Category: Work Wisdom

So many of us are working from home now and most of us are talking about it. There are humorous stories of kids and pets showing up in conference calls and Zoom meetings. There are stories of too much snacking and wearing slouchy clothes. I think the most interesting thing is all the women posting about keeping up their daily routes. I’m one of them.

In order to keep order in my chaotic world, I am sticking to my regular schedule. The alarm rings at 5 and I get dressed; hair, clothes, makeup, jewelry, spritz of perfume. Then I go downstairs, press the button on the coffee pot and feed all the hungry pets. I let them out but instead of packing my lunch, I turn on the news. When the coffee is done, I have my coffee in front of the TV. I eat my breakfast at home before I start work. It is nice to have a leisurely start. When it’s time to work, I let the dogs in and give them their milk bones. They are very confused about why they don’t have to go to their kennels, but they like it

Then I sit down to my home office desk and log in to work. Work feels the same once I’m logged in. I still have work to do, decisions to make and meetings to go to. I am very focused once I start working and it doesn’t matter to me whether I am in the office or at home. I like that my home office has lots of windows and sunlight. But I don’t really miss it when I’m in the office because I’m working and when I leave work there’s the long drive home in the daylight.

So after a long week of work from home, I still feel tired and worn out. I still look forward to the weekend even though I know I’m not going anywhere new. But, I will sleep until 6 or 7 and I won’t get dressed for my coffee. I will watch the news in my jammies and I won’t put on any makeup. I’ll get dressed eventually and comb my hair. But no makeup unless I go somewhere. So now I am starting to rethink that. Why do I only feel ready when I have my makeup on?

In all my years of working, I have only gone to the office twice without make up. I don’t remember the reason, but there was something. One time everyone asked me if I was sick. The other time, people asked if I was really tired. Well, that explains why I wear my make up. But do I need to? Can I be ready for work without it? Am I mentally and physically capable of working without makeup? Seem like silly questions. But I’m now quite ready to ditch the make up yet. Not wanting to be the one on Zoom who looks sick or tired. It’s vanity. For now, I’m keeping it. I’ll let you know if/when I change my mind.

These are the glasses I bought in the last two years, minus one pair of prescription sunglasses. They’re all multi-focal, in the $600 – $800 range. Why so many? Because, like any good Midwestern Lutheran, I flexed a lot of money to use up by the end of the year in case I got sick and needed it. I never got sick, didn’t need any dental work and had no meds to stock up on. So I used up my flex money on the glasses. They’re all kind of the same, but each a little different. Whatever. Next time I’m going to get some that are really different.

I can get the glasses because my employer offers good medical insurance with a flexible spending option to use for items not covered by insurance. The eye exams are covered, the glasses are not. I’m fortunate to be healthy and able to use those savings on the glasses.

I’m not flashy. I don’t need that many glasses. Wouldn’t it be great if people like me who flexed too much money and just needed to use it up could actually put it to some good? What if we could donate the unused money to people who need it for their medical expenses?

Had a nice weekend in our spring like weather. Did some visiting with family, a little bit of shopping in a few different stores, washed the car. I’m pretty sure I came in contact with some germs and maybe even some sick people during these activities. This is not usually a problem, because I am healthy. I am a middle class American with okay health insurance and I get my flu shot. Normally, I wouldn’t think about who is sick around me. But today I am.

In my circle, we are having the second round of flu and many people are home from work with sick kids, or sick themselves. And this year, in addition to flu we are anticipating COVID-19. The coronavirus is here and will likely touch all of us.

This is a respiratory virus that is more severe in older people and those with underlying health issues. I am not panicking about this, but I am taking it seriously. I think we all have to be smart about this. We need to wash our hands often and stay home when we’re sick. Don’t waste resources and do what we can to stay healthy, like eating well, getting enough sleep and keeping public spaces clean.

I am fortunate to be able to work from home if the need arises. I think in my off time, I am likely to stick closer to home over the next days to see how this thing develops. I am going to hunker down and start planning my patio garden. I have a pile of books that need reading and multiple bins of yarn that need knitting or crocheting.

Some are comparing the COVID-19 outbreak to the Flu outbreak of 1918. Only time will tell if this is so. One thing we can be very thankful for in 2020 is that we have technology to help us communicate what’s going on around us and to keep us entertained at home. We have a good infrastructure in America to keep people comfortable and deliver food and supplies all over the country.

I am going to work tomorrow as usual but I will be more aware of how I interact with people and my environment. I’ll be bringing my lunch from home and looking forward to staying home in the evening to catch up on my knitting while I visit with my hubs and we pretend to teach the pets some manners.

Hello folks. Thanks for your encouraging comments on my first post. In Millennial fashion, I googled ‘how people can follow my blog on Word Press’. It’s simple. Once I publish two posts, the Follow Blog Widget should appear on the bottom right corner of the screen, allowing you to follow me. Hope it works – we shall see.

Today at work, I thought about a difference in the office noise level, compared to a decade ago. I’m not talking about the heater fans, office equipment or white noise. I’m talking about the noise directly related to the people at work.

Now instead of hearing the office noises I have heard much of my career, I see the headphones and earbuds. Gone are the radios and CD players. Remember when we could play CDs in our desktops? No more team votes about which radio station to play in common areas. No spontaneous toe tapping when the greatest hit comes on, no group camaraderie when everyone knows the words to the song.

People are listening to podcasts, paid song download sites, books and other selections through laptops and mobile phones. There are still some dinosaurs like me who have an actual radio and a CD player, but the technology offered online is superior in selection and privacy.

Work is getting done, people are entertained and this is really a non-issue. Except that I can’t help but miss the old-timey noise in the office. I miss the chit chat between coworkers in cubes asking about processes and procedures. I miss the quiet laughter and exclamations as the day unfolds and things happen. I am missing the community and interaction of colleagues beyond the flat screen of the computer.

We still communicate often through computer messaging or email and we get the work done; often more efficiently than we used to. Though I am a big user of the smiley emoji, I long to see your smiling face as I tell you, “Good job”. I kind of want you to see my silly, googly eyes when I confess, “I goofed.” Those are the things that help me gauge relationships and how things are going. A careful observer could learn so much about the business and different personalities just by listening to the daily office noise.

If we want to talk to someone wearing earbuds, we have to get their attention first. This can be awkward because we don’t want to startle anyone. Do you tap them on the shoulder? Tap the desk? Invasive. Do we position ourselves in their line of vision and wait until they notice? Really hard for an extrovert to wait. Best Practice – send a message telling them you’re coming over to chat in person; rather. asking if they have a moment for an in-person visit. This works, it gets the job done. But it can leave you feeling like you’re invading someone’s privacy or that someone else is invading your privacy. Everyone knows that if you want to be left alone, you put in your earbuds.

I keep the earbuds out of my ears because I really like to hear the office noise and I like to be easily accessible. ENFJ. And what I’m hearing tells me about relationships and how things are going. Now I just have to listen more often with my eyes and plan ahead for those ‘impromptu’ face to face meetings.