I was napping in my “Comfy Chair” with the news channel playing in the background, and as I floated up from REM sleep to twilight sleep, the level before you wake up. In twilight sleep, you become aware of your surroundings and the dimension in which you exist. Some theories suggest that we actually slip into different dimensions or parallel worlds when we sleep. That may explain some of my more unusual dreams that I have had after eating pizza late at night.
The news channel was talking about working from home. This has been very popular since COVID-19, and many government positions have worked from home since then. There have been accusations that some people have been working at home while they take on additional full-time jobs or that the allure of television, home pets, physical exercise, shopping, and visiting with friends who are also working at home may have an effect on how much work is truly being accomplished by people with a work-from-home lifestyle.
In my career, I have worked from home, usually one day a week, usually on Fridays. This allowed me to keep up with the paperwork that evolved into computer work, which became an onslaught of work demands. When I first began my career, we basically had telephone calls and postal “Snail Mail!”
This gave some wiggle room for some people who were paperwork procrastinators! They could claim they never received the assignment or just received it. Next came overnight mail, which improved meeting deadlines for some because the Boss would know when you received the assignment. Computers began to infest the business world, and a new technology called Email began. After training, companies loved that transmitting assignments is basically instant. Expectations of instant assignments requiring instant or very quick response. Working at home evolved to closely resemble working in the office. Today’s technologies can monitor the number of keystrokes and the timeline of when you are inputting information via your computer keyboard. Micromanagement has returned to the working at home scenario. And then there are live meetings over the internet, where people can see how you are dressed. Sweats and dirty sweatshirts do not give the impression of you that says I’m working from home.
What does it take to be successful working from home? It is simple to plan your week allocating what hours you will be working from home, when will you be at your desk, logging work into your computer, phone call logs, assignments with due dates etc. It is simple, but it takes a dedicated and disciplined person to master this work/lifestyle. The challenge is there may be other fun activities that, like a magnet, may pull you away from your work desk. The dog wants to go for a walk, a friend comes over and rings the doorbell, and you may get focused on a movie playing on your television for background noise. I spent some time working from home for 33 years. I still work from home, writing books and columns and networking with politicians and business leaders. Benefits of working from home include no drive time to and from work and no drivetime fuel costs. Pets and kids may love being with you. Less stress from being micromanaged. A feeling of being an entrepreneur! Less virus transmission. You can get more work done with less distractions. Working in an office also has benefits: teamwork with coworkers, diversity of idea sharing, And a great relationship with your supervisor! If you are working from home, simply keep working the time you have scheduled! It’s all good!
“Remember, every day is a gift! Some are just a little more fun to open than others. – © Joel M. Vernier 1/29/2025 Author of: “The Guinea Pig In The Freezer.” [email protected]
