We are not currently working from home. We are at home, during a crisis, trying to work.
At first we tried to make fun of and get into the idea of “working from home.” A key question for TV hosts from those watching from home, “Are you wearing pants?” (Can I just say that if people were uncomfortable answering “no” then perhaps they should have been wearing pants in the first place…) As someone who often worked from home before March 2020, I do have to say I was always wearing pants on conference calls. Sure, sometimes they were yoga pants, but pants nonetheless.
Which leads me to the point. For those of us fortunate enough to be employed and able to do our work from a safe space, we are not currently working from home.
We are at home, during a crisis, trying to work.
Those are two very different things.
When I worked from home (before March 2020) I had routines I didn’t know I had. I got up, made coffee, walked the dog, and sometimes journaled. Most clients wanted to meet in person so I cleaned my apartment if someone was coming to my home office. I showered when that was the case too. Or when I was going to see friends, after working out, before going to a client’s office, before or after traveling. All of these things happened regularly. My dog watched me sitting at my desk and would fall fast asleep. I had meetings in offices, coffee shops, in my home, and sometimes on zoom.
The first realization that my usual work from home routines were shifting was when I canceled in-person meetings at my house. I was aware that I was no longer open to sharing my space with people I didn’t know and/or whose contacts I didn’t know. I didn’t even want to go on the metro to their office. I decided that while coaching is often best done in person, Zoom would work fine for existing clients.
Now, during the crisis, I have a Calendly link that I send out to expedite bookings. I sometimes get booked back to back to back for a full day. (I have remedied that with 15 min buffers on my calendar as soon as someone books me.) This was never an issue before because people would happily delay meetings. Now people want to meet ASAP and there is urgency to the need for connection. Now I shower when I work out (every few days?) or when I feel like it. Overshare – I decided to implement a sniff test in the mornings and afternoons to make sure I’m not past my shower due date. I don’t want my loved one to have to tell me “It’s time” (again). Now I can’t change up the scenery and work from a coffee shop. Now I can’t go to lunch with a friend to break up the day. Now my boyfriend’s dog, not used to being quite during work hours, barks at everything; and my dog joins in the loud chorus.
I worked from home before March 2020. Now I am at home, during a crisis, trying to work. We are all at home. During a Crisis. Trying to work. Trying to care for ourselves. Trying to care for others. Trying to teach our kids (or not open the door and set them free).
We can do this.
I have faith in humanity to get through this. In order to make it we need to acknowledge our situation to make it through the crisis without going totally nuts or experiencing a backlash against “working from home” after this pandemic is over.
So. No more saying we are “telecommuting” or “working from home” or “staycation” or “quarancation”. We are at home. During a Crisis. Trying to work.
Shower before your loved one has to say something.
Calendly.com is a helpful tool for online scheduling to reduce back and forth with people who cannot see your calendar.
Buffer your calendar with 10 or 15 min breaks between hour long meetings (available in the paid version of Calendly, but I just do it with a 15 min appointment).
Truthfully say what things are and how we are feeling. In this way, we can deal with the reality that old solutions may not work and that we need new routines and new stories about what work really is.
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