My fake three-day week
It is not because of Covid. I’ve always been this way, as far back as I can remember. I find that I’m more productive when I’m sitting on my own, in a quiet space. I can create whole worlds and universes in my solitude. Having people around me is distracting. For example, I could never retain information when I studied for my exams if I was sitting in a library or somewhere with people around.
During my school days, I fondly remember waking up at 3am to swot before the big exams. I found that, without any sounds or other noise around me, everything would just “sponge” in. Those four hours before 7am (the normal wake-up time) were gold; I pushed through all the books and study aids, and I passed.
Pre-Covid, my organisation took a very dim view of remote working. It was something generally reserved for the execs and c-suite (who can do what they like, anyway). When it hit and everyone was commanded by law to stay at home, I was in my element. Productivity went through the roof — and not just me. My org released a few numbers once or twice during those dark days which showed that the whole team was uber-productive.
With WFH, instead of things “sponging” in, the work was “pumped” out. And how I/we pumped. Deadlines? What deadlines? Projects were completed weeks and sometimes months ahead of schedule and mostly on-budget as well.
Maybe I’ve been cloned. Maybe all these pretty gals and pretty guys around me are mini-mes! I thought it was only I who enjoyed the solitude, the permanent heads-down days which working remotely afforded me. Shit! I think I’ve taken this whole “I can create whole worlds and universes in my solitude” thing too far…
Looking back, pre-2020, some of the best work I produced was in my own time at home, after hours. Back then, Monday to Friday in the office was the norm, but honestly? We were all just ticking over, winding down the clock. Sort of what I do today when I’m in the office twice a week.
I do appreciate a bit of face time with the team; it is necessary. But if I’m being totally honest with myself, I tend to get very little work done when I have all these people around me. It’s just the way “collaboration” and presenteeism work, I’m guessing. And come to think of it, this seems more pronounced now, more noticeable. It leaves very little “me” time because we are all catching up and collaborating on 99% totally-unrelated-to-work-things: did you see that goal? I really didn’t like s05e10.mkv, that ending pissed me off; have you watched this? have you read that yet? You know, all those so-called water cooler moments which tend to last the entire work day.
There were definitely water cooler moments before, but for some reason, they didn’t last as long as they do today. Perhaps it was because we were all stuck together five days a week and eventually ran out of things to chat about. Like old couples, who get into that “I’m comfortable with silence” mode. These days, we chat, chat, chat, until our mouths turn dry. And no work gets done. And productivity returns to pre-pandemic levels: piss-poor!
All in all I suppose my work life balance is not so bad…I only “work” a 3-day week.