Livin' in my Jammies

Greetings from Geneseo. So several folks have inquired on how things are going working from home. I have now been at it for two weeks and for the most part it seems to be going very well.

It took a couple of days to work out some of the technical difficulties, but the Busey tech group helped me get everything worked out. I have a "soft phone" so my work number both external and internal did not change... it just runs through the computer now... and I have a little headset (I refer to is as my "Madonna Mic") and the sound quality is actually pretty good. Everything pretty much works the same... my scanner and access to our shared drives is a little slower than what I was used to but I get around that by saving files locally while I am using them, and then saving them back to the shared drive after my work is done. As for the scanner... while I am waiting for it, that is when I take a bathroom break, refill my coffee, empty the dishwasher, or toss a load of clothes in the wash.

Believe it or not, even though I don't have a commute, I now get up earlier than I did before. Typically I try to get up by 6:15/6:30, I brush my teeth, wash my face, start the coffee and am logging in by 6:30/6:45. I wake Eric up at 7:25, then get my first cup of coffee. Sometimes I wear my pajamas, sometimes I wear sweats... but I am always wearing my slippers :) Starting my work day 90 minutes earlier than normal gives me the flexibility to either knock off early, or in most cases take a longer lunch. Lately the routine has been to head to town (Geneseo... about 10 minutes away) at 11:30 or so on Monday, Wednesday & Friday (after 5 hours of work) and go work out at Curves for 30 minutes. Eric's Mom, Linda works there so I get caught up on the family happenings and get some social interaction with the other ladies there. I meet Eric for lunch, then head home. I am back at my desk by 1:30 and work until 4:30. Then I usually take a shower and get things started for dinner as Eric is getting home.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Eric often comes home for a quick lunch, and I finish up work a bit earlier. This Thursday I am going to start a women's bible study at one of the local churches. It is either from 9 to 11 am or two hours in the evening. I think I may try the morning meeting one week, then the evening meeting the next week. If I go to the morning meeting I will likely take a very short lunch and/or just work later in the afternoon/evening to get my 8 hours in. I am really looking forward to getting back into The Word (it took me nearly two weeks to unpack my Bible) and developing some community/friendships. At this point I haven't really had time to miss C-U all that much, the more I get settled the more I am ready to put down some roots.

So far I haven't minded the solitude of working from home. I still talk to lenders on the phone etc. and getting out and going to Curves is not unlike chatting with folks in the break room at work. I often have the radio on as I work so that provides a little pretend co-worker noise as well, and I still email folks to catch up on the latest at the "office". I have tried to be disciplined about staying on task and focusing on my work, stopping to do things like laundry and dishes only when I would be stopping for a coffee refill or bathroom break anyway. So far it seems to working well, as I am at least as productive as before if not more.

I do enjoy the new dress code but perhaps the best benefit is the flexibility of hours. We had a plumber come a week or so ago and it was great to tell them... anytime is fine... I will be home all day. Overall it seems to be working well and I am very fortunate that Busey was willing to try this. It was a struggle to adjust at first, but every day it just gets better and more normal