How the pandemic taught me to embrace downtime

Working from home isn’t always as peaceful as we think.

I started working for U.S. Catholic on the day our office closed during the first wave of the novel coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. While I was bummed not to meet my new coworkers face to face, I embraced the chance to avoid a somewhat lengthy public transit commute in exchange for a workday spent at my dining room table. After all, this arrangement would allow me to use my time much more efficiently.

Working from home meant I could switch over laundry between meetings, prep dinner during my lunch break, and even collect and put away groceries from a doorstep drop-off service while waiting for a video to upload—not to mention the additional one or two “usable” hours added to my day by not having to ride the train. The foot commute from my bed to my computer screen takes approximately one minute, even less if I don’t have to stop to soothe a crying baby along the way (a common occurrence in my home-work environment).

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