Brittney Previe
Remember being a kid and leaving the school day behind, only to go home with homework? Homework: a constant reminder of all the pieces of school you didn’t like. Take away recess, lunch breaks, and special classes where you could create or even make noise, only to replace it with more work to do at home.
Fast forward to current times… With COVID-19 taking over every aspect of our country, there is a new meaning to homework as an adult. I, like many of you, am working from home.
Working is quite the term in this sense. Daily, I manage two kittens destined to destroy my house (I still love them), homeschool a stir-crazy 5th grader, and try to figure out if working from home is going to continue to only involve one parent. My husband’s job has as many ups and downs as the news cycle these days – and the news changes constantly. Every day, there is a new social distancing measure. Homework, in essence, has always been about social distancing. Its core is to separate the student from classmates and teachers, allowing them to reinforce or learn new skills alone, without any social distractions. Is this how working from home is supposed to be?
Although it comes with its struggles, I’m more productive at home. The “get up and go” isn’t there for me as it is for some. Don’t get me wrong… I get a little stir-crazy sitting in my house all day, but not to the extent I expected. I’m just as busy (if not more so) than I was before the quarantine measures. Day to day, balancing a life that is ever-changing can be a struggle, but I feel accomplished and exhausted (usually in a good way) at the end of it.
Working for LongerDays allows me the opportunity to feel some normalcy amongst the general hysteria of society. I clock in and out at the same, just like I do when I’m in the physical office. The office chatter is about the same on Slack, and serving the clients doesn’t waver. Since our jobs are web-based, there’s no real difference. Just instead of sitting there, I’m sitting here with my favorite mug, a weighted blanket draped over my legs, in my home library working away.
The best part? This modern-day “homework” allows me to take care of the little one who is also home for the next month. Amidst the world of change, work remains the same, and that’s the best feeling.
