Let’s Talk About Our New Norms

In the wake of the pandemic, many companies are not requiring their employees to work in the office but instead allowing them to work from home. The truth is many positions could have been working from home long before now. Companies could have saved themselves a lot of money by not paying rental payments or leases on buildings, the utilities required, or any other expenses. Technology in 2020 has come as far allowing for any and everything to be done online. Meetings and training can be done through Skype for business, Zoom, GoToMeeting, and countless other programs.

Working from home and setting up a home office comes with many benefits, but also several challenges. Do y’all have a home office since COVID-19 has spread massively and relentlessly around the world? If you have, what have been the benefits and challenges you have experienced?

The benefits of being able to work from home might be rather obvious, but I will explain a few I have found. One of the greatest and most crystal-clear benefits is safety from a deadly virus. Considering I have a weak immune system because of the medication I take for Multiple Sclerosis, it is a blessing to work from home. I try my best to keep my distance from people outside of my home and now days hardly leave my house. This virus scares the hell out of me because it has already killed so many people and could, unfortunately, kill me as well and I can’t do that to my family.

Another benefit working from home provides me is the ability to always wear comfortable and non-dressy clothes. This might sound like a silly benefit, but it can be incredibly helpful when dealing with the massive pain I deal with on a daily basis. Just by having the choice to never wear those uncomfortable, but cute high heel shoes or the pretty but extremely confining dresses or pants, it is priceless. Simply being able to get out of the shower and not have to mess with drying my hair or trying to get it looking nice is a time saver! Then just throwing on a t-shirt and comfy pants are amazing. Of course, I do still continue putting my makeup on because it makes me feel much more confident, even though no one but me sees it.

An additional benefit to working from home is never dealing with the insane and chaotic traffic in the mornings on my way into work or the evenings on the way home. With the ridiculous amounts of crazed drivers always in a rush to get where they think they must go, seldom paying attention to anything but the phone by their side, and seeing the numerous accidents along the way was terrifying. I always dreaded my drives and now to get to work is a simple walk downstairs to where my home office is set up!

In a crazy way, it is always a benefit and also a disadvantage to not have to be around co-workers. We have all dealt with those co-workers that enjoyed office drama and gossip. Trying to remain polite to others while avoiding the drama was always so exhausting. It is rather nice to never be forced to worry about the latest drama or gossip the runs through most offices. I do not need to worry about who I should avoid and or who can or can’t be trusted. I enjoy being able to focus completely on the work that I need to do during my workday without interruptions from co-workers wanting to talk nonsense. Even with all that said, I do still miss having a co-worker close by to ask questions or run issues by, but I guess that is what email is for.

Even though there are many benefits to working from the comfort and safety of my own home, there are some challenges involved as well. To be honest, it does not matter how many challenges I might face working from home, the benefits will always outweigh any and all obstacles.

Although I did work for a mortgage company for almost three years in the past, it has been a few years since I worked in the industry. The company I am with now is a lot different and so are my job duties. My previous mortgage company, like any other, had its good and bad parts. I did and still do have a great amount of respect for my former manager. I am not going to talk negatively about my previous mortgage company because I did learn a lot, so overall it was a good experience. The negative aspects of that company are the same as most companies, there are many immature people that are in positions they do not have the knowledge or business being in.

One of the challenges I have found working from home is the virtual/online training and guidance. Like I just explained, I worked for a mortgage company previously and even though that company had its own challenges, I did receive adequate in-person training. The training, guidance, and direction provided me with the confidence that enabled me to do my job almost like second nature. Learning a new job with many new responsibilities virtually has been slightly difficult. There are a few people I can email or instant message with any questions I have, but this causes me a lack of confidence in the knowledge I have and or even my skills. I think not having someone to give me feedback on what I am doing well with or what and how I can improve on is frustrating. When you work for a company and go to an office, there is normally a handbook on processes, but working from home there has not been such a thing.

Another challenge I have encountered while working from home is having the silence needed for focusing. My husband also works from home, but he works nights and we do share the same home office area. There are some hours after his shift ends he needs to unwind, which I can understand and support. The only issue is he will watch new segments online causing an annoying distraction for me. I know it is important to know what is going on in the world, but I have had more than enough of the political lies and prefer to not listen to anything that comes from the president’s mouth. I also can’t take any more about Epstein or his girlfriend/partner in crime Maxwell. Everything that Epstein and Maxwell did cause me to feel sad, angry, and massive amounts of emotional pain.

I never in a million years thought I would ever think this, but something else that is a little challenging for me is, not know any of my co-workers. Of course, I managed to get to know a couple of my co-workers through email and phone calls, but I have never met any of them in person. I have been with my company for one month now and I still do not even know everyone’s name on the team I work with. It is unusual for me to not know at least something about everyone I work with. I have always been friendly and accepting of others and now it is just me alone. I guess in a way, working from home can be a little lonely.

Now that I have gone through the benefits and challenges I have found about working from home, I would love to hear your feedback. I know not everyone is able to do their job from home, but many have been granted this access. Do any of you that work from home have benefits and challenges you have found? How have you dealt with the challenges?

Thank you for visiting my site today. It has been a little while since I have been able to write about a specific topic because I am normally too darn exhausted to do so. This is something that I have missed and plan to do more of. I know y’all deal with being tired and it is hard to leave comments, but I do look forward to reading yours. I promise that I will respond to all comments as quickly as I can. I know I say this in every post, but please do everything you possibly can to stay safe from the virus. This virus knows no boundaries and will cause problems for anyone it can. Please never forget that I am always sending y’all LOTS of love, comfort, support, and many positive vibes!

Always, Alyssa