It’s been three weeks of working from home. This is not the first time I’ve worked from home. It’s always been easy but now there is a wife and kids involved. Back then I was single. I had all rooms to myself: three to be exact. I could work from the kitchen to the toilet at whatever time on whatever day I wanted. Things have since changed.
Amidst homeschooling, assistant chef, games master and entertainer, my responsibility curve has shot higher than expected.
In a bid to flatten this curve, I have converted the guest room to an office but still with lots of challenges. Mostly from the kids consulting on their schoolwork or play. My wife only consults when things are serious. Like when she asks me to keep an eye on the boiling tea. Methinks the tea gods collude to fix me. It always spills when I step out. I could be in the kitchen a whole year fixated on it with nothing happening but the moment I step out the volcano erupts.
I have come to appreciate the office: a place that puts you in that work mode. The place that has the right environment for concentration and productivity. A closed office for me is a place for meditation, processing and strategy. A place where fresh ideas are born as well as a class requiring undivided attention. I miss this.
For my fellow extroverts, our offices are normally full of life. Doing ten things at a time and finally completing none. Not unless it’s urgent. Not forgetting the boredom that comes with repetition or staying at one place for a long time. We need a break and right now I need a break from this long break.
I will not speak for the Introverts but I hear they are enjoying this break apart from the cause and effects on people’s health as well as the economy. A friend married to one introvert called me the other day saying he had to come up with an excuse to leave the house. The excuse he gave was that he needed to take his car to the car wash though the car was clean. He just wanted fresh air.
We are indeed facing tough times. The concept of working from home is still a foreign idea and since it did not come with any manual, some of us are doing poorly at it. The urge of going back to our normal is growing stronger by the day. One day, this will be our norm.
