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Home Office is a strange thing
Even before the pandemic, I was used to working alone. I had my own Regus office for many years, as the main office was quite a way out of town and I wangled myself a pretty little deal with my then employer. It was bliss and I loved being alone, listening to music or the radio, doing my own thing.
Then I was made to commute to the office after my second child was born, as the office was costing them too much. I decided to go in a couple of times a week and work the rest from home — and this worked out pretty well. I had two colleagues in the same town working from home, a boss in Italy and one in the USA, so it wasn’t relevant where I was working from.
Then lockdown came and everyone started panicking. How will we manage from home? How can we set up an office? I was used to working from our kitchen (I am, in fact, working at my kitchen table right now because the desk upstairs is too messy), and honestly, it was fine. Unless you are a trader or similar and need a three-screen setup, then most people are pretty good with a laptop and a mouse.
Lockdown initially was quite nice (apart from losing my dad and also my job). We had moved into our little house by then, so had a bedroom that doubled as an office with a desk, where I could slope off to when I had conference calls. But…