homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5534

During the pandemic I have learned a lot about how weird my neighbors are and I know for sure they know I'm odd too -- I know my neighbor writes down how often I cut the grass on his calendar, ask me how I know. Boredom comes in many ways and I cut the grass a few times a week because I'M BORED!

In all my years being at home before it was cool, I can personally vouch that I've never waited for the trash cans to empty by standing in my driveway and waiting for the trash man to come. I only do that for the mail!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5527

​For the past 6 months you all have been living and working in the homeplaceofthefuture. Congratulations and welcome to my world for the past 5527 days! While I did predict that we would all work & live in the same place one day, I honestly had no idea that things would escalate that quickly. Jokes and stories have been spun for years about the homeplaceofthefuture and then suddenly we were all here. In a matter of days anybody with a voice online or more than one Twitter follower was giving advice about how to work at home. To be honest it overwhelmed me and I missed my chance to be included.
 
For the past 6 months I have been busier and more stressed out than ever with my job. My real job that allows me to work from home and provide for my family was suddenly in trouble. In an instant 97% of our book of business was cancelled for the year, my salary was cut significantly and my hours & stress increased – go figure! In this time, I have experienced painful, sometimes crippling physical symptoms including aches & pains and only this past weekend did I realize they were all stress induced. For months now, I thought I was coming down with arthritis, MS and even ALS because the pain in my joints and muscles was so bad. Thankfully I've never been worried about COVID or getting it, but I was getting worried about these pains. It is amazing what stress does to the body, all-encompassing stress in many arenas of life.
 
For the past 6 months daily, I have thought about what my voice should be in this space. How to get my voice heard and still have some fun was always the goal, but sadly in the end I did nothing. It is how most things go in life you get an idea or an inkling and start and at a certain point you don’t finish – this is how it goes with me at least and I know I’m not the only one. I did what I had to do to survive and get my family & company through this time and as dust is settling on our post COVID world, I'm excited to see the possibilities and start bringing my voice back and hopefully a lot less stress!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5375

I have so much to say about this quarantine and the new trend of working home, but last night I laid awake thinking if anyone from Family Matters is still living off of that Family Matters cash.

I'm concerned about my mental health.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5343

My quarantine face after a little over a week of hearing friends, family, broadcasters, late night TV hosts all saying the same thing:

They enjoy working from home

What I find ironic is I've been giving my monologue everyday in the comfort of my home since 2005. Of course my monologue is saving the world one conference call at a time, but honestly put me in coach - I'm been prepping for this for 5343 days!

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5339

Out of an abundance of caution and to assist with our nation’s preventive efforts, I will continue working from home and avoiding people for as long as this pandemic exists and/or my company employs me 

Repeat after me the work from home oath

I (insert name here), promise to:

Use my personal computer to stream Netflix & YouTube
Punish repeat offenders who send emails marked as URGENT
Go outside once a day to get the mail
Realize that I am not saving lives here
Avoid people
Daily wear the uniform of the homeplaceofthefuture
Eat and drink whatever makes me happy

Ignore my kids and spouse during the quarantine (if applicable)
Try proper hygiene protocols applicable for my surrounding

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5338

What a great time to be alive and what a great time to work from home! Working from home is a hot topic right now and as such, please ignore the experts out there during this work from home revival and hear me out. With 5338 days under my belt, let me provide 6 expert tips of working from home in the homeplaceofthefuture.
 

1. Have a dedicated workspace. While the temptation is strong to work in your bedroom, kitchen table, bathtub or back porch. I would highly recommend having a dedicated workspace where you conduct the majority of your business. Flexibility in moving around is totally acceptable, but trust me you’ll want a set place to answer your emails and save the world working on those all-important PowerPoint presentations.
   
   
2. Have a uniform. Don’t listen to the “experts” out there, I never dress for work like I did when I went to an office every day. Why waste time wearing business casual clothes, the cleaning, the pressing, the tucking in of shirts so that no one can see you? Untold power and energy await you when you don’t have to decide what to wear everyday, I wear the same clothes every day and over the years have quite a collection of black t’shirts. It’s easy, it’s cheap and fashionable.
   
   
3. Don’t eat all day! I learned this the hard way when I first started and gained quite a bit of weight. In 15 years of working from home, I actually have a food journal that I write in with my hand! Imagine that. If your food choices are written down in your own handwriting, you should feel guilty if you often write down Twinkies or Fried Twinkies, red hot Cheetos, etc. I’m not food snob, but the lack of people around me and a pantry full of junk for the kids you need to find your own way of being accountable. Alcohol doesn’t count however because #daydrinking
   
   
4. Don’t feel guilty. Imagine how much time you waste in the office looking out the window or taking long walks to the coffee room. If you’re quarantined to the homeplaceofthefuture don’t feel guilty if you want to do a load of laundry, talk to the mailman (no handshaking!) or preparing a meal. Studies show that we work best in bursts – personally I go all out for 45-50 minutes every hour and if time and call volume allow, I get up and walk around, do chores, look at Facebook for the last 10 minutes of every hour or sometimes longer…shh don’t tell!
   
   
5. Be social! Listen up, the longer I have worked from home the more I hate people. It comes with the territory, but out of the 7 billion people on this planet, I like about 25 of them and those people who are local to me I regularly schedule lunches with, happy hours with or other after work activities. You will drive yourself mad working from home and never seeing people – we are meant for connection and although most people suck – you should know a few good ones to hang with.
   
   
6. Exercise. I can talk about this one all day, but do something. Sitting is the new cancer and in all seriousness get up and do something throughout your day. Odds are your employer won’t notice and you’ll feel great.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5232

It's a re-entry day after an extended period of being off for personal reasons & the glorious holiday that is Thanksgiving.

Did you know that people actually emailed me on Thanksgiving? I logged in on this re-entry Monday and thought 2 things....

1. You're a moron!
2. I'm kind of honored that they are giving thanks to me for all I do for them!
   ​
   

I would like to the point in my career where my inbox (and my workload) isn't other people's to do list for me.

​homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5200

The homeplaceofthefuture has been a busy place these past few weeks with trips, trips and more trips. Events, conferences, in-person meetings all seem to pop up at the same time and I’ve had to play eeny meany miny mo for where to go and who else could go in my place – last I checked most of us can’t be in 2 or 3 places at once and if you can be please reach out to me, I’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime.
 
In-between these bursts of activity and having to be presentable in my non-homeplaceofthefuture uniform, I have been deliberate in getting up more and being active….and I hope you have been too. In September I felt my age and then to get these health updates around my bloodwork I have been determined to mix up my working from home routine. Averaging 8000 steps a day and eating way less meat, how much is way less? Let’s just say I have cried at some work dinners where I’ve gotten the chicken or fish vs. the steak. First world problems I know, but boy is it tough!
 
Let’s cover one last piece of the health puzzle and it is social. Working from home is isolating. Most of my conversations all day are directly related to work and much less about sports, technology or really anything not related to work. The longer and longer I sit at home I am finding that I really like my home and I’m grumpy when I have to leave – there is a comfort that has set in and a sense of being bothered when I have to be presentable. I am so used to getting my job done in my space, in my uniform and with my pets at my feet that the thought of going anywhere makes me question the why. 
 
In the early years of the homeplaceofthefuture there was definitely a dark spurt of never leaving and feeling sorry for myself – I know this is common for all of us. Once you realize it, you have to make some changes and that includes going somewhere. Mrs. Homeplaceofthefuture never lets me pass up a guy’s game night or a tap takeover at the local bar – anytime there is an invite to go somewhere socially I have an encouraging spouse that says GO! Does it mean I go out all the time? Absolutely not, but I find that just having something in the books every other week is good enough for me socially during the week to branch out. Other homeplaceofthefuture folks I know will go out to dinner almost nightly just to get out of the house – whatever you need to do to get out of the house and ideally be with other people is encouraged.
​

• Does being social help with cholesterol? Doubtful.
• Does being social help with stress? Depends on what kind of people you’re with?
• Does being social help, me stay skinny? See first question above.
• Does being social help with hygiene? Yes, you took a shower I hope
• Does being social help me realize there is still a life outside of my home office? YES

 
Pretty simple concepts here from a pretty simple guy who works from home. Go for a walk, eat less meat and for God’s sake take a shower and hang out with some people.

homeplaceofthefuture daily log 5198

​Thoughts today from the homeplaceofthefuture and the reason why I had to go for an hour long walk yesterday to get away from computer and try some blood pressure lowering techniques.

Is it too much to ask that if someone is supposed to do a job and you ask them to do that job that they would actually do that job? Call me a simpleton, but I really thought that people generally do work.

The above scenario happened yesterday and immediately after I sent the email to this person (to do their job) they IM'd me and said they couldn't do it and then proceeded to have a 20 minute conversation with me about how busy they are. Do you know how long it takes to do the job that I asked?

Try 5 minutes.

If there was a way to teleport even my hands over the internet, I would have slapped this person in the face and then proceeded to show them how to do their job. Yesterday was one of those days where I was very glad to be virtual because I was so angry that in normal working scenarios I would have been in the managers office finger pointing & cussing.

The hour walk seriously felt great though!