Many of us are working from home, many for the first time, and now for many weeks.  As it becomes less of a novelty and more of a routine, I think we are discovering some of the deeper benefits of a new lifestyle.  The rhythms we discover can bring good things.  So what’s good?  What have you loved about working from home?

I asked this question to my social media community for a couple of reasons.  First, because I love a gratitude exercise.  It’s vital for us to remember what is good in hard seasons.  Second, because I think we can learn from this time.  I think there will be lessons we take with us.  We don’t have to decide today.  For now, we can embrace the rhythm and ride through it. Without deciding, with minimal judgment, and with an open mind. 

From this posture, one of gratitude and openness, I’ll ask again, what’s good?  What have you loved about working from home?

Let’s start with the obvious benefits that are familiar to folks who have worked at home for years:  flexible hours, throwing in laundry, more time with family, no commute, sweatpants, quiet space, snuggles with pets, taking breaks outside, prepping for dinner.

But what I heard from our community is so much more than that.  You are digging deep into self-reflection to find purpose, truth, and joy working at home.  Friends, you are noticing BIG things.  Meaningful changes, inspiring revelations, peaceful contentment.  Some deep work or powerful stillness.  I am honored you shared with me how you feel, and I’d like to recap some of the insights you shared.

Not missing our kids.  We hear a lot about connection during this time—the need for it, the virtual substitutes, and the time with family.  My friend Gretchen calls “pandemic togetherness.”  Being together all the time does create more connection, even if some of the moments are hard or in conflict.  We are connected.  Instead of missing each other, leavings gaps, we know a lot more about each other’s needs, triggers, habits, and quirks.  We eat meals together and adjust our routines to accommodate the other.  Helping each other gives structure to our days.  We are symbiotic.  We are up and down, squabbles and giggles, and fitting in fun moments instead of commuting apart.  One commenter shared, “I’m really enjoying a different kind of rush.” 

A better way to transition.  Speaking of commute, NO COMMUTE.  Many of us have noticed the wasted time and energy that was spent driving back and forth to the office.   Now that we don’t have to do it, we are able to create a better way to transition into and out of the work day.  A walk with the dog, tidying up our work space, a slower cup of coffee.  Planning for the day—one of my favorite personal habits—has a rightful place in the morning or night before.  The commute had bullied out this intentional and thoughtful time from our days.  Many of us are reclaiming it, feeling more calm and grounded and ready for the day.  In addition to the time saved, others have noticed we are more productive and more at peace without having to commute.  One commenter observed, “I’ve enjoyed the time I have to thoughtfully prioritize. And the space of having a full plate without the breakneck pace. At first, I didn’t know what to do with myself. Now, I’m able to really look at my work and figure out what to do instead of reacting with the fastest way to get it off my plate.”

When we do plan, it’s within our grasp.  Many of us let go of plans to stay-at-home orders.  Some really big plans.  Vacations, weddings, work travel, major milestones slipped away.  Staring into uncertainty, the calendar seemed useless when there was nothing left to plan.  Except I’ve noticed that instead we kept planning on a smaller scale, inside our homes and our bodies, and more focused on things we can control.  Creating rituals, routines, and habits that serve us and are much simpler.  Even abandoning the commute means there are fewer things that can go wrong on the way to work and cause us stress:  no traffic, no accidents, no forgotten umbrella.  It’s true we can still be late for a Zoom call when the kids need extra help, but most of us are finding new and simpler rhythms to handle that as well.  And we are giving each other a lot more grace for it.  

Stop and smell the roses.  We are noticing and observing every detail of our internal lives.  As one friend put it, we are getting to know our homes in a new way: “where the natural light is most beautiful throughout the day, where my two cats spend their times, and how beautiful the trees, flowers, and bird sounds are in my yard.”  What a lovely thing to learn to love and appreciate the daily cycles of our home with this kind of dedicated time and attention.  After all, we spend a lot of time and money acquiring and maintaining this space.  It’s nice that we are getting to enjoy it. Looking inward, another friend also shared that she is finding an “at-home” identity within herself, with all of the travel and distractions removed.  What a gift to learn those same soft places, quiet moments, and hidden features about ourselves.  When we really know ourselves inside and out, we can begin to find peace in our personal space.

Building a day.  How we spend our days is how we spend our life.  When this first started, my husband and I knew that we would never be able to replicate a typical work day for both of us on a farm with two kids.  So we tore down the day.  We built it back, brick by brick, based on the needs and capacity of our family.  For us, here’s how it played out: He’s a morning person so he’s up and working first.  I hang with the kids and we switch for calls.  Everyone eats lunch together and we transition the boys to nap.  Then I’m upstairs for focused work while the kids nap and watch an afternoon show.  He does lighter work and deflects early risers. Around 4 or 4:30, we are all done and ready to be outside, so we end the workday earlier for happy hour and plenty of outdoor family time until dinner.  That part feels like vacation and we always look forward to it.  We’ve adjusted slightly over the passing weeks, and we’ve been fortunate to add babysitter help a few mornings.  But starting from scratch gave us the best chance of thriving together and managed our expectations.  I think we experienced less grief about the loss of normal because we weren’t trying to be normal.  Instead there are new routines in our day that we look forward to, and we sure don’t miss the pick-up-and-drop-off transitions with the kids.

Time for good stuff.  Friends, you have shared a lot of examples of fun things in your day.  More time to cook. Getting outside.  Yoga stretches.  Friendly chit chat and Zoom calls.  90s TV shows.  Game night.  Learning cello.  Dirt bikes?! Sewing.  Rereading favorite books.  Keeping bees. Getting a puppy.  Planting a garden.  Writing a children’s book! Overwhelmingly, we are finding more joy in the day. This isn’t to say we don’t all have hard moments, bored moments, and sometimes dark moments, but we are rediscovering what we like to do.  We are finding the fun.  And in some cases, we are just plain more comfortable in sweatpants.

Energy management.  It blew me away when another friend mentioned that she was getting more in tune with the rhythm of her own energy:  when she was most “work” productive, when she was feeling more creative, when she needs a movement break. She can respond more naturally to her energy waves during the day and be flexible in how to meet those needs.  For example, when the mid-afternoon sleepy slump hits, she can turn to doing something more creative or exercising to re-energize and get past the slump.  “I don’t think I would have ever figured this out without a good long time at home.”  All of us need more space and flexibility to discover that about ourselves. 

I know it’s hard.  Sometimes impossible.  It feels interminable. But you are doing it.  Keep listening, keep watching, keep learning about yourselves and connecting with each other.  Be curious about what good this time can bring. I’m cheering for you!