31st August, 2021

I worked from home today. It’s become part of the workplace bingo lingo since the COVID-19 pandemic, but something valuable definitely remains in the limbo between lockdown and a return to normality.

Before the lockdown in March 2020, I always felt that I had to be seen to be seen. I had to be present in the building, in body if not in spirit, just to show other people that I was there. Around. Grafting. The forced experiment of working from home was, despite it’s many more verbalized struggles, a highly valuable experience. As a hardcore workaholic, it opened my eyes to the deep work that was available when commutes were scrubbed out of existence and sprints at the laptop could be wonderfully weighted with more time with my wife and young family. I still shudder to think the percentage of time less with my family I would have had if the world didn’t turn upside down in 2020. All commuting and travelling, both needless and necessary, would have gone unchecked and uninhibited. Not anymore.

I was working at home today because the kids are still hellish sleepers. Last night was particularly challenging. So, to avoid complete burnout in a commute, I put my shorts on and left the jeans off. I sprinted through some research paper writing when baby boy was napping, and spent more time around the house the rest of the day. In the scenario where there was never a pandemic, and things never changed for us all, a day like today would have wracked me with guilt. Presenteeism would’ve levitated me to the office, even if I didn’t truly need to be there to get done what needed to be done.

It’s always worth considering where and when you can get your deepest work done. I once blogged about Parkinson’s Law and how we will work to fill the time prescribed. But understanding the false assumptions about work that you carry, the vestiges of 20th Century norms, of punching in and punching out, can be peeled away. And it’s not just you. Those in your care, those you lead, then have the chance to see, through your example, how they can best maximize their ambitions, working to their early bird or night owl tendencies.

The times are, as always, a’changing.

See you tomorrow.

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