How WFH changed my life
With working restrictions and conditions changing daily, many of us are taking a new approach to our working day and taking things into our own hands as we dictate the future of our careers.
For the first time in many of our lifetime’s, we’ve been granted enormous amounts of time away from the grind of our 9-5’s, 8-8’s, 10-9’s and all those labouring shifts in-between.
Somehow, in the strangest of circumstances, we’ve come to a flying halt and been granted the break we’ve all been gasping for.
In the same way that we endorse the ethos that no child learns in the same way, as adults, we’ve understood this year, that no employee works in the same way.
Mirroring classroom variables within our own working environments – what works better for some, is restrictive to another.
Now, in a world of extreme uncertainty, many of us feel like we can confidently say ‘If you’re good at your job, who says you can’t be good at your job from anywhere you like?’. Forced out of our work spaces, 2020 has provided an unlikely opportunity to understand what makes a working environment, really work.
We’re now able to demonstrate that we can deliver the work required of us; independently, within new time frames, from remote locations and from new entirely digital platforms, – encouraging fierce independence and freedom within our roles and responsibilities, while learning new skills to operate remotely.
Previously, I had laughed at the idea of working to live when asked “Do you live to work, or work to live?”. I was too busy working through to-do lists to consider a bucket list, or even the concept of a work-life balance (whatever that is). But somehow, this year paused everything for me. WFH forced me to make space to live in-between client requests and unnecessary email threads.
Infact, WFH gave me my time back altogether. I found structure and routine, where I had previously been staring blankly at my computer screen with 15 tabs open.
I was able to reignite my creativity on a personal level; work late in the evenings. or sit down to it when I jumped out of the shower with a thousand creative notes pouring through me and my wet hair down my back. Trust me, the shower epiphany never does you wrong.
I woke up when I needed to, sat down with the kettle close by (the dog even closer) and I created a space that I could dip in and out of, when I feel like it.
There is real strength in understanding and controlling your own working variables and I recommend it to anyone with a desire to make the most out of their lives.
So, here’s to trialled flexible working days from the comfort and chaos of our own homes, balancing the real-life demands and expectations of our family and co-workers, perched in our kitchens, from quiet corners of our homes and more often than not, from the comfort of our bedsheets.
