On Thursday at 6pm, my workplace, under government orders, closed its doors until the end of March.
As the campus drained of people I felt sad. The Chinese have a curse, "May you live in interesting times." This was indeed interesting times. I love history and have often wished I lived during the Black and Tans, or the Blitz, or the American Civil War just to experience what it was like living through a pivotal moment in history.
Tickled by the drama of the whole of UCC on lockdown, I was glued to the TV for updates on the pandemic that was gripping the world. Yet at the same time, it felt lonely as people silently packed up what they needed and just left. Even the protestors that had been camping on the quad for the last four weeks scooped up their tents and went. No point protesting if you have no audience.
One of my colleagues, has a seriously ill father in hospital whom she can no longer visit because of the restrictions and a bed-bound mother at home who recently fractured her spine after a fall. My colleague had been using her annual leave to take half days so that she could look after her mother. The day before the lockdown, I urged her to speak to our manager to arrange something so that she did not have to use all her precious leave for a situation she did now know when it would end. The universe intervened. She, like the rest of us, is now working from home and can keep an eye on her mother.
I recently changed jobs and worried about going from a four day week to five. Would the extra day ruin my hard-won 'equanimity?' The universe gave me the opportunity to find out.
Much as I relished the novelty of working from home I was bored by lunchtime and most surprisingly of all, I felt lonely.
I craved chatter and missed being around people. Until now, I failed to appreciate the social opportunities working in an office presents even if it's only to comment on the weather or what's in the news that day.
When I finally logged off at 6pm, my entire body ached in ways I had not experienced before. Having sat for several hours on a wooden chair at my kitchen table using a laptop propped up on a book, my shoulder blades moved like hot needles. I then appreciated my padded, back-supporting, ergonomic, height adjusting chair at work, my broad, expansive desk with the computer screen adjusted to suit my eye level and to reduce glare and my foot support to ensure blood flow to my legs and reduce pressure on my hips. At home, I'm in danger of blood clotting and thrombosis.
Also, I had taken no breaks. At work there is always someone saying, "Have you taken your break yet?" or "Fancy going for a coffee?" and I always do. But this day, I swept the floor from hall through to kitchen and then mopped it. I unloaded the washing machine, hung up the wet clothes and put on another load. I spent the day either working or cleaning.
Having the radio on in the background didn't help either. The repeated warnings urging people not to panic buy had me thinking 'What do those people know that I don't?' So when Hubbie, who did go to his office to work, rang to check if we needed anything from the supermarket, I said, "Cider, Taytos and chocolate."
Working from home is not as good as it seems: you don't switch off. You don't get to mentally and physically separate work from the rest of your day.
These are interesting times. The year 2020 will feature in RTE's Reeling in The Years as the invasion of the Virus and how it shut down the world. But like the Beast From The East in 2018 when Ireland experienced for the first time, in my memory, three days of glorious, proper, good-quality snow. It was fabulous; like Christmas without the stress. The entire country came to a halt. That was fun. But after day two, the novelty wore off and even my sons were craving normality again.
I wish everyone well and that we get to see each other healthy and happy again soon.
As the campus drained of people I felt sad. The Chinese have a curse, "May you live in interesting times." This was indeed interesting times. I love history and have often wished I lived during the Black and Tans, or the Blitz, or the American Civil War just to experience what it was like living through a pivotal moment in history.
Tickled by the drama of the whole of UCC on lockdown, I was glued to the TV for updates on the pandemic that was gripping the world. Yet at the same time, it felt lonely as people silently packed up what they needed and just left. Even the protestors that had been camping on the quad for the last four weeks scooped up their tents and went. No point protesting if you have no audience.
One of my colleagues, has a seriously ill father in hospital whom she can no longer visit because of the restrictions and a bed-bound mother at home who recently fractured her spine after a fall. My colleague had been using her annual leave to take half days so that she could look after her mother. The day before the lockdown, I urged her to speak to our manager to arrange something so that she did not have to use all her precious leave for a situation she did now know when it would end. The universe intervened. She, like the rest of us, is now working from home and can keep an eye on her mother.
I recently changed jobs and worried about going from a four day week to five. Would the extra day ruin my hard-won 'equanimity?' The universe gave me the opportunity to find out.
Much as I relished the novelty of working from home I was bored by lunchtime and most surprisingly of all, I felt lonely.
I craved chatter and missed being around people. Until now, I failed to appreciate the social opportunities working in an office presents even if it's only to comment on the weather or what's in the news that day.
When I finally logged off at 6pm, my entire body ached in ways I had not experienced before. Having sat for several hours on a wooden chair at my kitchen table using a laptop propped up on a book, my shoulder blades moved like hot needles. I then appreciated my padded, back-supporting, ergonomic, height adjusting chair at work, my broad, expansive desk with the computer screen adjusted to suit my eye level and to reduce glare and my foot support to ensure blood flow to my legs and reduce pressure on my hips. At home, I'm in danger of blood clotting and thrombosis.
Also, I had taken no breaks. At work there is always someone saying, "Have you taken your break yet?" or "Fancy going for a coffee?" and I always do. But this day, I swept the floor from hall through to kitchen and then mopped it. I unloaded the washing machine, hung up the wet clothes and put on another load. I spent the day either working or cleaning.
Having the radio on in the background didn't help either. The repeated warnings urging people not to panic buy had me thinking 'What do those people know that I don't?' So when Hubbie, who did go to his office to work, rang to check if we needed anything from the supermarket, I said, "Cider, Taytos and chocolate."
Working from home is not as good as it seems: you don't switch off. You don't get to mentally and physically separate work from the rest of your day.
These are interesting times. The year 2020 will feature in RTE's Reeling in The Years as the invasion of the Virus and how it shut down the world. But like the Beast From The East in 2018 when Ireland experienced for the first time, in my memory, three days of glorious, proper, good-quality snow. It was fabulous; like Christmas without the stress. The entire country came to a halt. That was fun. But after day two, the novelty wore off and even my sons were craving normality again.
I wish everyone well and that we get to see each other healthy and happy again soon.
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