When my home become my office, and my spouse becoming my co-worker
By: Tiffany Chen
As we are all facing unprecedented times with the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), life has undoubtedly changed for all of us. Due to mandated lockdowns and safety measures, we are all adjusting to this new norm. Our fixated routines and habits have shifted into the twilight zone. As I can only speak for myself, I’ve entered a new territory of having my home become my office, and my spouse becoming my co-worker…
Two different jobs, two different schedules, two different work habits, all under one roof. What do you do when you have ongoing zoom calls or meetings scheduled for the day? What do you do when someone is taking up more bandwidth resulting in choppy internet connection? What do you do when someone decides to get your attention by calling out your name unbeknownst to them that you are on a call? What do you do when you are unable to tear yourself away from the computer throughout the day? These were a few missteps and challenges of my reality of working from home.
My experience has led me to believe that it takes a certain level of Zen when it comes to working within the same confines as your spouse/significant other. Taking the time and effort to hammer out our schedule every Sunday has been the resolution to our “almost there” success of co-working under the same roof. Although tedious, the time is well invested as it has eliminated our internet and meeting conflicts. Since we do start out our day at a different time, for assurance, I’ve also made an ‘IN MEETING’ signage to post on our hallway which would be the first thing that is seen as he walks down the hallway.
Now that my home life and work life is essentially a melting pot, to refresh my mind and body for the next day, I found it beneficial to turn the computer off at a certain time, and go out for a light stroll. Getting some fresh air, sunlight, and a moment to myself is a necessity, otherwise, my week would start to feel like and ongoing marathon.
In all, with the current state of Covid-19, our lives are a bit unpredictable. We can only hope for the best moving forward and keep staying positive. I am beyond grateful and know that I am extremely lucky to be able to have the opportunity of working from home.
