*I finished a draft of this post just days before Covid-19 hit. Spoiler alert: I am now working from home for the foreseeable future. I left the original post as is but my updated situation follows.
A couple of years ago, I had an opportunity to work from home for eight months. It was the happiest I have been in years. Not because I didn’t have to go to an office full of people everyday (although that was nice), but because I suddenly felt an enthusiasm and energy for socializing that felt pretty unusual.
I really like about 95% of the people I work with. I even love some of these people and consider them good friends. I enjoy the conversations I have with them and generally enjoy my work day at the office. But, that doesn’t change the fact that all of that socializing drains me to the point that there isn’t anything left for anyone else when I get home.
My highest level of energy happens from about an hour after I wake up until 3 pm or so. But, that is usually time I’m at the office. By the time I get home from work, I’m exhausted and lack the energy to do much more than make dinner and watch tv.
The idea of meeting a friend for a drink, going on a date, joining a weekday sports league…all of it sounds exhausting at 6pm, even if they are people I really want to see.
This is unfortunate because it means that work and all of the “peopling” it entails are getting my best energy of the day, leaving nothing for those who matter most.
Imagine your phone’s battery was juiced all day from 8-3, but you were only allowed to use it for work email. Then, when you were finally able to use it for social media, netflix, and texting your friends, it died and couldn’t be revived until the next day…just in time for more work emails!
What if there was a way to turn that around? To be able to work alone most of the day so that when 6pm rolls around, you are excited to go out and spend time with people?
The months I worked from home, I was able to give that high energy time to the projects I cared about. Suddenly, I completed things in a matter of days that had been sitting around in “to do” piles for years.
Even more interesting was how this working arrangement affected my relationships. Working from home gave me 8-10 hours everyday of alone time to work, putter around, walk the dog, and run errands. By the time the day was over or the weekends rolled around, I had boundless energy for happy hours, outings, and day trips.
In fact, I had so much energy for doing things that I ran off some of my introverted counterparts who were still dealing with energy drain when they got home and needed every other weekend to recover.
When I finally had to go back to work in an office, I was excited to see all my friends. But…everything started piling up again. I saw my non-work friends less and less.
And then…Covid-19 happened.
Very shortly after I wrote the words you see above, I started a new job that was supposed to be in an office. But, my first day was shortly after the stay at home orders took effect.
So…how am I feeling about this?
Confused to be honest. The first week, I did a seminar over Zoom with some of my new colleagues. Last week, another Zoom meeting to try and get clarification on work flow. Thankfully, most of my work right now is writing, which I can do from my couch. Still, starting a brand new job in the middle of a pandemic is pretty strange.
The working from home? From what I can tell so far, I still love it. That said, I would not do this job remotely all the time even if I could. Not having access to the files I need is difficult and I miss being out and about during the day.
It does give me more energy for socializing with people in the evenings and on the weekends. And before you laugh and say, “What socializing? I know…we aren’t allowed to go anywhere! Still, I feel like I spend even more time socializing with people than ever, just not in person.
Even video and phone socializing can feel draining in high doses to introverts! So, I certainly love that I can save my socializing energy for my favorite people.
It isn’t perfect. I could do without the simmering anxiety caused by Covid-19. Thankfully, WFH provides flexibility of time to hunt down paper products, masks, groceries, and other necessities.
How Am I Making This Work?
- Routine. Routine. Routine.
- I get up sometime between 8-9:30. This is a big window but have you heard there is a pandemic going on and people are stressed? Be easy on yourself.
- I make coffee.
- I walk the dog.
- I grab breakfast and turn on my computer sometime between 9:30-11.
- I stay there for 8 hours, working with short breaks for lunch and to walk the dog.
- I write down what I want to accomplish tomorrow.
- I turn on some music and straighten up my apartment. From approximately 6-9 is my free time for movies/tv/playing with the dog/Zooming and FaceTiming, etc… I eat dinner somewhere in here.
- From 9-10, I write.
- 10-11:30 is reading time/snuggling with the dog.
This is a perfectly executed day by the way. Sometimes, I sit and stare into space for hours and then work into the night. It’s difficult to focus with all of this swirling anxiety, but this is what I’m attempting.
This will obviously look a lot different if you live with others (especially kids). But, the key is the routine. The more you can dial it in, the more peaceful you will feel.
How about you guys? Are you working from home and hating it? Loving it? I’m really curious about this. I know people who have always dreamed of working from home and have now realized they hate it!
It has its struggles for sure, although I’m grateful every day that I have the option right now since so many others don’t.
How about you? How is your WFH going?