The 7 Hells of Remote Work— Maybe the Boss Was Right…
#4 The cashier becomes your social life.
I remember when the pandemic first started, some of the happy people were employees told to leave the office and work from home.
First the first time, many tasted the work-from-home life. They ordered delivery, grew their hair long and maybe added a little cake. It was part of staying safe.
It’s been a while now. With experience comes perspective…
If you ever worked from home for long enough, surely you witnessed heaven turn a bit … hellish.
Level 1: You forget how to dress, or even to dress.
There’s a knock at the door and you’re on the couch with a warm beverage buck naked…You can either race to get dressed or pretend you’re not home.
Option two usually wins. After your heart stops racing and you sip your beverage.
Level 2: An idle mind is the devil’s playground.
It’s no joke. If you are going to have more solitude than most, you’ve got a couple options here:
- Either meditate and pray until you purge all your mental demons and wrong-thinking, after which you’ll be enlightened and can begin your new soul mission as a teacher.
- Or, find a lot of other things to do to stay busy on off-hours. Network and set times to do stuff with humans.
Level 3: You forget how to drive properly.
It’s important to stay abreast with the mechanics of an automobile and the latest innovations in driving, like those crazy roundabouts (or are they traffic circles?).
Anyway, don’t get stuck driving in circles.
I drive more now. It’s fun.
Level 4: The cashier becomes your social life.
When you don’t have coworkers to see in person at a water cooler, the only other people to see regularly without having to set dates is the cashier at the grocery store, the barista at the cafe, the popcorn popper at Ace.
Instead of “ordering,” you “converse.” You go off on long tangents with them. Because, hey, they’re the only other humans you’ll probably see today besides family (if applicable).
Level 5: Toooo much family.
Speaking of family, while it’s great to have more family time, it can be overdone.
If you’re around too much, people start to recall that phrase, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Make regular appointments to take walks and just get the f*** out of the house. I even found working in my car can be fun if set up over some scenic area. Or, maybe you need a remote-remote office?
Level 6: The work won’t go away!
Everybody likes to call it “Work From Home.” But, would if we call it “Home From Work”?
A lot of the time it’s like living at your workplace. That kind of sucks.
Going to an office and then leaving it behind (and with it, the work) is a luxury.
You can try to situate your workspace where you don’t mingle with your living areas, but it’s still there! (Evil laugh of a devil ?).
Level 7: Less people
This is where the devil will really get you! He’ll make your boss look like Mickey Mouse!
I’ve tried both worlds: no people and people.
People are better.
And Zoom doesn’t count. Yes, Zoom can be awesome, but it’s not quite the same in the social aspect.
I’m not saying 5 days a week in the office is the answer, but it’s galaxies better than isolation. We do need people, and if they’re in an office, fabulous.
There’s something about being in the presence of another human, sharing their bioelectromagnetic field (if you don’t want to use the term “aura”) that is irreplaceable.
Compared to forced solitude, smiling into someone’s eyes — even the boss’s — is heaven.
For the flip side of this story, check out: