A few things I have learned after two months of working from home

After working from home for the last two months due to the global pandemic, I have realized several things.

And since I still can’t talk to people face to face in most instances, I thought I would share a few of my realizations here:

I miss dressing up for work – It’s much more comfortable to wear sweat pants and t-shirts, but I kind of miss wearing a suit and tie. Most of my suits are fairly comfortable, and you can’t beat the convenience of having a suit jacket with inside pockets. I love those suit jacket pockets!

I genuinely like going to work – I miss going to my office and seeing my co-workers in 3-D. I miss staying late sometimes, walking out to get snacks way too often and getting frustrated by the copier machine. Why are they so complicated? How are there so many trays and doors on all sides of a copier?

It is nice being home most of the time – I am fortunate enough to have a safe home, terrific family and great neighbors. I can see why people like being retired.

I don’t know how people who don’t like sports spend their time – I love sports and each part of the year is defined by games I am either playing or watching. I love the fun of playing rec sports, I get excited watching games in person or on television, and I spend way too much time thinking about athletics. Not having any games for the last two months has been incredibly different. I don’t know what I am supposed to think about now. Real problems? The meaning of life? What the shelf is for on the bottom left of the copier? Where to hold my pens when I am not wearing a suit jacket?

I am not doing most of the things I thought I would do – I have gotten a few things done around the house, but have failed miserably at most of the projects so far. I am also very far behind on my writing, which is terrible timing because more people are looking for material to read now more than ever.

Working from home still keeps you busy, and is sometimes busier – It’s hard to stop working when your workspace is still with you the rest of the day. I don’t have anywhere to go, so I might as well keep working.

It’s also hard to get some things done working from home – I miss being able to walk into someone’s office to ask a question. I miss leaving papers on someone’s desk. I miss scanning something in on the copier and then sending it to another person. I don’t miss when the scan would come through a little sideways, though. Or when it would be a little blurry. Ok, I guess I don’t really miss scanning things. I do miss talking to other people sitting near the copier when I was scanning papers.

I am extremely thankful to still be working – I may complain about working from home, but I’m blessed to have a job right now.

I miss my office chair – Our chairs at home are only good for sitting! They aren’t that great for working. My back misses my office chair.

I need a routine – I like the rhythm of the workday and the routine of the week. At first, it was very hard to have no set routine at home. I tried to sit in different places around the house at different times of the day, but that didn’t work as well as I hoped. Also, the cats kept stealing where I wanted to sit. I thrive on routines, and this whole deal with being home all of the time has been hard.

Cats are difficult to work with – They distract me, get in the way and like to sit on my computer.

I can wear my basketball shoes even when I am not playing basketball – I used to only wear them for basketball, but now that I haven’t been able to play sports in a few months, I have found that I can wear them around the house. I hadn’t even considered doing so before, but I like wearing them now. I may wear my soccer cleats to cut the grass next week.

I don’t miss eating out – It is nice sometimes, but I like eating at home. Of course, I am a terrible cook and my wife does all of the cooking, so maybe it’s like I’m eating at a restaurant most of the time anyway. She probably is missing eating at a restaurant.

I love eating – I have no restraint now. I snack all of the time. One of the reasons I don’t dress up at home is that I’m worried I will spill food all over my good clothes.

I don’t know how doctors and nurses wear masks all of the time – They are too hot. I wear them so I don’t spread diseases, but they are not comfortable.

How do superheroes wear masks? – It just seems awful now. No wonder Batman seems like he is in such a bad mood.

Is there a tray door underneath the copier to clear out jammed paper? – I think there might be.

While I obsess on the global pandemic, I often forget about it when I see someone I want to talk to – I just want to go up and talk to people. I need to be better about that.

I want to high five people – It’s been too long.

I have no idea what to do with Memorial Day Weekend – Stay home? I’m home every day. Maybe I should go to the office and hang out for a while. That would be nice.

 

Do you have any realizations you’d like to share? Feel free to comment below. Thanks!