{"id":39356,"date":"2020-04-02T10:36:24","date_gmt":"2020-04-02T17:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=39356"},"modified":"2020-04-02T11:37:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T18:37:53","slug":"eight-things-i-learned-while-working-from-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2020\/04\/eight-things-i-learned-while-working-from-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight Things I Learned While Working from Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
The author with her faithful companion, Watson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

A few years ago, I was presented with a job opportunity that included working remotely (AKA: from home), which is a situation that many 100% in-office employees dream of. More than excited to experience the work-from-home life myself, I took the position without hesitation. I could work from my house, with no shoes on, sitting next to my dog, AND have my fridge full of good food without the threat of someone stealing my lunch? Deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of things I expected about working from home, and some that I didn\u2019t. Regardless, my time spent working remotely was filled with valuable lessons that I think we can all benefit from as many positions around the globe become remote for the time being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unless you have a seriously amazing setup, it\u2019s not the same<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many people who work in an office nowadays, I had grown accustomed to two monitors, a headset for my phone, and a separate keyboard. Oh, and an abundance of power outlets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, my home setup was alright. I didn\u2019t have the right cords to connect the extra monitor at my house to my laptop, so I was limited to one screen. Despite my large desk from IKEA, I didn\u2019t have enough room to use an external keyboard, so I was restricted to using the keyboard on my laptop. I\u2019m a little bit of a princess when it comes to my keyboard experience, so I wasn\u2019t crazy about that situation. My house is older and doesn\u2019t have many outlets, so my feet were always tangled in the power strips I had to plug in to have my full setup up and running all the time. I was never really in a good “groove.” If I could go back in time, I would have invested a bit more cash into my home office and made things more comfortable for myself from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your dog doesn\u2019t miss you, he just sleeps all day<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was very excited to be home working all day with my 75-lb. Goldendoodle, Watson, all day long. To be able to have him roam all day outside of his crate, to allow him unlimited bathroom breaks, and to give him the best dog life he could have dreamed of, all sounded like a dream come true \u2014 for both of us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What really happened: Watson slept most of the day. When he was awake, sometimes he would be a comforting presence in an otherwise empty house, and other times he would bark at squirrels outside while I was on client calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moral of the story: your dog really doesn\u2019t want you to work from home. He just wants some alone time without you trying to get dog selfies with him using the dog-face snapchat filter or forcing him to cuddle with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can go from the independent friend to the needy friend in the blink of an eye<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time goes by really slow when you\u2019re at home and you don\u2019t have the occasional distraction that being in an office brings. The casual goings-on in an office, like a coworker showing you a funny video, catching up on crazy weekend stories while you\u2019re making coffee, or even the random conversations you have while walking back to your desk from the printer, are little moments that make each day different from the next.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I worked at home, I remember sending out texts to my friends and then thinking \u201cwhy haven\u2019t they texted me back yet? It\u2019s been awhile\u201d, to only realize that it has been only four minutes since I\u2019d hit “send.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without the occasional distraction or merely the dull roar of other humans being around you on the phone, things can feel very cave-like if you don\u2019t take breaks to combat those feelings. Make time to go for a quick walk outside, call your grandma, or dust the ceiling fans in your house. Because let\u2019s face it, when was the last time you did that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people can\u2019t wait to get home from work and relax, while you want to do the opposite<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you\u2019re working from home, 5 p.m. is the signal that you can get out of our house. When you\u2019re working in an office, 5 p.m. is the signal that you can get in your casual clothes and be home. See how that can get really frustrating? It brings me back to when my dad traveled a ton for work when I was growing up. As soon as he came home, my mom and I would want to celebrate by going out to dinner with him. Like the good dad\/husband he was, he would go, but not without mentioning all he really wanted to do was eat a home-cooked meal and sit on the couch. We didn\u2019t really understand this at the time, but now I do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from home, I\u2019d be home all day long waiting for the chance to bust out of my cage! Why didn\u2019t my roommates want to go out to happy hour on a Monday?! These are the things that you really don\u2019t understand until you take a step back and assess the situation. Luckily, there are Facebook and other networking groups out there now that plan outings and group working sessions for people in the same boat. If you are new to the WFH life, check those out. Because waiting for your roommate to get home from work, so you can bombard them with weeknight plans, is their personal hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You start to critique your home<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know that piece of wall art that you bought at Marshall\u2019s last year that you really loved? Well, after you started walking by it 20 more times a day, now you hate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you sit on conference calls throughout the day pacing throughout your house, you start to notice all the dog toy marks, fingerprints, and miscellaneous marks on the walls. You think to yourself, \u201chow long has it been since these walls have had a fresh coat of paint?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These things turn into the \u201cif you give a mouse a cookie\u201d story very quickly. I painted my whole house, then realized the base boards needed fresh white paint, then had to update the wall decor, and then I had to paint some of the furniture to match. The possibilities are endless, so be careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taking a lunch break feels like you are committing a crime<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re at home, so now your lunch break can consist of other random things that you wouldn\u2019t normally be able to do during your lunch break from the office. You don\u2019t have to worry about changing back into your business professional attire after a quick gym sesh, there isn\u2019t any sort of commute time to factor in if you were wanting to take care of something at home, and you have the freedom to cook a meal from scratch! You can wash your car, even mow the lawn if you\u2019re feeling like an overachiever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whatever you decide to do, you will quickly realize that any time spent away from your computer will feel like you are breaking rules. Am I really allowed to do this? Can I go for a run in my neighborhood without telling my boss? The answer is most likely \u201cyes, you\u2019re allowed\u201d as long as its not illegal and takes no more than an hour\u2019s time. Please don\u2019t cite me if you get in trouble for doing anything weird on your lunch break while you WFH, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from a coffee shop is only cool in theory<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Picture this: you\u2019re sitting at a table at Starbucks with your laptop, sipping on a macchiato, looking like the cool, hip, professional that you are. Bumming free WiFi never looked so cool. DJ, stop the music. This isn\u2019t real, this is the romanticized version of working remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from a coffee shop only works well in movies and daydreams, where your laptop doesn\u2019t need to be charged and free WiFi ACTUALLY works. Those tiny tables are not only too small to put your laptop on, but they all have a pile of Starbucks straw wrappers shoved under at least one of it\u2019s legs so it doesn\u2019t wobble when you touch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe just try it once, when the social distancing rules are lifted, just to say you did it. Trust me, though, once you try it once, you\u2019ll never try again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of scrolling social media while you drink coffee and wake up, you check e-mails<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, we live in an era where everyone checks social media as they stand in front of their coffee machines rubbing sleep out of their eyes. It\u2019s the morning routine of society as we wake up slowly to start the day. I think most people have a similar routine as we settle in at our desks each day at the office. Walk in, sit down, and scroll through emails as we wake up the little professional inside of ourselves before we pick up the phone and start calling. At home, you combine these two steps. I would start checking\/responding to emails as my coffee brewed, and boom, I\u2019d be ahead of my normal day\u2019s work by at least an hour, and that\u2019s before I even brushed my teeth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working from home has different positives and negatives. Whether you enjoy it or not, I think depends on the type of job you have, what your personality is, and maybe even if you have a spouse or roommate who also works from home (or doesn\u2019t work at all). For every person, the experience is different, and I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll find someone who is in the middle on their feelings about WFH. It seems that you either love working from home, or you don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for me, I lasted about six months. It was fun at first, but I started losing my mind (and house projects to take on), and I felt that it was important to make a change before I drove all my friends and family crazy. I was dying to get back to real life and for a reason to put real pants on other than for client meetings. Working from home is its own beast. I\u2019m glad that I have experienced it before and won\u2019t have as aggressive as an adjustment period when I inevitably have to do it again while the U.S. tries to flatten the curve. Make the best of any chance you get to experience it in these next few months, keep in mind that it won\u2019t be totally perfect when you start out, and don\u2019t be afraid to reach out to coworkers if you need help, or even just to say hi, because they probably kinda miss you, too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I was presented with a job opportunity that included working remotely (AKA: from home), which is a situation that many 100% in-office employees dream of. More than excited to experience the work-from-home life myself, I took the position without hesitation. I could work from my house, with no shoes on, sitting next to my dog, AND have my fridge full of good food without the threat of someone stealing my lunch? Deal. There are a lot of things I expected about working from home, and some that I didn\u2019t. Regardless, my time spent working remotely was filled with valuable lessons that I think we can all benefit from as many positions around the globe become remote for the time being. Unless you have a seriously amazing setup, it\u2019s not the same Like many people who work in an office nowadays, I had grown accustomed to two monitors, a headset for my phone, and a separate keyboard. Oh, and an abundance of power outlets. Overall, my home setup was alright. I didn\u2019t have the right cords to connect the extra monitor at my house to my laptop, so I was limited to one screen. Despite my large desk from IKEA, I didn\u2019t have enough room to use an external keyboard, so I was restricted to using the keyboard on my laptop. I\u2019m a little bit of a princess when it comes to my keyboard experience, so I wasn\u2019t crazy about that situation. My house is older and doesn\u2019t have many outlets, so my feet were always tangled in the power strips I had to plug in to have my full setup up and running all the time. I was never really in a good “groove.” If I could go back in time, I would have invested a bit more cash into my home office and made things more comfortable for myself from the start. Your dog doesn\u2019t miss you, he just sleeps all day I was very excited to be home working all day with my 75-lb. Goldendoodle, Watson, all day long. To be able to have him roam all day outside of his crate, to allow him unlimited bathroom breaks, and to give him the best dog life he could have dreamed of, all sounded like a dream come true \u2014 for both of us! What really happened: Watson slept most of the day. When he was awake, sometimes he would be a comforting presence in an otherwise empty house, and other times he would bark at squirrels outside while I was on client calls. Moral of the story: your dog really doesn\u2019t want you to work from home. He just wants some alone time without you trying to get dog selfies with him using the dog-face snapchat filter or forcing him to cuddle with you. You can go from the independent friend to the needy friend in the blink of an eye Time goes by really slow when you\u2019re at home and you don\u2019t have the occasional distraction that being in an office brings. The casual goings-on in an office, like a coworker showing you a funny video, catching up on crazy weekend stories while you\u2019re making coffee, or even the random conversations you have while walking back to your desk from the printer, are little moments that make each day different from the next. When I worked at home, I remember sending out texts to my friends and then thinking \u201cwhy haven\u2019t they texted me back yet? It\u2019s been awhile\u201d, to only realize that it has been only four minutes since I\u2019d hit “send.” Without the occasional distraction or merely the dull roar of other humans being around you on the phone, things can feel very cave-like if you don\u2019t take breaks to combat those feelings. Make time to go for a quick walk outside, call your grandma, or dust the ceiling fans in your house. Because let\u2019s face it, when was the last time you did that? Most people can\u2019t wait to get home from work and relax, while you want to do the opposite When you\u2019re working from home, 5 p.m. is the signal that you can get out of our house. When you\u2019re working in an office, 5 p.m. is the signal that you can get in your casual clothes and be home. See how that can get really frustrating? It brings me back to when my dad traveled a ton for work when I was growing up. As soon as he came home, my mom and I would want to celebrate by going out to dinner with him. Like the good dad\/husband he was, he would go, but not without mentioning all he really wanted to do was eat a home-cooked meal and sit on the couch. We didn\u2019t really understand this at the time, but now I do. Working from home, I\u2019d be home all day long waiting for the chance to bust out of my cage! Why didn\u2019t my roommates want to go out to happy hour on a Monday?! These are the things that you really don\u2019t understand until you take a step back and assess the situation. Luckily, there are Facebook and other networking groups out there now that plan outings and group working sessions for people in the same boat. If you are new to the WFH life, check those out. Because waiting for your roommate to get home from work, so you can bombard them with weeknight plans, is their personal hell. You start to critique your home You know that piece of wall art that you bought at Marshall\u2019s last year that you really loved? Well, after you started walking by it 20 more times a day, now you hate it. While you sit on conference calls throughout the day pacing throughout your house, you start to notice all the dog toy marks, fingerprints, and miscellaneous marks on the walls. You think to yourself, \u201chow long has it been since these walls have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":39357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[3808],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39358,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39356\/revisions\/39358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}