A view from the coal face

by Sue

In the current climate of working from home, social distancing and self-isolation, how’s it actually working in practice for Sue, one of the Rambutan bunch?

From last week, following government advice I’ve been remotely working from home. It’s been a challenge, both mentally and physically, but there’s been some very surprising positives and I’m proud of how resilient I’m becoming.

In the past I’ve occasionally worked from home when I’ve needed quiet time to work on a key project, but this is completely different. From a physical viewpoint my dining room table has become my office; I’ve found a wonky, old, comfortable chair to sit in (note to self, must fix it this weekend) and I’m still supporting the environment by not putting my heating on until as late as possible in the day. The most illuminating mental health surprise is how positively I’ve changed my mindset so that I know this is now my workplace indefinitely.

I focus my mind each day I get up on having a ‘travel to work’ mode so that I can still feel a separation from home and work. The ‘travel to work’ mode may only mean dressing in casual work clothes (as opposed to staying in my pyjamas); walking down the stairs into the dining room (my office); putting the kettle on and having a brew as I log onto my laptop at the start of the working day, but this is still me mentally switching on for the day ahead and focusing my mind on work.

My husband still goes out to work every day as his job involves the distribution of goods, which we’re all aware is a mega-busy sector. This means I’m home alone. My initial concerns that I’ve been mentally steering myself away from, about having no one to talk to and being distracted by home jobs has just not happened.

Video chats with the Rambutan bunch on numerous work topics and projects happen several times a day from different team members. We’re all making a very conscious effort to video call each other rather than just a quick phone chat. We’re collectively helping each other to not feel isolated. In fact, there’s probably more social chat now (as well as work talk, so we know what each other is focusing on) than there was in the physical office!

There’s a tendency to always be available online. Therefore, I’m planning my day to be available for work during the day with a half-hour break to go walking outside for some exercise and fresh air (keeping my distance from others) but deliberately switching off my work devices in the evening. This again helps with having the separation of home and work as I would in a physical office.

There are also quite different challenges in the evening. My husband has been working flat out all day and just wants peace and quiet when he comes home, and as I’ve been working remotely and virtually all day; I love the face-to-face contact with him and just want to chat! Managing that disparity has called for lots of humour and kindness!

My husband and I are now eating our evening meal on trays on the sofa, so that the dining room remains an office and there’s no conflict or merging of home and office spaces.

It’s still early days for home working (I do miss the physical face-to-face), and it’ll be fascinating to see how it’s all changed further down the line. My thoughts at the moment are focused on both family and work. I need to keep my family safe, as I have elderly parents 150 miles away who I can’t visit as they’re self isolating and I’m organising their food deliveries and paying bills. Plus, how I will manage if I develop symptoms (or any of the team do) and have to self-isolate. I’m hoping if I do that the symptoms are mild and I can still continue to work and contribute to Rambutan.

Self-managing my own well-being and being resilient is now top of my agenda.