But this post isn't about the Olympics, no, it's much more
exciting – it's about working from home.
I think most people love the idea of working from home. Just
like a lot of people like the idea of being in a book club (until they realize
that they have to actually read a book every month and commit to a meeting).
But working from home is not as fun as it seems in theory.
I'm sure it's fun if you enjoy working in your pyjamas or being able to cook a
three-course lunch. For me, the occasional day of working from home is fine,
but when experiencing it over a few days in the past weeks, it was not thoroughly
successful – it was more about trying to work from home, feeling very low
energy and then berating myself for being, simply put, the most slothful and
unproductive person on the face of the earth.
But I have a theory about what was going on. I've often
wondered what the true difference is between an introvert and an extrovert. There
are lots of theories, one of them being that we all display characteristics of
both at different times. However, in the general sense, the idea is that
extroverts tend to get energy from being around or interacting with other
people, whereas introverts tend to find more energy in isolation.
I am pretty sure most people who know me personally would
describe me as an extrovert. I speak in public (of my own accord), love parties
and generally like to talk. However, as a partly only child (nine years between
me and my brother) I also like time alone, mostly after many days of
socializing.
But here's the thing. After deciding to throw in the towel
and come into the office, my mood immediately lifted. And even though the
office was pretty empty and my interactions with people remained more limited
than usual, I just felt like I had more energy to do stuff – it was like what I
really needed was to be around people.
I know people can get used to almost anything and I'm sure
if I had a working-from-home routine I would be heaps more productive. However,
would I like it? I'm just not as interested to find out anymore.
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