It was seven months ago this past Monday that our boss gathered us all in the open space that used to be our desks to talk to us about COVID.
Our office was in the middle of moving to a brand new facility just outside the city of San Francisco, and this new virus was hitting the Bay Area hard.
Our boss at the time stressed to us that our company wanted us to stay safe, and that we would all be working from home for a couple of weeks. That day was March 12, 2020. Seven months ago.
Friday, March 13th Aaron and I both worked from our Downtown SF apartment. I worked at our one desk for half the day while he worked from the couch, then we switched.
On March 16th we got word that the city of San Francisco was under a stay at home order and we wouldn’t be going back to the office in two weeks.
We quickly figured out we needed two places to set up shop and work from home. I made a space on our dining table, and Aaron set up shop a few feet away at the desk.
In the last seven months we have established a routine and learned to work together in such a small space.
We have learned to stagger our work calls as best as possible to avoid talking over each other in separate meetings.
I have learned that I love the flexibility of starting my day earlier some days so I can go for an afternoon run. Or that I can start the crockpot at noon for dinner.
We have also learned how important human interaction is. It isn’t the same over a screen. We make sure we get out of the apartment on the weekends, even if it is just to go to Trader Joe’s and talk to a person face to face while checking out.
I don’t think any of us could have predicted what the last seven months brought us, but I think we have all learned things about ourselves, our families, and our coworkers.
Seven months later I’m still working from the same place in our living room. I have a monitor and way more paperwork now.
I don’t know what the next seven months will bring, but I think we should all take really good notes so we can look back and reflect on what we learned or how many pets or kids popped up on video calls one day.