For the past couple days, I have been doing that thing that many people long to do: I have been working from home. Considering my profession, I never thought this day would come. While it is wonderful to have the option of doing your work sans pants, I have found that it does not meet my wildest expectations. And for the record, I have been wearing pants.
First, there is the pressure to do a great job with the task at hand. After all, if I were to do a poor job than I will never again have the option of working from home. This is problematic since the task at hand is somewhat impossible to do well in the time frame given (3 days). So instead, I have downgraded my original intent and am now going to do a damn-fine job building a solid foundation for the rest of the work to be done later.
Second, (and this relates to the first) is the fact that there is a fuzziness regarding hours. When you go to work, there is a definite ending point for the work when you go home. Granted, most nights I bring work home with me anyways, but there is a logical place to stop. At home, you can keep going on and on -- evidenced by the fact that it's way past midnight and I'm considering the time that I am writing this post as a "break" from work.
Third, I miss my colleagues and seeing the kids. I didn't realize how much seeing the students and seeing the people who would benefit from my work actually motivates me throughout the day.
On the flip side, I am way more productive. I have made more progress in the last 48 hours than I could have if I was holed up in my office. Unpredictability is King at a school.
Another flipside? When I am home I get to see what sort of messes my cats get themselves into while we would normally be away. Their interactions with the Roomba provided a little entertainment on Monday. I also got to watch Junior get herself into (and out of) a little predicament today...
Sadly, I did not get the camera in time to allow you to witness the peak of the squirming. Is it cruel that I thought this was a little funny? Or have I been working from home for too long?
4 comments:
DC Prep misses you, too! There is a lot going on...!
:-) On another note, I appreciated Junior's dilemma - my little dog is eternally curious about what's in the bathtub, but once he's in he can't get out and he seems SHOCKED at his predicament everytime.
I'll be there tomorrow! Barring a bout with H1N1...:)
And that must be one LITTLE dog!
Oh Junior, I miss you!
And Cody misses having you around to headbutt. Seriously, you took him constantly shoving his head into your face like a champ!
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