Working From Home is Lovely. Or Is It?

So, I think I have a problem. I work from home just like so many of you. I should be happy working from home. My commute time is about 30 seconds up a flight of stairs to my bedroom / office. Sometimes if I get caught in traffic or side lined by a detour, (if I forget my coffee or to kiss my wife goodbye) it may take two 2–3 minutes. Man, what a life. My new redesigned office that used to be my daughter’s bedroom is quite comfy. I have a desk and a laptop with two 27-inch tilt thin screen monitors. The room has a small sofa for chilling (I’m not hip) and two windows with a nice view of our neighborhood.

When Covid-19 hit, my company did what most companies did, had non-essential (white collar) workers work from home. I adjusted right away. We had and still have weekly Microsoft Teams meetings about our concerns and ability to function as individuals and teams while working remotely. I am fortunate to work for a company that is truly concerned about their employees. Through work, we have taken surveys about how many of us want to work from home once this Pandemic is over. The majority chose 3 days a week at home and two in the office. For me, that is a great mix. My wife works 5 days a week away from home. She was working at home for a few weeks but was brought back into the office. She has always had an upbeat personality and her attitude is contagious. For a few weeks at the beginning of the pandemic, she also had work from home. That nice sweet charismatic person I love was not the women I married. The first week was fine but after that, whew. You could see the change in her personality. She was stressed and did not like having to email her every thought to coworkers and customers. She would comment, “I hate emailing everyone. I really want to get back into the office.” I wasn’t sure it was that or was she actually tired of working so close to me? Well whatever the case, she’s back in the office and is content. That makes me happy but still doesn’t solve my issue.

Although I am not a chatty guy (more like an introvert), I need more than my two dogs to hold a coffee break conversation. They have a tendency to stare and walk away unless I’m holding doggie biscuits in my hand.

My coworker and teammate is great to talk to. We email and speak on the phone almost daily. But lately, I’ve had this empty feeling while I’m working. I’ve tried music, talk radio and even audio books but nothing is a permanent fix. I believe human interaction on a regular basis is necessary. The physical image of another person allows you to communicate with your eyes as well as your voice. Who would have thought? Now all things aren’t bad. I have the freedom to wear what I want, to scream if I want to scream, to take breaks without feeling that I’m being watched and to concentrate on my work without being interrupted. These are all positives and cannot be denied. So why am I feeling so lost and at times inadequate. My belief is that I am not used to what may become the new normal. Maybe this is what many of us will have to overcome. I recently heard that Amazon extended its employees working from home to January 2021. Facebook and Google extended its employees working from home to July 2021. If this is the new norm then I need to get with it. We all may need to conform and realize that change is here wether we like it or not. Life is not a straight line but hills and curves. One thing can be certain is that this pandemic is a global challenge. It will and has become challenging in so many ways. As I write this, I realize that my small struggle to work from home is minuscule compared to the struggles that so many go through with this virus. So tomorrow as I take my 1 to 3 minutes to get to work, I’ll not get into my “feeling sorry for me” attitude and realize that I am very fortunate to be healthy and working. Sometimes you just need to check yourself and be thankful for what you have.