This is for all us who woke up at the crack of dawn, put on the news to hear how traffic was progressing, ironed a fresh long-sleeved button down shirt, found the perfect tie and then pondered the best route for our commute. You jumped into your car thinking, “Do I have time to stop for coffee?”, “Oh no, is there road work again?” “I need to stop for gas, I’m getting low”. Finally after fighting crazy rush hour, you arrive at work. Coworkers greet you with enthusiastic “hellos” and “how are you doing today” small talk.
You ask a friend how she’s feeling because you know that she had surgery over the weekend, then head down the hall to ask another coworker how the kids were this weekend, as she has her husband’s step-children visit every other weekend…. Your day turns into a whirlwind of chit chat with coworkers that pass by, clients and vendors that visit the office that day, as well as the joy of finding out that Beth make her famous cinnamon coffee cake which was just placed in the kitchen.
It’s 1pm now and you’re starving. Two of your associates just mentioned they were going to Joe’s Pizza so I guess that’s as healthy as it gets today. You arrive at the Pizza place, with everyone engaged in conversation about their family drama, work drama, good dinners that they had at Le Sur that weekend and upcoming vacations. After stopping at the bank, you head back. It’s two o’clock and you have some conference calls scheduled in the afternoon so you run down to the conference room. Soon it’s 6pm and you’re back on the highway heading home. Taylor Swift is singing on the radio and you’re calling your kids to see how their days were. Half hour later your home and life is good. That was then.
Then fast forward after living this scenario for over 15 years and a new exciting sales job presents itself. They are Headquartered are in North Carolina and the best part the recruiter boasts is that “you’ll even be able to work from home”.
That brought visions of taking sales calls on a hammock out on the lawn with a gin and tonic. Maybe even catching an old episode of House on TV at lunch. No such thing happened. It’s more a life of waking up naturally (hey there’s no commute and I can be ready in 5 minutes), eat breakfast at home—there is even time to cook oatmeal—then walk three steps into a spare room/new office and start your day. No need to shave; and shorts, a t-shirt and sandals are the new wardrobe if there are no appointments. The only words I can use to describe the change in my life is . . . “Culture Shock”. And maybe “Solitude”. Gone are the days of camaraderie and office friends, now it’s strange people I’ve never met who live in 5 different states that call once a week. I sit in a room with a view of my backyard all day. I am proud to admit that I can recognize every type of bird–They even have names. Chris the Cardinal, Billy the blue jay and of course those crazy starlings who steal all the bird seed. No interruptions…just never-ending sourcing and talking to prospects on the phone. When lunchtime rolls around, it’s last night’s leftovers, alone. And when your day is done, there is no unwinding on the way home…you just walk into the kitchen and wonder what you’ll eat for dinner.
All I can say is if you’ve never worked remotely, and think it may be the ideal way to work, think twice if you’ve acclimated to a corporate office lifestyle. I can’t say that I’m unhappy but you should be prepared for some weeks, if not months, of being disoriented. Some survival techniques are to make sure you LEAVE at lunchtime even just to do an errand or walk around home depot, make sure you have a strong support system for entertainment so you can feel engaged with the world on a personal level and last but not least, try not to linger outside too long during the day or else your retired neighbors will start rumors that you are unemployed!
Metro Team Resources July 8, 2016 http://www.metroteamresources.com
