My Quarantine Thoughts: Working from Home in the midst of Covid-19

With most industries having to strip their workforces into skeletal systems, many people all over the world are working from home for the first time ever.

It’s an unprecedented time for everyone but also a great opportunity to step up even more now to show clients and employers that we can continue to deliver our best work no matter where we are.

With global markets expected to be in recession in a few months time, we need online workforces and BPOs to keep our economy alive.

I’ve been doing semi-remote work for the last 5 years but working from home is still unchartered territory for most people. The agency I work for has had to dramatically change the way we work in a week’s time.

So in the first few days of all our team members working from home, we’ve seen a client’s wife walk in with nothing but a wee towel on in one of our live conferences, we’ve had screaming toddlers, extemporaneous singing from teammates with their mute buttons off, and my offshore teammates marveled at all the roosters they’d hear crowing in my background (because I live in the Philippines where we name our roosters and treat them as part of the family).

We’ve also done everything we can to keep the team engaged from setting up online drinking sessions, speed dating one on ones, and many other ingenious things to keep our team culture alive.

But through it all, I felt a strong sense of gratitude to be a part of such a supportive team that cared about my safety enough for them to ask me to work from home. I became grateful every day to still be able to work at home with my family. Work has kept me sane throughout this madness and extended isolation.

I know there are so many others who are forced to leave their families every day to man our streets, health workers who are so tired and scared out of their wits but still go back into their red zones anyway (sans the full PPE gear at times) to battle everyday, and, of course, all my immortal friends who work in BPOs and call centers, unsung heroes all of them, who continue to show up to their shifts day and night.

No matter where in the world you may be, the stark reality is that everyone’s struggles are similar though not exactly the same.

Sydney and many other big cities are also in a brink of a lockdown. We’re all struggling through this pandemic together in different parts of the world and adjusting to new ways of working in quarantine, living in isolation, away from our families, or going crazy with all the kids at home all day while working. It is a stressful and scary time. But I choose to be grateful for little things too.

For one, staying home is a luxury not afforded to everyone. And not everyone who are at home have been given the choice.

So let’s be thankful for our jobs and appreciate employers who always look for ways to help us and our families, even if it means settling for zero profit or to just break even this quarter. Take notice of their efforts and put out the best work you possibly can. Don’t slack off just because you’re working from home. Prove to them that they can trust you to get the job done even if you’re on the moon in quarantine.

And most importantly, make the best use of your time with your family. If you think about it, we were never afforded this extended time before, i think of it as a blessing as well. Pray together. Make meals together. Play with your kids. You have all the time now to work on those passion projects you’ve been putting off for so long. Keep yourself updated with what’s happening. Listen to trusted authorities and just cooperate.

At the end of the day, it's the least we could do for all our frontliners who could only wish to be at home with their families today. ❤️