Pandemic Reflections
This week for Thoughtful Thursday I thought I’d get a bit more blabby & personal and share my experiences since working from home since 31 March. As a Flexible Working Day ambassador and seasoned worker from home and all sorts of locations really (airports, airplanes, cafes, trains, hotels, etc.) I thought I would be all over this WFH dealy like a fat kid on a cream bun. I do love it, but it’s been hard. I felt a great deal of pressure initially because really as such an advocate and champion – I felt I should be leading the way. I’ve led remote and virtual teams before, but never before from the same chair for 8, 9, 10, xx hours per day, day after day, week after week, for an unknown timeframe, without the ability to escape to work from a local café for a few hours to break it up.
I’m lucky that I haven’t been isolated, quite the opposite really, this experience has allowed me to grow by learning to focus with the noise of kids in the background, and the occasional interruption. There’s no doubt that initially I was operating at a reduced efficiency and compensated for that with extra hours but I’ve evolved through the process and have implemented ways to try and optimise efficiency. You will know of course of my advocacy for staying physically active which is in part caring for you all and in part self-serving as I found myself initially sedentary all day every day staring at this screen. So things like walking meetings, phone calls instead of video and dare I say it resorting to pen & paper at times have given my eyes and body a break.
I’m very thankful to you all who have at some time undoubtedly met my kids who like to make impromptu cameo appearances in meetings. Lucy, my 4 year old, will even now ask if she can talk to my work friends or show you what she’s wearing. When kids interrupt there’s a part of me that feels the need to apologise and usher them out as quickly as possible almost to pretend as if they don’t exist to remind everyone that I am 100% professional and work is my number 1 priority. But in fact as parents we also have another job; a more important even more demanding job, and I sincerely thank each and every one of you for reacting with a welcoming smile or similar to understand that there is more to each of us than our roles and that’s ok, without making me feel guilty or not committed to my work. So thank you 😊
The dark cloud of this pandemic has silver linings, and for me I’ve worked out that over the past 7 weeks or 30 business days I’m so thankful for each of the following moments that otherwise wouldn’t have happened, 4 extra drop offs, 7 extra pickups, $460 saved in train fares, 80 hours of saved commuting which I’ve been able to redirect into a combo of sleep, work, exercise and family time, 23 extra mornings with the kids I normally miss out on, 23 extra afternoon/bath-times I normally miss out on, and at least 46 extra cuddles during the day I wouldn’t have otherwise had, not to mention the additional empathy I now have for my wife and the ad hoc help I’ve been able to give because 2 mins here and there can make all the difference without taking too much time away from work. I’m not sure what the future looks like, but I’m very appreciative of this time and moments I’ve been lucky to have. Not to mention of course that I have a stable job at a time when so many have lost theirs. I’m excited to see what the future of work looks like across industry with this period as a transformation lever getting us thinking outside the box.
I’m very thankful for the workers who have maintained their work so that we can keep society running even though its kept them away from isolation; truck drivers, Woolies workers, medical staff of course, emergency services, and I’m thankful that when needed I can still get a café quality coffee from time to time, and my physio so I can do my weekly clinical pilates 😊 I don’t miss the crammed smelly trains with sweaty Bob or coughy mccough-face sitting next to me, but I do miss our fantastic office, riverside walks, actual in-person interaction with you all, and unplanned bump-ins with others across DPC.
I hope the mothers among us had a great mother’s day last weekend. I am very grateful for the 2 main mothers in my life; my mum, who I learned strength, selflessness and an inability to give up from, and my wife, who I’ve learned even more about selflessness, patience and sacrifice from. I am who I am greatly thanks to these 2 amazing women. In a way I am thankful that I am not a mother! Because there is absolutely something unavoidably unique that holds with the role so so much challenge. And yet in another I am envious that as hard as I try I will never know what it’s like to hold such an honour.
Thanks for listening 😊