What I’ve Learned During Covid-19 (Part Two)

Remote Work IS Possible

On more than one occasion, I’ve been told by my boss, and personally seen management tell other people I know, that working from home is impossible. This can be especially detrimental to different types of people. Stay at home mothers would love to be able to do a job at home. Those with disabilities cannot be discriminated against, but if they are unable or it is incredibly difficult to leave home, working from home would be ideal.

While some jobs are impossible to allow working from home, some jobs do exist that could be done from a remote location. My previous job is an example of a job that would be nigh impossible to perform from home. However, my father, my uncle, and a few of my good friends all began working from home when the pandemic took hold. While some of the at home working is less than ideal, it’s funny how it took Covid-19 for businesses to realize that some people could work from home and still perform their job at peak level.

Granted, I also understand the fear that some employers have by allowing their employees to work from home. There’s the fear of privacy issues and lack of work ethic. On the other side of that coin, if an employee wasn’t performing his or her job correctly or there were security and privacy issues, the employee wouldn’t be able to keep the job.

Now, I know that remote work is extremely difficult to procure and maintain, but perhaps employers should speak with their potential employees and understand things from their perspective. Apparently, remote work is possible. Funny how it took Covid-19 for that to become apparent.

The Need for Alone Time

Before Covid-19 happened, I was working a PM shift of 3-11pm on my work days. My fiancee was working from 8am-2pm. I was usually asleep when she left for work. She would get home from work and I would leave a few minutes after she arrived. When I got home, she was asleep. She was afforded time spent to herself while I was work and vice versa when she was at work. On my days off, we would spend what time we could find together. It was difficult, but it allowed each of us to balance our time as best we could.

With the Safer at Home orders and quarantine, we were constantly together. I love my fiancee with everything I have, but alone time is necessary sometimes. Unfortunately, when neither of us ever leaves the house, it is hard to find alone time.

At first, we were spending a majority of our time together. We live with other people, so it was even more difficult than before to acquire any kind of alone time. After a week or two, we both realized that it was a necessary part of staying sane.

Because of that realization, we both started to branch off into our own activities from time to time. Sometimes, she would sit in the living room and watch a TV show while I browsed the internet on my computer or played a game. I would go read a book while she painted. I would sit and watch videos on my phone while she went upstairs to watch a movie in our room.

While it is important to do things together, it is also important to find ways to have time to yourself. Spending that much time with another person can be exhausting, regardless of how much love you have for that person.

Keeping a House Clean is Paramount…But Difficult

I have never been the type of person where my house has to look so spotless that it seems like people don’t live there. Every house with more than two people in it is bound to have some aesthetic that shows people actually live in that house.

I have always been a stickler for keeping a kitchen clean, but the rest of the house is always a fickle thing. If the living room has a few blankets strewn about, an empty glass on the coffee table, a few toys from the kid, or an empty bag of popcorn, it doesn’t bother me that much. However, when all of those things sit there for a straight week, it really starts to wear on me.

Another issue I have come to find plagues me is the idea behind something clean and fresh becoming overly messy in such a short amount of time. When we were both working, the house would get messy, but we could spend a few hours on a day off getting everything clean and straightened up. When nobody ever leaves the house, the mess piles up so much quicker than I anticipated.

On Monday, somebody will clean up the living room. Blankets will be put on the back of the couch and chairs, the pillows will all be picked up, dishes put in the kitchen, toys cleaned off the floor, and everything put back in its place. By Tuesday morning, everything returns to the mess it was the day before, if not worse than it was. I will do all of the dishes on Monday morning, wipe down the counters, and put everything away. By Tuesday morning, we have just as many dishes, the counters are covered again, and it takes just as long the next day to get it cleaned up.

While the messes aren’t necessarily detrimental to living, I am having a hard time processing how everything becomes so dirty at such a quick rate. It has dawned on me that this is bound to happen when nobody ever leaves the house. Instead of spending a third of the day somewhere else, we’re all at the house, constantly using the amenities. Messes pile up so much faster, thus requiring more cleaning.

With all of this time on my hands, it’s not the end of the world if I have to do a little extra cleaning, but I never foresaw the consequences of always being at home and what effects it would take on the cleaning standards we try to maintain.

Part Three on Thursday!