Coping With Change.

When the company I work for was trying to decide if/when it would be telling employees to work from home, I was instantly excited. I was looking forward to the opportunity to work from home considering my company didn’t have the policy to do such. I said literally “hey if there was ever a time to figure out a work from home system, the time is NOW”. On Monday of last week, the mayor ordered all non-essential businesses to close, and workers to work from home if they were capable.

The first few days of working from home were, in actuality, not as exciting as I thought it would be. The thought of doing work on the comfort of a couch was ideal but in practice it’s not fun nor relaxing as it seems. I found the first couple of days very difficult because I felt that I was working all day, but not getting much accomplished. I woke up 10 minutes before it was time to clock in because I marveled at the idea of being able to sleep in later. After 3 days, I quickly realized how I was organizing my day was not going to work if I want to sustain this new work from home lifestyle. Here’s what I realized within my first few days.

There is not a demarcation of time… unless you create one. There are no clear lines to tell when activities should stop or start besides the sun rising and setting. I took for granted the travel time it took me to get to and from work. Those periods were clear indicators that my workday was starting and ending. The first few days I kept working past 6 o’clock because I could though the latest I would be physically willing to stay in the office was 5:45.

Second: human interaction is priceless. I didn’t realize how often I would strike up a conversation with a co-worker just from passing their desk or seeing them every day in the kitchen. Those were small interactions, but very valuable ones that add up. Sometimes people just want to talk, to talk. That’s okay!

Third: Like any normal day, there needs to be a source of fulfillment or something to look forward to. I realized I needed to feel productive by reading a chapter of my book or looking forward to going on a walk.

After my realizations, I created a schedule for myself. This schedule would account for a morning routine, lunch break, tv time and reading time.