I’ve long been a fan of working from home when it comes to any project that requires extensive, sustained focus and solitude. Which was sometimes the case for my work in the beforetime: crack open the laptop connected to a power cable, put on the Deep Focus Spotify playlist, and get down to hours of work.
MY TYPICAL WFH SITCH
I like working in open spaces with good light and, ergonomics be damned, sitting on a couch with my feet up, laptop on my lap. My TV room at home fits this description/my needs pretty nicely.
I also discovered at some point probably in my mid to late 20s that I’m a morning person (woulda been cool to discover that earlier, but better late than never.) So I typically get up around 6 AM, have a nice glass of cold brew coffee, with cream and breakfast.
If I’m in the middle of a project on a deadline, I’ll grab my cold brew and an RX Bar and some almonds and head right to work in the TV room, just next to the kitchen where we keep all the food and drink (like most folks).
And, while I don’t mind getting down to work right away if I need to, I try most days to make a nice berry smoothie and do some reading and Learned League trivia, wake up my 8 year old daughter, and make her breakfast before getting to work myself.
SO WFH? NBD, RIGHT? COOL…
Given my feelings about successful WFH in the past and digging my workspace, there was definitely a part of me that felt prepared for the shift to work from home when DePaul made the decision to do so back in March.
I don’t say this to brag or try and put a happy spin on this overwhelming, unprecedented, devastating, and life-altering time we’re living through because of the global pandemic and COVID-19. It’s just that—I’ve found over the past nine weeks or so—the being-productive-without-going-into-the-office part of this experience isn’t a particularly hard part for me.
That said…
I think I’ve learned that the WFH EVERY DAMN DAY experience is much different than the one-off day here and there or even the project-based week of focused WFH I’ve done in the past.
NOT KNOWING WHEN THINGS WILL END IS WEIRD
In previous WFH experiences, it was always a break from the day-to-day and the office and always had an implicit or explicit end point: the day, the project, etc. But what we’re living through right now is open-ended. And it’s already been 40-some work days since the UCWbL went to remote-only work. WFH does feel like the new normal, at least for now. But then I have to envision a time when it ends because it surely will. Right?
And I haven’t even mentioned Zoom.
P.S. This post took me since early April to finish, so work right now IS hard.