Hey all you cool cats and kittens – it’s been quite some time since my last post. If my opening line didn’t trigger some kind of reaction from you, (ahem…Tiger King 🐯, anyone?) where have you been?

Because I’ve been at home, since March 16th, 2020 to be exact. It all began with a “Hey we’re going to work from home and quarantine for two weeks, good luck finding toilet paper.” And here we are, over a year later. Who knew this would turn out to be what it has become? I often joke with my coworkers, “I am feral now.” The concept of returning to the office seems so… foreign. I have become so accustomed to work from home now that I spent a significant amount of time (and coin) to live out my wanna-be gamer office dreams. My dog Teddy is rolling his eyes as we speak.

Anyway, I will get to my point. There’s three points I can make about my WFH experience right now.

1. You can be just as (if not MORE) productive working from home than you can be at the office. I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that I spend more time working from home than I did when I was in the office. I was a beast in the office; I got a lot done. However when you work from home, you’re usually working later, earlier, weekends, etc. because the laptop is always there. You don’t have a commute time. You’re not rushing home to feed the dog or pick the kids up. This can be a good thing, or a bad thing. Work life balance is a challenge for many companies right now.
2. I love how our HUMANITY is showing. People are so much more candid now. Kids, pets, messy bedrooms, comfy house clothes and pandemic hair cuts are the norm. Since we’re all WFH, that very stoic corporate energy is gone. I love that. I like getting to know people I work with on a more personal level. We are humans, not corporate robots. It’s easier to giggle with coworkers now.
3. My ability to control my environment to suit my comfort. The featured image on this post is actually my home office. Have you ever watched Criminal Minds? There is an analyst on that show named Penelope Garcia. She’s quirky, colorful, bright and fun. I related to her very much. I surround myself with color, fun lights, Funko POPs, and Bath and Body Works Wall-flower plug-ins. I am notoriously cold, so I have a little space heater. I am a maniac about ergonomics, so I treated myself to a Steelcase chair, and Logitech ergonomic mouse and keyboard. When I have a migraine, I can turn the lights down low. No more fluorescent overhead lighting! A gift from the gods WFH is. When my mood needs a boost, I set my Nanoleaf wall lights to ocean blues colors and set my iMac to play 4K undersea fish footage. It’s magical. Not a worry or care in the world that my gadgets or goodies will bother anyone else. Oh, and can you say – sweatpants and UGG Fuzzy slippers?

So overall I guess you can say it’s been pretty good. And I am one of the fortunate ones. This is why when people ask me “What career is good for WFH?” I always point them to analytics.

Perhaps in a future post I will dig deeper into what I miss from the office. Spoiler alert – it’s the people. The smiling faces in the cafeteria. Maybe the iced lemon pound cake in the break room too. That stuff was dangerous. 😭

Stay safe, wear your masks, get your vaccines. We’re almost to the finish line.