Early into the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, I read an article in which the author said she was 鈥渓iving with an asterisk鈥� 鈥� that has proven to be very true. I keep reflecting on all those times when I said, 鈥淚t would be great to work from home.鈥� What I鈥檝e realized is, working from home when it鈥檚 your idea and working from home when it鈥檚 someone else鈥檚 idea are two very different things. As an extreme extrovert, I have a strong need for daily in-person interaction, something that has been missing since being at home. I think about how much I miss my daily habits that have changed ranging from arriving in my office where everything is where I can find it, to in-person interactions to the simple closure of heading home. In addition to my regularly scheduled programming at work being interrupted, I have had to reflect on all of the other little things that have also changed about my 鈥渨orking from home day鈥�:
- Listening to my favorite morning radio show
- Wearing make-up 鈥� which I haven鈥檛 done in almost seven weeks
- Putting on work clothes. I have now resorted to wearing sweats, leggings and maybe on two occasions actually put on a pair of jeans. I am trying to implement the idea that I heard in a meeting 鈥� don鈥檛 dress down and don鈥檛 dress up. So, I am wearing non-athletic type shirts in an effort to at least make it appear that I can pick out something a little more appealing than my Nike leisure clothes.
- Wearing my bling. I do fix my hair every morning, but only because it sticks up in every direction and nobody is ready to see that on the next Zoom meeting. The positive note is that It only takes me about 20 minutes to get ready every morning!
I am Zoom meeting fatigued. Everything is a Zoom meeting. I haven鈥檛 really considered any other method to meet, like picking up the phone to discuss things. But with so many electronic options like Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams, I can just push the button and see someone on my computer screen. Because of my need to interact, I鈥檓 sure meetings with me take a little longer because I want to talk to my peeps 鈥� people who understand my work world. I haven鈥檛 even mentioned that my husband is also working from home, in the same office, so on some days we are coordinating when we have Zoom meetings. Oh, AND my daughter, son-in-law, 2 陆-year-old grandson and 7-month-old granddaughter have been with us since the stay-at-home order was issued. So, for those who have meetings with me, you will see a crib in the background, and you will hear my grandson sneaking into the office to say 鈥渂oo鈥� and steal my latte!
I really thought I鈥檇 get good at working at home, but it actually takes much more concentration and effort to stay focused and be productive. Things are getting done, it just doesn鈥檛 always feel like it. I realize I鈥檓 feeling loss in several ways: related to my routine/habits; connections with my team and network; tasks that are eliminated, reduced or are changing. However, there have also been great opportunities and successes. I have had the ability to think about and develop those things that I always wanted to. For example: converting learning opportunities to virtual; a re-imagining of how we deliver services and how to think about talent and development in new ways; writing a blog, providing live virtual or on-demand training, developing virtual conferencing and better utilizing social media to engage, network and share information.
I have now developed a new routine and I understand things will never be exactly like they were, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I don鈥檛 sometimes wish they would be. At the beginning of working from home, I really wanted to go back to what I knew, but as the weeks have gone by, I realize that I am in the process of implementing a new normal. I look forward to reintegrating back to work and I continue to wonder how my team and my network will do the same. How will our customers and community look different? What will be my new tasks? What new or different services will my professional connections need?
I read an article several months ago in which Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he focuses on those things that don鈥檛 change over the long run and works to improve delivery of those things. The lesson for me, especially now, is that we should think about innovation and decide what to move forward but emphasize what will always be important. I have thought about this a lot over the stay-at-home period and have concluded that the purpose of my work is to provide talent development in ways that support public servants. How that purpose is implemented may require innovation, but fundamentally, we are here to support, engage and enhance the environment of public service 鈥� and that won鈥檛 change. - Paula
Do you have thoughts to share on WFHF? The Public Policy and Management Center invites you to join us for PPMC CHATS a new monthly series where we chat or train on a relevant topic in public service.
This month we will be discussing "Working from Home Fatigue" with Paula Downs. Paula will share her thoughts on working from home and will facilitate a conversation with participants on what they have learned: what is great, what is difficult, and where innovation can occur.
Participation is encouraged - this is your time to share!
Thursday, May 21 | 2-2:30 p.m.
Location: Live Online via Zoom
Register .