My company is adamantly against letting any of us work from home–ever. But this pandemic forced them to have to allow it. Because we work in an open room with recirculated AC and the 157 claims people share 2 bathrooms (and they shut down 1 for cleaning twice daily making the whole building share 1 bathroom) with the call center people on the opposite side of the building.
So we’ve been working from home since March 15.
And I love everything about it:
-I sleep better because I don’t have that anticipatory wakefulness trying to make the schedule.
-I use less utilities because I shower every other day since no one will see my 2nd day greasy, slept-on hair.
-Getting ready for work is low maintenance, because I don’t have to adhere to dress code, put on makeup, fix my hair, or prepare the house and cats for being gone all day.
-I can open all the windows in the cool mornings to use less utilities later in the day on cooling, because I have more time to open them, then I’m home to close them up only when the temp = inside.
-I can work outside on the patio and get some fresh air.
-I don’t have to think about the public bathroom:
*do people think I’m going too frequently?
*are they shutting one or the other down for cleaning so they’re more crowded?
*It’s my rule to pee only in the bathroom–but sometimes that makes for an uncomfortable day.
*What if I have to make embarrassing sounds or smells?
*other people are disgusting and shameless in the bathroom.
*the bathroom is an unpleasant mess!
*Touching anything in there is gross
*it’s a rule of mine to get in and out of the bathroom as quick as possible!
*I don’t like to talk in the bathroom, because of what molecules are floating around–but coworkers and leadership find it socially unacceptable not to say anything…
*I spend a huge amount of my work day worrying about the public bathroom…
-I drink more water because it’s easier to get and see above.
-I save tons of time just eating from the fridge. I don’t have to spend bunches of time on weekends meal prepping lunches to just grab and go.
-I can pet the kitties any old time I want to. And fill their water, or top off their food during the day, instead of rushing around in the morning trying to remember, or forcing myself to do it when I’m tired at night.
-Between claims, I can just, say empty the dish drainer, and do little chores. Instead of having to do it after work, after our workout, when I’m very tired. Or on the weekends.
-I can have things delivered during the day.
-I don’t have to worry about interactions with my coworkers.
-I don’t have to worry about my coworkers spreading germs (this was a concern of mine even prior to covid, b/c the gal behind me does not cover her coughs or sneezes and I can feel the air on the back of my hair and neck). Also, we have that recirculated air.
-I don’t have to see my jerk supervisor face to face or have any awkward in-person interactions with him.
-I don’t have to plan my time-table around traffic. I don’t have the stress of driving with fucking idiots. I don’t pay as much gas, and the wear and tear on our cars is less.
-Asking questions at work is much less stressful, because everyone has to do everything in writing (my preferred form of communication). I used to get nervous to ask, nervous when people came to my desk, awkward about what to say when I didn’t have time to plan it or check it, and nervous about people sharing their germs.
-Meetings are better. I could listen to the meeting while swiffering my floors.
-We can do sit-ups on our breaks, b/c nobody else will see us, and we’re not in our nice work clothes.
-We can dance for a couple min every hour b/c there is no chance for anyone to see us.
-We can dress in our workout clothes last break so we’re ready to start our workout right after we clock out.
-Since we start our workouts so much earlier without driving and changing, we are also finished much earlier.
-I am not nearly as tired or fatigued after working from home, probably because I wasn’t exhausted by all the social interactions and factors of the job. I’m fretting and preoccupied a lot by other people and the schedule when I’m at physical work. As a result, we do our cardio, strength, and abs every single day, instead of lazying out a couple times a week!
-I’m less tired and stressed in general.
-Our timeline is more relaxed, and as a result so am I.
-Because we are able to get more done throughout the work day and during the week, there is more leisure time on weekends. Instead of all our logistics stacking up like usual.
Also, I don’t know why we can’t always work from home. At the quarterly meeting, they said we made production records since we’ve worked from home. I don’t see why corporations are always so hot on dragging their employees into a physical location when people enjoy having work:life balance. And the traffic impacts are exponential. I could see if we were screwing around, not making our numbers, and making tons more mistakes–but it’s the exact opposite. Yet we are being called back in probably June 1st–which is too soon b/c AZ doesn’t peak until June 7. I’m sure they’ll pull the “essential worker” card, even though we are fully capable of doing 100% of our work from home.
I wish I could work from home all the time, forever!
Tags: anxiety, bathroom, cats, coronavirus, coronavirus quarantine, corporate, plan, schedule, social, water, work, work from home, workout, worry
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