mind their own business during your conference call or an important client call.
How did working from our home office make myKotty better?
MyKotty knows what it’s like to work at a home office setting very well. For 9 years now working with cats has given us really good results and, what’s more important, it benefits you – fabCats. It’s because of the constant company of our cats, first Louis and Figo and now Teddy and Kitku Yoda, all prototypes of our products are tested right away and improved on if our cat critics say something’s wrong. We can observe them at all times and see how cats use our current or future products, verify our plans with reality and later deliver you the best quality end products. Thanks to being with cats 24/7 we know what we’re doing.
And how does working with cats look for you, dear fabCats? Have you experienced your cat’s company right when you want to focus on your work task list, or maybe you have successfully and for a long time – like us, managed to work purrfectly well with your cat assistants? Be sure to sound off in the comments and share with us, and other fabCats, your own ways of managing your cat’s energy at your home office.
P.S. Yesteday we celebrated World Animal Day so we’d like to give through you, dear fabCats, our best wishes of all the best for your cats, dogs and all the other fluffy and not-fluffy companions whom you share your daily lives with. We appreciate cats not just when it’s their day, but even when they’re putting tails and bottoms to our camera and treat our keyboards like the best napping spot 🙂
