Working from Home in the age of World Pandemic_ Part 3 (series) Update Week 1 (but really week 3)

It’s midday, end of week 1 and I am totally exhausted! 

I wanted to check in with you all and see how your first week of the new routine went?  For me, it didn’t help that schools being suspended indefinitely was announced this week; it just created further stress but I am trying to stay optimistic.  And I ask you to do the same. So here’s a recap of the week:

• Day 1- Mini Victories
• Day 2- Utter Failure
• Day 3- Sucessful
• Day 4- School Fail but Work Sucess (small victory?)
• Day 5- (still in session… will be complete by time I post)

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I had really great talk (zoom video chat) last night with a friend and we were talking about how this is all affecting our business and family life.  We both agreed that we are lucky in one sense by being self employed as we know how to navigate a flexible schedule already in our day. And I want to acknowledge that the routine I set forth if some of you are following it, requires you to learn how to work flexibly and for your employers to encourage and support it. 

However,  I know that some of you are struggling as that is not the case.  You are expected to work the 7.5 hour day as you would from your office.  My heart goes out to you if this is your situation. I know from some other friends, it will become a means for colleagues that can devote their entire day to work to create a stepping stone to possible promotion.  It is an unfortunate state to be in. Best advice I can give is to make sure you have a discussion with your boss/supervisor in regards to expectations. I think most are treating this seriously and are understanding of the various home situations.  If not, I urge you to talk with your partner, if they are not in the same situation, perhaps they can pick up the slack with the children and homeschooling etc. And for you, re-evaluate your work day again, what tasks need to be done between 9 & 5; what can be done before or after? Ensure that the tasks or deliverables that require specific business hours are being accomplished.  The other tasks may need to happen before 9 or after 5 depending on your family schedule/ routine. And it may feel like you are working all day– but it will get easier once you have a grasp on it. However be mindful; do post mortems on your weekly routines and see what worked and didn’t, tweak as needed.  

For those that are learning about flexible work flows and have more family time incorporated into your “work day”, look at it as a gift!  Since the launch of Soma Interiors which essentially coincided with the birth of my second baby, my work life has been crazy busy and now design/ construction in many projects are on hold, and I have some personal time back! I am getting to know my 14 month old and I get to enjoy my 5 year old and his perspective on everything! And I mean everything!  I am, even on “fail day”s working 4 hours and on successful days working 6-7 hours. Some days I get a continuous 3 hours and on others it’s broken up. 

My challenge in this pandemic as I have stated is homeschooling.  Everyone tells me that it’s going to be ok, “Oliver is only in Kindergarten.”  He will be fine. I am sure he will be but I also am an A-type personality and do not do well with change. And what about those of you that have kids in older grades, that do require more discipline and guidance especially if your child struggles in a subject? 

For Oliver, I want him to have structure in his day as otherwise he defaults to screen time and some days that works well if I have a deadline, hence day 4.  Once he is engaged in a creative or academic activity he loves it and thrives in it. But he struggles with getting engaged and as such I struggle and stress over it.  So my new added point or realization for this week is that I need to prep a few activities and have them ready for him. We attend Greek School as a part of our weekend routine and the kindergarten teacher sent a well prepared weekly lesson with a homework requirement to send to her by this sunday.  This is not new, he always has a weekly homework assignment, but her email is what propelled my thought process. I personally need to feel prepared to provide lessons- independent or not. His regular kindergarten teachers and principal have sent various worksheets and resource links and we have done a small handful but I haven’t really taken the time to see what is actually being sent .  But my new intention is, I want to create a weekly folder on my g-drive and add activities by day, so in the morning Oliver and I can review and discuss what order he wants to do them in. We can then still incorporate the other physical and creative activities within the AM and PM shift routine. But he is in control of the day and I feel prepared for the day/week. So in the same way that I prepare a task list to cross off with my daily priorities, the same will be done for him.   And I acknowledge that if a task / an activity does not get completed, it may get done the next day or the next week or not at all, that is OK. We are all trying and trying our best and that is all we can ask. We still need to give ourselves time to adapt and know that this is a temporary situation. I will let you know how it goes next week. Happy Weekend everyone!!

Day 5- Success! Overall I am considering week 1 a mini success with momentary upsets! 😉

Thanks,

Rita 

Soma Interiors 

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Soma Interiors is looking for engagement as on our blog posts.  And we are here to try to assist you in your specific needs. DM me on Instagram or leave a reply with you specific questions and we will provide suggestions in the form of #designertipoftheday or further blog posts.  If you want a more indepth consultation of your personal workspace we can set up a virtual consultation. #hireadesigner #virtualconsultation #supportlocal #smallbusinesswinnipeg #helpingeachotherintimesofneed