COVID-19 has changed a lot of aspects of many people's lives. It has impacted us all in one way or another and for me, the biggest change has been working on the Vital Signs for The View from 2117 project from home. Over the last several months I have experienced the positives and negatives that come with working at home. The first positive is that I have become an expert at a little program called Zoom. Zoom has made the transition to meeting with other project members seamless. If you had asked me what Zoom was a couple of months ago, I would have had no idea what you were talking about. If only I had invested in Zoom before COVID-19 …. One can dream! The next positive aspect is the amazing commute from my bed to my desk. No longer do I have to wake up early to get ready and wonder what traffic will be like. Working from home has also given me the freedom to change my work environment from time to time. Today I might work at my desk, tomorrow I might sit on the back patio. It will be hard going back to work inside because working outside with fresh air and shining sun makes the work environment much more calming.
It might seem like working from home is an incredible experience, but it comes with its downsides. The first downside I will mention is my new coworkers that consist of my family. Now I know that might seem harsh to say and I love them all, but the distraction level from them is astronomical. With my mom and brother both moving to the online format for their jobs and school my house slowly turned into an office. Some days I felt like I was a part-time IT guy, helping set up work for my mom on the computer and being asked many questions about how to change the font size on a Word document. Another negative is not being able to communicate with coworkers from the MABRRI office in-person, like we would otherwise be able to do. Zoom has been extraordinary in connecting with one another, but there is that in-person component missing. The final downside to working from home is that I am not a very good chef. Lunches made by me have been on the bland side and I will never take bought lunches for granted again.
Overall working from home is something that has been a challenge, but I am so proud to be working with such an amazing group of people that made the transition as easy as possible. For now, I will keep working on working from home with hopes to get back to a normal work environment again one day.