by Luke Fensling

Trials and tribulations of working from home

We are living in a time like no other.

 

Having spent the last few months isolating at home and taking our allocated one hour of outside time per day, I wouldn’t blame you if you said it’s a bit like being in prison! However, like with every difficult situation, there has to be a silver lining. So in the lead up to Father’s Day this weekend, I thought it would be good to give those working parents (maybe fellow Dads) at home some tips on how to find that silver lining.

However let’s be honest, working from home comes with its challenges.

Challenges

WIFI wars
Working at home in a house with your wife and two children all using the WIFI at once is challenging – some might say frustrating, but, silver lining, my class think it’s hilarious when I freeze on the screen and they can just have a chat!

Competing for workspace
Everyone wants to work in the environment most conducive to their job. This is challenging when someone wants to boil the kettle, talk on the phone, take part in their Zoom sport lesson all while you are in your own Zoom meeting. The silver lining? Splurge and buy the newest noise cancelling headphones (could be a good belated Father’s Day present?)

Now to the silver lining, the positives of working from home.

Positives

Sleeping in
Even if it’s just 10 minutes more than usual, is a real positive. Without the travel time, everyone in the family can enjoy this highly underrated extravagance.

Tracksuit pants
I’ll let you in on a secret – just about everyone you Zoom with is in pyjama or tracksuit pants.  Enjoy the comfort while you can!

Supporting the local coffee shop
With the sun starting to show itself again, a quick walk to the local will clear the mind and give you that caffeine buzz.

Time
Sounds obvious, but working from home buys time – time to help with a quick maths question, time to sit and eat lunch together as a family and chat about your day, and time to focus on the things that matter.

So, as we head towards Fathers’ Day in this unique year of 2020, I’ll leave you with two final pieces of advice:

1. Get away from the screen whenever you can
Zoom fatigue is real and it’s exhausting.

2. Be kind to yourself
While working from home comes with lots of opportunities, remember, that you can’t be everything to everyone all the time.

Have a great day on Sunday and enjoy the precious one hour out of the house with a walk to the local coffee with your family.

 

 

Brought to you by Brighton Grammar School

Luke Fensling is Upper Primary Coordinator and Year 6 Teacher at Brighton Grammar School, an all-boys school in Melbourne. He recently completed a Masters of Education in student wellbeing and instructional coaching which he enjoys utilising on a daily basis in the classroom. He is also the proud dad of a daughter and a son. This article is about