Working at home saved my career

I have been lucky through the years — I worked in telecom a bunch and they were way ahead in letting their workers work at home. So I have done so pretty regularly at least part-time.

But in March of 2020, I was ordered to stay home! The pandemic was heating up, the numbers were disturbing and the healthcare company I was consulting at was very aware of the need to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Up until that time, I was working onsite every day. The commute was not terrible, about 25 minutes. I wasn’t offically allowed to work at home. I had settled into the routine, and knew all my co-workers, so staying home was really an easy transition. Teams kept us connected, I had daily meetings on my projects, I had my assignments. I didn’t skip a beat!

I slowly adjusted to not having a fabulous cafeteria on campus. I missed walking there (it was pretty far away and I had a little built-in exercise which I missed). I missed seeing people casually the most. The hellos in the hallway, the random lunches with different folks. I missed the interactions.

What I didn’t miss is the having to get it altogether in the morning. The clothes, my hair, preparing lunch, packing it all up and getting into the car on time. After many years of this, it gets old and you relish not having to do it each day. You get all that prep time back and you get the commuting time back too. I first worked in the living room, spread out and even watched the midday news during lunch.