Working from Home and Other Life Stuff
Today, for the first time in my twenty-three years in banking, I worked from home.
The work day got off to a rocky start, as I tried to connect from my desktop PC and the remote site said that my PC -- the only computer in my house that I have specifically installed antivirus on instead of just having Windows Defender -- had insufficient antivirus protection. o_O
I knew that my Surface could connect because I'd tested it already. I did not want to spend the day trying to do my day job on a 10" screen, however. I tried the laptop, which also connected fine. Okay, guess I'm working in the living room after all.
Normally, when I use the laptop in the living room to write, I lie back on the couch with my back propped up on a big cushion. It's not a comfortable position for eight hours of working, though. I decided to try using the love-seat-with-footrest that we never use, instead. That worked out fine. Now I have a Pretend Office in the living room, in addition to the Pretend Coffee Shop.
I wasn't sure how I'd feel about working from home. I haven't wanted to try it; my boss told me back in November that I was allowed to work from home, but it wasn't until the start of March that I asked her to get me set up to do so. I live less than a mile from my job. It is not an onerous commute.
So I was surprised to discover that I enjoyed it. And it wasn't because I was goofing off; I was actually much less distracted than I normally am when I'm at the bank, in fact. I liked a lot of aspects of it: I didn't have to pack a lunch, for example. I actually went into the kitchen and made mac & cheese for lunch, for that matter. My office mate was a cat and she is good company although she hardly put in any hours at all, the slacker. (She found it disconcerting when I set up on the love seat on the other side from her usual spot, and never returned to it.) I did take some mini-breaks to get drinks or poke at my phone for a couple of minutes. But I did so much less often than I do when I'm at the bank.
Another pleasant thing: I didn't feel like snacking nearly as much as I do when working at the bank. I've been eating much less than usual anyway. When I'm bored or stressed, especially at work, I will eat to pass the time or make myself feel better. But that doesn't happen as much at home. Last month, my average calories-eaten-per-day was 1830. Since I went on staycation, it's 1580. I suspect part of this is that I haven't been going out for food so I don't have to fit big restaurant meals into my daily allotment. I usually only eat half of a serving anyway, but even so.
The thing where I eat 600 calories of snacks in a day while at the bank is probably a bigger factor, though.
I'd just come back from vacation, so there was plenty of email piled up to read and tasks to do, which I imagine contributed to my ability to focus. I was never at a loss for what to work on next. Maybe when the novelty wears off, I will find myself as easily distracted at home as I am at work. But it does seem unlikely that it'll be any worse.
Being stuck on the 14" laptop screen instead of my 25" desktop monitor was annoying, but not as bad as I expected. In fact, I was probably as much inconvenienced by having to use the laptop keyboard/touchpad/touchscreen instead of a full size keyboard and trackball.
Obviously, I could get my laptop hooked up to proper peripherals but the whole thing is: I already HAVE a perfectly good desktop and I'm unwilling to spend much of my own time or money because some IT widget doesn't want me to use it. I asked IT what kind of antivirus they expect my desktop to have. The laptop is fine for now; I'll see what they say before I worry about making further adaptations.
Today, Lut had his usual monthly oncology appointment. The clinic called last night to say that only patients were allowed into the clinic at the present time, and they're screening everyone who enters for fevers and any COVID-19 contact they might have had. Lut didn't like that I couldn't sit on the physician-visit part of the appointment like I usually do, because sometimes I have useful information to contribute or think of questions to ask that he doesn't. But I was, on the whole, relieved that there would be significantly fewer people at the clinic. With just patients in it, the waiting and treatment areas wouldn't be crowded and everyone could stay 6+ feet apart for the most part.
While he was at the clinic, I went for a walk like I usually do, except outside because even if the mall was open for mall-walking (I doubt it) I wasn't going to enter it. After the walk, I ran a couple of errands, including stopping briefly at the bank to deposit some cash and pick up a couple of things that were delivered there for me. The lobby is closed to the public at the bank and I hadn't thought to bring my key, so I went to the drive-through. I have worked at this branch for seventeen years and never been at the drive-through before. It was fine. Weird, but fine. They let me in so I could get the package. It turned out My boss had sent me a big box full of snacks from nuts.com, and a couple of people I'd been doing a lot of queries for sent me a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. Aww.
I went home and started laundry, and then headed back to the clinic to get Lut after an hour and a half.
I haven't done much since then. Maybe I'll work on the cover for Spark of Desire some more. I've been doing a lot more art than writing lately; writing requires too much brain.
Tomorrow, I'll work from home for around 4 hours and that'll be my work week. Curious to see if working 20 hours next week will feel significantly more challenging than this 12-hour work week.
This entry was originally posted at https://rowyn.dreamwidth.org/648613.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
The work day got off to a rocky start, as I tried to connect from my desktop PC and the remote site said that my PC -- the only computer in my house that I have specifically installed antivirus on instead of just having Windows Defender -- had insufficient antivirus protection. o_O
I knew that my Surface could connect because I'd tested it already. I did not want to spend the day trying to do my day job on a 10" screen, however. I tried the laptop, which also connected fine. Okay, guess I'm working in the living room after all.
Normally, when I use the laptop in the living room to write, I lie back on the couch with my back propped up on a big cushion. It's not a comfortable position for eight hours of working, though. I decided to try using the love-seat-with-footrest that we never use, instead. That worked out fine. Now I have a Pretend Office in the living room, in addition to the Pretend Coffee Shop.
I wasn't sure how I'd feel about working from home. I haven't wanted to try it; my boss told me back in November that I was allowed to work from home, but it wasn't until the start of March that I asked her to get me set up to do so. I live less than a mile from my job. It is not an onerous commute.
So I was surprised to discover that I enjoyed it. And it wasn't because I was goofing off; I was actually much less distracted than I normally am when I'm at the bank, in fact. I liked a lot of aspects of it: I didn't have to pack a lunch, for example. I actually went into the kitchen and made mac & cheese for lunch, for that matter. My office mate was a cat and she is good company although she hardly put in any hours at all, the slacker. (She found it disconcerting when I set up on the love seat on the other side from her usual spot, and never returned to it.) I did take some mini-breaks to get drinks or poke at my phone for a couple of minutes. But I did so much less often than I do when I'm at the bank.
Another pleasant thing: I didn't feel like snacking nearly as much as I do when working at the bank. I've been eating much less than usual anyway. When I'm bored or stressed, especially at work, I will eat to pass the time or make myself feel better. But that doesn't happen as much at home. Last month, my average calories-eaten-per-day was 1830. Since I went on staycation, it's 1580. I suspect part of this is that I haven't been going out for food so I don't have to fit big restaurant meals into my daily allotment. I usually only eat half of a serving anyway, but even so.
The thing where I eat 600 calories of snacks in a day while at the bank is probably a bigger factor, though.
I'd just come back from vacation, so there was plenty of email piled up to read and tasks to do, which I imagine contributed to my ability to focus. I was never at a loss for what to work on next. Maybe when the novelty wears off, I will find myself as easily distracted at home as I am at work. But it does seem unlikely that it'll be any worse.
Being stuck on the 14" laptop screen instead of my 25" desktop monitor was annoying, but not as bad as I expected. In fact, I was probably as much inconvenienced by having to use the laptop keyboard/touchpad/touchscreen instead of a full size keyboard and trackball.
Obviously, I could get my laptop hooked up to proper peripherals but the whole thing is: I already HAVE a perfectly good desktop and I'm unwilling to spend much of my own time or money because some IT widget doesn't want me to use it. I asked IT what kind of antivirus they expect my desktop to have. The laptop is fine for now; I'll see what they say before I worry about making further adaptations.
Today, Lut had his usual monthly oncology appointment. The clinic called last night to say that only patients were allowed into the clinic at the present time, and they're screening everyone who enters for fevers and any COVID-19 contact they might have had. Lut didn't like that I couldn't sit on the physician-visit part of the appointment like I usually do, because sometimes I have useful information to contribute or think of questions to ask that he doesn't. But I was, on the whole, relieved that there would be significantly fewer people at the clinic. With just patients in it, the waiting and treatment areas wouldn't be crowded and everyone could stay 6+ feet apart for the most part.
While he was at the clinic, I went for a walk like I usually do, except outside because even if the mall was open for mall-walking (I doubt it) I wasn't going to enter it. After the walk, I ran a couple of errands, including stopping briefly at the bank to deposit some cash and pick up a couple of things that were delivered there for me. The lobby is closed to the public at the bank and I hadn't thought to bring my key, so I went to the drive-through. I have worked at this branch for seventeen years and never been at the drive-through before. It was fine. Weird, but fine. They let me in so I could get the package. It turned out My boss had sent me a big box full of snacks from nuts.com, and a couple of people I'd been doing a lot of queries for sent me a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. Aww.
I went home and started laundry, and then headed back to the clinic to get Lut after an hour and a half.
I haven't done much since then. Maybe I'll work on the cover for Spark of Desire some more. I've been doing a lot more art than writing lately; writing requires too much brain.
Tomorrow, I'll work from home for around 4 hours and that'll be my work week. Curious to see if working 20 hours next week will feel significantly more challenging than this 12-hour work week.
This entry was originally posted at https://rowyn.dreamwidth.org/648613.html. Please comment there using OpenID.