21 Sep So much room for activities
With large employers still hesitant to encourage staff, particularly lawyers, to return back to the office, most of us have come to the realisation that we will be stuck at home until Christmas.
Great news for those of you who love working from home, or for those who have classified themselves as an ‘essential worker’ and are driving to work and parking in someone else’s car park! For the rest of us it is starting to wear a little thin. So on that note I thought I would put together a survival guide (for sanity purposes) that will hopefully help you get through until Christmas.
- At the office when you are taking a break you often grab a coffee, tea or some water. At home you go to get a coffee, tea or water and somehow manage to hoover down a packet of corn chips, a chocolate bar and some cheese (with quince paste) on a cracker. Somehow at home, gazing into your fridge or cupboard looking for the next snack between meals has become part of the job description. Either remove the snacks or remove the scales from your house!
- Say no to non-essential Zoom or Teams calls. People have gone a bit VC mad as we crave for connectivity. Unnecessary team catch ups and CEOs delivering weekly ‘inspirational’ sermons are now the norm. While intentions are good, for the most part they are a monumental waste of time. It is much easier to say no to an email request, than in person, so make the most of it!
- What are you doing with the time you have saved on commute? Please don’t say extra work. This extra time is a gift, think of how many activities you can now fit in, during the day. More exercise, more mindless TV, more sleep, more eating, more home improvement, more day dreaming and more family time. You can even use this time as an outlet for procrastination, that way you are more productive in core hours and don’t unnecessarily find yourself working at 10pm and complain to your friends about the long hours.
- Get drink fit! 4pm is the new 5pm and we all know that you produce better quality work between drinks 1 and 4. Most importantly, you need to maintain your tolerance levels so that come the festive time you are not a complete embarrassment.
- Don’t forget you moved in-house for a reason. Where possible lean on your panel firms. They will appreciate the work and we all know you can blame the regulators and COVID on increased legal spend. Take advantage of this freedom. Has anyone ever been fired over Zoom?
While the future is uncertain, it is probably safe to say working a couple of days from home for the next 12 – 24 months will become the norm. Now is the time to tinker your work from home habits to get the pay rise you deserve come 2022!
Photo: BRITT SELVITELLE/FLICKR
