My work-from-home situation

On March 2 of this year, our then company President and CCO Leigh Reyes sent an agency-wide email that we would be undergoing a preparedness simulation from March 11 to March 13 to make sure we could keep the business going even if we couldn’t come in to work for an extended period of time, following news reports of other agency offices having to enforce work-from-home because of COVID-19. The supposed simulation then extended into real life work-from-home scenario that we thought would be back to normal come April. April came, and then May, June, July, August... Days have blended into each other and turned to weeks, to months. October is almost here, and we are nowhere near the end.

When things were still normal, we had Work Anywhere Wednesdays where we were free to, well, work anywhere, so long as we finish our deliverables for the day and we didn't have scheduled face-to-face meetings to go to. I didn't like that set-up at that much because I always ended up taking a nap, having deluded myself into thinking that I needed an office set-up to motivate me to work. Now that we have been doing this for more than six months now, I realized that all I needed were discipline and deadlines I set myself.

I had to let go of the place I was renting in Makati and move back in with my family. I liked that I didn't have to torment myself in deciding what to eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but at the same time I miss the way I used to spend my me-time eating alone at my spot at The Sandwich Guy in Century City Mall or Tien Ma's. I love that my support system a.k.a. my family is always readily available but hate that my other support system a.k.a. my boyfriend is living in the other side of Metro Manila, two expressways/ toll gates away from me. 

I miss my office desk and all the little accoutrements and knick knacks it has accumulated throughout the years, but there is no sense crying over spilled milk. It's a sh*tty situation we'd been thrusted into, and we got dealt some pretty sh*tty cards. Anyway, seeing that my back had been aching and my legs had been riddled with bed bug bites from my old chair, my boyfriend, the wonderful human that he is, got me a new chair. It is pink and pretty, and I love it very much.

Yes, I put lipstick on for these photos. I miss putting makeup on and dressing up, so I compensate with cute and colorful pajama sets or coordinates as well as my fluffy house slippers. 

My work-from-home desk is a bit neater than usual here, but it always contains the following: my laptop and bamboo laptop table, my Essentials notebook and colorful pens for jotting down and crossing off my to do lists, my hydro flask so I don't have to keep on getting up to get water, and my Nintendo Switch Lite so I can squeeze in some gameplay during breaks. 

I no longer take a nap on work days, but that is because we are busier than ever! I didn't get to rest last weekend because we were preparing for pitches that will be presented this week. Still, it's a good problem to have because job security is very valuable in this pandemic. But of course, taking mini breaks is also important. I do that by going to the kitchen for snacks or coffee, stepping out to the garden for some sun and to look at plants, visiting my island, talking to my family, and calling my boyfriend. 

Working in the living room is a bit challenging because the TV can be a bit loud especially when my Grandma is watching old Tagalog action movies,  but Spotify and looming deadlines help in tuning out the noise. And yes, give me this work-from-home scenario any day than the alternative, which is me by myself trapped in the place I am renting in Makati, far away from both my boyfriend and my family.

How is your work-from-home situation? I hope you are staying home and keeping safe, friends. Talk to you again soon.