….today it is exactly one year since I started working from home. We were told we would be able to go back to work by Easter…then before summer….then autumn….then January. Now, as Sweden has officially entered its third wave, employers are not even bothering to give us any dates anymore.
I can sleep later in the mornings (not commute) and be around the cats all day. But oh how I miss my former life.
How about you?
I worked from home from 15th March 2020 till 31st August 2020. Then I went back to work on 1st September but only for the teaching part as schools and universities are not closed here. I am still working from home for my translating job and I’ve ceased activity as an interpret which gives me a lot of free time as I don’t need to travel through out Europe and the USA all week long (3 to 6 trips a weeks). Teaching at uni has also been reduced to 3h a week which gives me more time for the translation part.
All in all I can’t complain as I still work 90% but spend less time travelling so I get less tired and jetlagged.
I can say I have the best of both worlds thanks of technology and I still have a lot of social contacts. I miss interpreting sometimes and fear I’ll lose rapidity if I don’t practice it for a few years. But apart from that I really enjoy the current situation workwise.
Some companies here in Boston are now planning to use their buildings for special events…and let the employees remain working remotely.
My husband travels extensively throughout the year – quarterly visits to Europe and India.. So it’s been quite unnatural to see him constantly!
There are some aspects of office life which I miss, but I mostly enjoy working from home. I really hope more companies offer a more flexible work-from-home rule in the future.
I would like a combination of work-from-home and in-the-field work in future – maybe three days out and two days in. There is more trust on the part of employers now that their staff won’t be lazing around doing nothing if they work from home, and people are more used to the technology, so here’s hoping!
I feel like that would be a great balance and most people would be happy with that as the end result. We’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that companies don’t fall back into their old ways.
Let’s hope so! I have never had a job where I stayed in one place all day and some days I feel so trapped! Of course, on rainy days it is easy to stay inside!