The Reality of Working from Home - COVID19

Dear Education Friends,

As I start my FOURTH week of virtual learning/teaching, I have questioned why I am struggling to maintain a work/home balance. After all, I worked at home for six and a half years. During that time, I had definitely mastered the working from home lifestyle. It's only been one year and nine months since I left that all behind, so why can't I get it together? And if I am having a hard time, I can only imagine how many of you feel like you are drowning. Being at home has given me plenty of time to be reflective, so I wanted to share with you my thoughts and maybe, hopefully, some tips for getting back your sanity -- at least as much as possible in today's world.

First, it's about kids, all day, every day. That makes it so much more difficult. When I was at NCDPI, I played a role in education, but I didn't have the daily interaction like I have now. That changes the ability to let go, and trust me, I get it. You are worried, but remember, that's what makes you an amazing educator. I don't have the answer for this one. These are uncertain times, and we want to give our students a sense of normalcy. That's just it. There is nothing normal about this. We have to accept it, and find a way to move forward for our sake and theirs. Know that you are doing everything you can to teach them what you can in whatever way that is made available to you. Let go of the guilt, because unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to change what is happening in education right now.

So what can you do? Think about your work patterns. Where are you working? Is it the same spot every day? If so, you need to switch it up. If not, you will dread working from that place. If it hasn't happened yet, it will. I love my office/craft room. It is one of my favorite places in our house with a large desk that lets me create all kinds of projects. This is where I am working. I don't want to do any craft projects. Um, I have plenty of things I could be doing, but creating in my office, feels like work. This was something I often struggled with working from home. I would stay in the same place to work for weeks, and then I figured out I was much happier if I moved rooms daily (sometimes even hourly). At the time, I could also leave home, so I found a great coffee shop locally. That isn't possible right now, so take a good look around you. Can you work on a porch or in the dining room? Trust me, you will be glad you made the change.

Also, put away those work items -- agendas, to-do lists, computer, whatever. Put it away. I used to think putting it all away was a waste of time, because I would just have to pull it out again tomorrow. Yet, this works. It took me three weeks into virtual learning to remind myself of this. As I walked to my desk Saturday to make cards, I looked at my stack of work and thought that is what I really should be doing. Initially, I tried to leave it in its place, but it haunted me. I picked up every bit of it and put it out of sight until Monday morning. Guess what? It worked. It didn't feel like it was staring at me, questioning my decision to do something for myself.

While educators put in lots of hours, we walk out the door at some point to go home and spend time with our families. You no longer have the opportunity to walk away, so set time limits for yourself. Establish what time you are going to stop working and stick to it. But Jennifer, you are saying, I have all these things to do. You have to prioritize. Start your day with the things that have to be finished for the next day, then move on to other tasks or getting a jump start on the day after that. As a task oriented person, I have the overwhelming desire to keep going and do this and that, but I learned quickly from working at home before that there will always be something else. You will never be caught up, so choose those things that have pressing deadlines and then those things that can be done quickly (this helps your to-do list shrink quickly making it less overwhelming), and then those that can make the biggest impact. This isn't easy to train yourself to do, and even if you do, it doesn't always work, but give it a try.

Through all of this, the most important piece of advice I can give you is to take care of yourself. Take a walk, participate in an online yoga class, cuddle your dog -- anything that makes you feel normal and helps you just appreciate life in general. I highly recommend a Netflix Party with friends. Of course, we added a Google Meet to the mix so we could also talk during our viewing of The Craft. It was just what I needed even if my husband told me it was cool, but maybe the geekiest thing he had ever heard. What does he know anyway?

Thinking of all you and being amazed by your strength and resilience. You got this!