What COVID-19 Gave Me (Part V): Working Not From Work
You’re probably tired of hearing it. “COVID changed everything.” Well. It changed a lot, if not everything. It helped some of us focus on priorities. Some of us had a chance to right previous wrongs after spending months at home in tight quarters with our families. For others (like me), it was a golden opportunity to separate ourselves from one professional definition in search of another. No matter what COVID changed in your life, I think what’s important is understanding what some of those changes have meant and will mean in the long-run.
In this week’s meditation, I discuss yet another positive influence I’ve encountered because of the pandemic. Working “from home” is really more working from anywhere, evidenced by the scores of people I’ve found on Zoom meetings with coffee shops, restaurants, and parks in the background. And I think it’s a good thing. I’ve seen too many corporate managers lament the work-from-home model now so many people endorse for fear of losing productivity or, at best, the fruits of serendipitous meetings among employees at the proverbial water cooler. But what we lose by not gathering in the office, we gain in potentially equal measure by gathering anywhere else. I’ve learned this recently, now unshackled from the home office yet still working for a company that allows us flexibility in where and how we work. I’ve been inspired by some of the places I’ve spent working hours, often more so than I might have been had I spent all those hours in the same office space. And I even like my office and co-workers.
Arun L. Chittur 