Folks, it seems like we’re all home for a while, which honestly doesn’t distrupt my day-to-day life too much, but there is a new catch: working from home when I live with my parents.
Everyone I know is either working from home while living with their significant other, their spouse and children, or alone. I’m the only one I know still living at home with my mom and dad. (BTW, I am an only child, in case you’re new here.) And I feel like it puts me in a weird situation.
I started working from home last Thursday, and my dad started last Monday. He already claimed a spot in the basement as his, so I basically have one option: my bedroom. My childhood bedroom, to be exact. We do have a spare bedroom that my dad uses as a computer room that I could set up shop in, but I’d have to move a lot of my stuff between rooms. There’s really no way for me to work in the dining room or even the living room, because that’s where my mom is.
So that leaves me to set up at my desk. This is what I’ve done for the last few days and will probably continue with: I move everything I don’t need—my personal laptop, planner, stack of books, and sweatshirts that live on my chair—on to my bed when I begin my work day at 8:30 a.m. and set up my work laptop, my water tumbler/tea, headphones, and Chapstick—a necessity. When I’m done for the day at 4:30 p.m., I pack up my work laptop and move everything back onto my desk. It’s sort of my way to distinguish between work mode and off-time mode.
A handful of the people in my office did a test video meeting on Friday, and it was during this call that I could see how messy my room is. I had apologized beforehand since everyone else is in their dining room or a clean spare room. For me, it’s like, yeah I was just sleeping in that bed a few hours ago. (At least I make my bed every day.) I could probably do some spot cleaning/organizing here and there so my room doesn’t look too lived in.
My parents are good about respecting my space. I shut my door while I’m working, so if they need to talk to me, they’ll text me. I know that sounds weird, but I don’t want them knocking on the door while I’m on a call or in the middle of something. I’ll either text back or come out of my room for a few minutes. If I know I have a scheduled call, I’ll let them know ahead of time.
What sort of gets me is that I’m doing adulty/businessy things in the bedroom I’ve had for almost 26 years. It doesn’t seem like the most professional thing ever, but it’s what I have to work with in order to get some privacy. The room isn’t decorated how it was when I was five, so that’s not a concern; I re-did my room when I was in college, so like five or six years ago. It’s just kind of a weird disconnect, you know? Like I’m considered an adult now, who has her own health insurance???
We really don’t know how long we’ll be home. I’ve worked from home a few times before, but it was for only a day at a time and it was because of a snow storm or power outage. Never anything like this before. I feel like I’m adjusting fine because I’m setting those boundaries for myself and I’m sticking to my regular work hours. One good thing is that I don’t have my commute anymore so I get to sleep in an extra hour and I read during what would be my evening commute, to relax after locking myself in my room for 7+ hours.
If you’re working from home, how’s that going? What’s your set-up?
Strikeouts + Sprinkles 
I kind of feel the same way. Like I’m in my bedroom all the time. Thankfully when I moved in there were already black curtains across the closet. Thick black curtains. So when I’m making videos for students I pull the curtain and set up. But to “set up” I have one of those folding tray tables I bust out, which usually has my printer on it. But it’s on the floor now and the table is beside my bed holding stuff. I have a folding chair too that I set up. When we do staff meetings it will be the same set up lol.
Last week I stuck to the normal “school hours”. Turning off work prep at 4. Today was our first day of online lessons. And from 4-5 I got a flurry of emails from parents submitting journal entries. I get it. They are probably working all day and then doing school work with their kids. But I also want to have a time to “shut off” work. I’ll get there probably by next Monday. Right now it’s “reply immediately” to anything that comes. We just got told my our premier that we won’t be going back to school on the 6th. No word on when we will be but not the 6th haha. Going to my class tomorrow to pick up some supplies.
Woooo that was a novel I’m sorry!
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Haha that’s okay! This is definitely an adjustment for all of us. I’m sure it’s tough for teachers and I hope you’re able to get in the swing of things soon! The schools in my state and the state next to me are closed through May. And I really have no clue when I’ll be going back to work since classes are online for the rest of the semester.
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All my fellow teachers have agreed we will never again complain about waking up early or bad students or annoying parents EVER again if we can just go back to work lol
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Sounds like you’ve nailed down a good routine though! That’s smart that you “pack up” your stuff so that you can distinguish between work hours and home hours. I think that’s something that so many of us are having a hard time separating. Thank you for sharing your experience working from home. I hope you stay safe and healthy and that we can all get back to our normal lives soon!
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I feel like it could be easy to slip into being in work mode all the time if you’re home, and I still want to have my me-time, especially to relax after being in my bedroom all day. I’m actually getting more done that I’m home, so I really try to plan out my day and what I want to get done. I hope you’re staying safe and healthy, too!
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LOL our 23-year-old daughter is working from home with us as well and to be honest, I think she prefers her room to being out with us. I work from home too and my workspace is in our kitchen so that doesn’t leave anywhere else for her either. It certainly is an unusual set of circumstances we find ourselves in. Take care of you.
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Yeah it’s definitely an adjustment for everyone. Your house sounds like my set-up haha. I’m glad I don’t live alone because I don’t know if I could be by myself for that long; at least I have my parents and my pets.
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My job isn’t essential to be working from home, but somehow we’re making it work and everything is smooth sailing so far! Working from home is now new #goals. It’s amazing how being home for two days AWAY from work while working can do for your mental health and overall energy. It’s definitely something I’ll keep in mind while hunting for my next job.
Love your blog! Happy blogging! 🙂
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I’m glad things are going well for you so far! This is definitely a time of adjustment for everyone. I feel like I’m able to get more done at home than in the office, just because I’m pretty much alone and can concentrate more on my work. Hope you’re staying safe and healthy!
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My boyfriend works from home so he has a desk set up in our spare room. I’ve been bouncing between our kitchen and bedroom, but you’re totally right a bedroom is not the ideal space. Luckily my company doesn’t do calls with our webcams on!
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That’s lucky about the video calls! I don’t mind them when it’s with a few of my co-workers who know I’m in my bedroom but if it’s with a bigger group, I don’t want them to judge me haha. It’s so tricky especially when you live with other people to find a space to make your own!
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Love this post!! Working from home has definitely been interesting. I live in a 1 bedroom apartment with my boyfriend so he is at the desk I set up for him awhile ago (he works from home sometimes and I never do). And I am at the kitchen table. It isn’t comfy, but it has worked out so far! We are both on the phone a lot so it is pretty loud, but other than that not too bad! I am dreaming up a future office because of this haha.
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Haha yeah that sounds like it could be a little tricky. Setting up at our dining room table would be a good option for me, minus the fact that I’d have my mom and pets doing stuff in the background, so that’s why I’m in my bedroom. Today marked a week of being home, so we’ll see how this goes haha. Hope you’re staying safe and healthy! 🙂
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At this point, I’m not working from home yet. I found out yesterday, however, that our team just got permission to interact with our clients via phone and video conferencing starting next week. They really don’t want us getting out there in the field anymore. So as of next Monday, I’m homebound, too. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever more looked forward to anything in my life.
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I’m glad that you’re able to make the transition to working from home! I can understand why they’d rather have you do phone and video calls. So far, as the introvert that I am, I’m sort of enjoying being home. I feel a little more relaxed and I’m able to get more done.
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I live at home with my parents too. I haven’t found a job yet, so I’ve just had to continue with my online classes and volunteer remotely. Like you, I work on everything in my room on my desk as my parents never disrupt me in there. My parents actually text me when they need me too-they spend most of the time downstairs while my room is on the second floor, so it’s easier for them that way. It’s definitely crazy how we don’t even know when life can get back to normal, but I’m glad to hear you’re adjusting well!
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Haha that’s too funny that your parents text you, too. It’s definitely an adjustment for all of us, but I feel better overall that the three of us are home now. I appreciate that they’re understanding of my privacy, but, I mean, if the cat is doing something cute, of course I’m going to come out of my room. Hope you’re staying safe and healthy! 🙂
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