What I Learnt About Myself Working From Home
I love that my job involves travelling, even though that means spending time away from the people that I love most. Most weeks I fly interstate at least once if not twice, for board and business-related meetings.
When COVID19-related restrictions put a temporary end to the travel, although happily not the work, I wondered if I would lose my mind working from home, alongside three male adults who were starting to feel claustrophobic.
However, something wonderful happened. We each settled into a dedicated workspace in different parts of the house, slipping into a rhythm and a routine. There was music, laughter, long discussions around the dinner table every night on books we were reading, Netflix series we had discovered, the COVID curve, outrageous Trump tweets and the hilarious memes that followed.
Along the way, I also discovered a few things about myself – some of which surprised me. Here’s what I learnt during those work-from-home weeks.
I love a slow start to the day I am used to forcing myself out of bed before sunrise to make the red-eye flight to Melbourne in time for a 9am meeting. Working from home, I could sleep for an extra hour and still roll out of bed, do a spot of yoga, make myself a coffee, scroll through the news and do a bit of desktop research before jumping on a Zoom call for that 9am meeting. I had the house to myself while everyone else slept, gaining a couple of hours of genuine me-time – and I liked it.
My “me” needs nourishing I have always enjoyed being over-committed, but suddenly I gained back so much travel time that I couldn’t fill it all up. So I learnt to be comfortable sitting, thinking, reflecting and dreaming. I became okay with binge-watching the latest TV series or reading a recommended book in one sitting, burning the midnight oil knowing I could still give my body the rest it needed.
I discovered my inner introvert For decades I have had events, parties, dinners and launches to attend several nights of the week; I couldn’t imagine having nowhere to go. When COVID-19 quarantined my social life, I thought that I would go stir-crazy. Strangely, I didn’t. In fact, the opposite occurred. I became grateful that I had a legitimate excuse not to leave the house at night. The joy of not having to dress up and apply make-up was so liberating.
I need my girlfriends more than ever I have a close group of girlfriends that I have known since I was 12 years old. Six of us live across three different states and territories so we catch up a few times a year for girls’ weekends. During the COVID-19 restrictions, we caught up via Zoom every Friday night for drinks and a laugh, giving me a regular event to look forward to. It was like a quality counselling session with the five people who, outside my family, know me best, where I get to talk about anything and everything that has troubled me that week, without having to leave the house. Although we did embrace fancy dress... and gin.
I have an unresolved passion There is nothing more rewarding for a media-type like me than creating content that impacts someone else. A group of women with whom I had created five years of Dolly magazines back in the early ’90s regrouped over lunches and drinks a while ago and the conversation always turned to content for women of our life stage. We found ourselves asking each other advice, just as our Dolly readers had asked us for advice as they tried to navigate a life stage that was new to them. We realised that by coming together to talk about the things that were shifting in our lives, we were scratching an itch to create content for women like us. My passion for women’s media, and the gift of time afforded to us by the coronavirus, has led me back to working with this fabulous, talented group of experienced women on content that could really make a difference, and I am loving it – although that in itself was hardly surprising.
Words_ Marina Go
Photo_ Annie Spratt/UnSplash