Setting up the Home Office

When the pandemic started, I did not have a home office. It was infrequent that I worked from home and when I did, I usually spread things out on the kitchen table. This meant, if we did have dinner as a family, I often had one eye on the laptop and one eye on my meal. When it became apparent that I would not be going back into an office regularly, I found an old computer cart in the garage, dusted it off and parked it in the sunroom. This was far enough from my noisy parakeet, my son’s video games and the fridge, that I thought I could professionally conduct business with minimal distractions.

As the weeks dragged on, I learned that ergonomics mattered and I bought a tall chair for sitting and an anti-fatigue mat for standing. I still needed better lighting for video calls and a decent-size monitor, or two, before I lost my eyesight, but I didn’t think the remote work life was going to be permanent for me….until my recent promotion.

During the pandemic, I began to participate in leadership webinars, published my first article on LinkedIn and started a blog. Aside from the occasional social media post, creative writing was not something I was accustomed to doing. In fact, it was something that I would intentionally avoid, instead, observing and reading the opinions of others. Rather than open myself up to criticism, I stayed on the sidelines for many years. The change to remote work meant I had to change my style if I was going to be able to engage and lead my team. Writing enabled me to lead and influence my team without being physically present in their offices. In doing so, I could feel myself stepping out of my comfort zone. It was scary, but the slower pace of work, during certain times of the pandemic, made it possible. I also used this time to read leadership books and seek feedback on my performance. In the same way that I was creating an external workspace that would be effective for productive work, I was preparing my heart and mind to be effective to lead.

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Chris Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10

My heart, mind and sunroom/office are a work in progress. Both are prone to become cluttered with unfinished work and debilitating distractions. This week, however, I set up a touchstone that will help keep my focus in the right place. In honor of my promotion, my team sent me two heartfelt cards and a wonderful photo of us together at a recent holiday gathering, back when we could sit elbow-to-elbow around a table. As I look at the photo, set up in my makeshift office, I am struck by how diverse our team is, yet we all came together to share a meal and we link arms day after day to solve challenges and provide solutions to our clients. The kind sentiments and words of encouragement remind me that together we can accomplish so much.

Regardless of our different backgrounds, educations and skillsets, we are designed with a purpose. Each person has the ability to carry a burden and lighten the load for someone else. We routinely do this for our friends and family because we love them, but God commands that we love our neighbors, colleagues and clients as well. In doing so, the tasks that fill our workdays are imbued with a sense of purpose from which we can gain immense joy and satisfaction. I will continue to improve my sunroom’s function as a home office, just as I will improve my ability to listen, learn and lead others, fulfilling the purpose for which God created me.