Status Update: On Moving and Working Remotely

T-minus ten days until we leave for San Antonio! And let me tell you, those ten day will be packed. We're squeezing in last minute appointments and frantically trying to spend time with friends and say proper good byes, not to mention flying to Arizona this Friday for a weekend wedding. To make life even more hectic, J is working on base this week and will attempt to make a quick trip to the ranch next Monday for a day or two. We'll see how that works out.

Today, I had my first taste of what it will be like to work remotely. I stayed home to meet a representative from the relocation company that will be packing and moving our apartment for us. Yes, packing. I've hired movers once before--when I left NYC for the second time after suddenly deciding that I should move to DC and look for a job in politics--but I've never had anyone box my things for me. I hate packing, so I'm thrilled that J's company is paying a third party to do the heavy lifting for us. No buying boxes or wrapping glassware in newspaper. No cutting myself on the tape dispenser. No arguing with J about how the dresser is too heavy for me to help him move it down the stairs. No playing Tetris with furniture in the back of a Penske truck. I could go on. While doing the moving estimate, the representative repeatedly stipulated that J and I weren't allowed to help with boxes (legal issues). Don't have to tell me twice.

But to my original point (my mind wanders tremendously)--even though today was only Day 1 of the working from home experiment, it was the most productive workday I've had since I started at my company. I actually focused on the documents for extended periods of time with nary a thought of checking my email or Facebook, as I'm wont to do every five seconds while sitting in the office. And whenever my brain began to tire of reading merger agreements, I popped up to do a few yoga poses, unload the dishwasher, knit a few rows, or tend to any other discrete task that needed attention, before returning to my documents. It also helped that the apartment is a balmy 75 degrees, unlike my sub-zero office, and I wasn't distracted by loud conversations or antsy to beat rush hour traffic.

Most of y'all know that I've been bored/unhappy with work for the past seven months. So maybe, just maybe, this working from home thing will be the solution that will keep me at my job for awhile longer. If not, it'll be a way to transition to something new and different and hopefully better.

View from the balcony