One Year into the Pandemic: What Have we Learned About Work

One year has passed since we all moved to remote working. The kitchen used to be the place of our informal reunions. We’d gather, a tea or coffee mug in hand, and talk about our weekend, a Netflix must-watch, or the new incoming project. These times are far gone. Nowadays, our workstations are more likely our kitchen or living room tables, maybe even our beds. We spend about 8 hours a day in front of our screens, going from one Zoom meeting to another. The only people that we get to shout at are our family and our pets. This year has brought a lot of changes, and with it, a lot of valuable insights. 

We saved a lot of time 

Remote working allowed us to save a lot of commuting time. Everyone I know took this time to explore new hobbies or expand their skill set. Some friends started cooking or baking some raiser service dogs, others picked up certifications that would help them in their careers. Overall, gaining a few hours a day allowed us all to have a healthier, more balanced way of living. 

We saved money and learned new skills 

With everything closing around us, 2020 has been the year of savings. Between the money usually spent on commuting, dining out, clothing, coffee, etc. we’ve been able to pocket all that money. It also taught some of us the delights of a nice home-cooked meal, the challenges of a homemade haircut, and the hard work of refurbishing furniture. 

Sweatpants became our new work attire 

The days we’d spend hours getting ready, making sure our outfits matched and we looked professional enough are dead. Sweatpants, for most of us, became our new work attire. This lockdown allowed us the freedom to wear what felt good and what was comfortable. No matter what happens in the next few months, this freedom is too good to let it go and return to our restrictive tight jeans. There is no turning back from the sweatpants era. 

We have developed a love-hate relationship with Zoom 

This pandemic put Zoom software at the forefront of everybody’s remote work life. In many ways, it felt like a godsend, allowing us to be in touch with each other and our co-workers at all times. But in others, let’s be real, Zoom felt like hell on earth. We’ve all had the experience of our Zoom window freezing, a Zoom meeting not starting or ending abruptly on you, and the many audio and video issues that can and do arise. Zoom can be that person we desperately want to hug or that piece of trash we can’t wait to throw out the window in desperation. Either way, we all can relate. 

We realized connection is essential 

One thing we did notice this year is the importance of human contact. Even for the most introverted of us, being secluded from our peers for so long took its toll on our mental health. Therapists have been overbooked for months. The importance and necessity for connections made itself crystal clear in 2020. In those lonely times, our pets have been life-saviors. Our dogs, cats, or even goldfish, have been the only connection to a sentient being we’ve had for months. They delivered support and unconditional love during the hardest times. We are deeply social creatures after all. 

We will never work 5 days a week at the office schedule anymore 

While it did take us a while to get accustomed to a fully remote working situation, we are now well acclimated to it and, for the most part, enjoy it. One big realization throughout this pandemic was that, yes, we can work well remotely and be as productive as before. Our work efficiency did not suffer, and our workflow adjusted quite well to the remote situation. Once we are all safe and vaccinated and everything reopens, we will probably go back to work in the office, yes, but in a very different capacity. Some of us will probably go for a couple of days a week, and some others, only one, or up to four. The work schedule will be more relaxed and flexible to the needs of everyone. This, we learned, truly allows us to be as efficient and productive as possible while keeping a connection with each other. 

This pandemic taught us that working from home does not impede productivity. Instead, it allowed us to have a more balanced and healthier lifestyle. We saved on commute time and money, which in turn let us have more time with family, start a new routine, volunteer, or do anything that we kept putting aside prior to March 11, 2020. 

Whenever the time to return to the office arises, we’ll come back with a more flexible and healthy vision of our work schedule and will keep up with everything we learned during the quarantine. There is no way to go back to the way things were before. All we can do is move forward and forward looks pretty good right now.