Work has me burned out, the weather’s been miserably hot, and I’m not looking forward to returning to the office as much as I’d expected.
Add to that the general stress of the global pandemic, getting used to the “new normal,” wrestling with wanting to stay home and safe but also venture out and do the few things I and my family enjoy, and trying to explain to my son why he’ll need to wear a mask at science camp and at school…
At this moment, I’m content to be relaxing in my sunroom, listening to the rain, feeling the breeze, drinking a cider, and watching darkness fall.
After 17 weeks of working from home, I drove in to the office for my first half-day on-site since the pandemic forced us all to quarantine.
My Totoro calendar says I was last at my desk on Monday, March 16.
I was one of three people present today in my team of nine total. To maintain appropriate distancing, we’re all rotating days in the office. I’m planning to be in the office on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, and more often when I can.
When the Stay-At-Home order was enacted in Ohio, and my department started working from home full-time, I wasn’t sure how I was going to take to it. Even after the first four or five weeks, when I finally got myself into a proper routine, I was chomping at the bit to get back into the office. It would have been quite a stretch for me to believe I’d get to a point where I prefer working from home… yet, here I am.
For one thing, I find that I’m more productive in the afternoons when I don’t have to plan around my evening commute. Working from home gives me as much time as I need to finish the last task of the day without needing to wrap up all the loose ends and prepare myself to come back to it later. I can’t just stay late in the actual office downtown, even though I might like to, because I need to get home and be the responsible parent to my almost-nine-year-old once his Dad leaves for work.
I’ve really been enjoying the extra sleep I get every morning from not having to get up in time to wrangle my son and then drive to work. My internal clock has gotten surprisingly good at waking me up around 7:10am.
Alas, that’s now when I wake on weekends, too.
Having the option to work in any spot in my house is a luxury I’ve taken for granted. I’ve gotten used to being able to choose my setting: the sunroom, the home office, the kitchen table. I found myself wishing for a change of scenery this afternoon, and for some fresh produce to snack on.
I go back in tomorrow, then work from home Thursday-Friday, then I’m in the office all next week while Connor’s at science camp. It’s going to be weird.
Everything is weird now. Even the things that used to be normal.
This morning, Connor and I took a trip to the pediatrician for a well visit. It was the first time either of us had been out in public in the era of social distancing, so we donned our homemade cloth masks and forged ahead into the weirdness.
On one hand, it felt like a big deal, leaving the house for realsies for the first time since March. On the other hand, like Connor said: it’s just a doctor’s visit.
Once I return to working in the office next month, I’m going to have to get used to wearing a mask all day. After wearing one for just an hour, I can tell that this is going to be interesting….
