As I sit here at my kitchen table typing this I realize that I am still in the same spot I was a year ago typing my last blog post (has it really been a year?). Yup. Haven't moved! Ok I have moved, obviously, but we haven't been asked to return to the office. Until now... DUN DUN DUN!
Actually, we just found out we are FINALLY GOING REMOTE indefinitely! It's been a long time coming but the decision has been made. (Side note to this, we are not completely getting rid of an office all together, just downsizing to a smaller space to hold files and our server and our photo studio, but as for space for us to come back to work, that isn't a thing). I have spent the past week+ going into the office while the kids are in school to clean things out. It's amazing how many things accumulate over time. I will admit, it has been weird making sure I get myself ready and actually dress in the morning (instead of just throwing on the closet pair of yoga pants and a sports bra and barely doing my hair), getting the kids ready for school and on the bus, grabbing coffee, and making the commute to the office. It isn't something I have done in so long that I felt the anxiety building up inside me as I made the drive on day one.
I'm not sure how many of you are still working from home but I will tell you it has made my life so much easier. Not having to worry about child care on days the kids aren't in school, not having to rush around in the morning to make sure everyone is ready before I leave, and scrambling to get home in time to cook dinner, and get the kids in bed, all to collapse at the end of that day, and wake up in the morning to do it all over again, has been amazing.
Until now, the dread of possibly going back was always weighing on my mind and I could never quite relax and get comfortable in my schedule. It probably explains why I am still working from my kitchen table on my laptop every day. I didn't want to go through the trouble of setting up a permanent office space just to have to go back to in-person work.
Now I am ready to set up an office area for myself. Full disclosure, we don't have much space in our home at the moment. Our little 2 bedroom home is already bursting at the seams (we are currently planning a remodel to expand but that's for another blog post), but I am determined to make something work for me. I need a space to call mine, a space that I don't have to pack up at the end of every workday so we can eat dinner, and a space that I can work and focus.
Having this new found sense of being a permanent remote employee has alleviated some of my stress and anxiety a great deal. Living in constant flux can take its toll and my emotions have been all over the place since the start of COVID that I needed this decision to be made. Now I can relax a little and get used to this permanent remote employee lifestyle.
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