The article is based on a graphic she originally posted on linkedin. A month ago, my daily routine was a science. You see, there's a stereotype about creatives: that we're all the easy-going, take-life-as-you-go type. But that's not entirely true for me. Of course, I like to relax or be spontaneous, but I also need a schedule, and for a long time I had the same. My pre-quarantine schedule: 6:00 a.M. – wake up call 6:30 a.M. – meet my dad at the gym (my dad and I are workout buddies.)7:30 a.M. – shower and grab a bar for breakfast 8:30 a.M. – arrival at work 8:30 a.M.-5: 00 p.M. – put yourself through a hard day’s work filled with:meetings brainstorming sessions design review work and provide feedback socializing (
Aka discussing the best reggae music and discussing whether a female performer is an actress or an actress. You know, the important stuff.)5:00 p.M. – leave the office, relax with my family, and get ready to start all over again the next day. And then company mailing list social distancing happened. I feel like I should go ahead and say right now that I'm pro social distancing. We should do everything we can to flatten the curve, protect our most vulnerable, and prevent healthcare professionals from becoming more overwhelmed than they already are. Still, social distancing sucks. And I say that as someone who feels very lucky – lucky to have a job, let alone have a job where I can work remotely from the safety of my home. I totally understand how lucky I am, and I don't want to take that for granted. But, even with that knowledge, social distancing has honestly been very difficult. If I'm real, I miss my team. I miss my family. I miss people. I am an extreme extrovert who receives a charge from others and feels most inspired when I have people around me.
And my working day then bled to the end of my day. Nothing marked the beginning or the end of my time to be "At work" and my time to be "At home". And it affected everyone in my house. My wife felt the effects; I felt the effects. Amazingly, even our dogs seemed to struggle without their normal routine. It was then that I decided that the second week would be different, mainly because it had to be, for the sake of my family and professional life. Second week of quarantine I decided that week two wouldn't be a weird mix of home and work (more so than it already had to be because of, you know, social distancing). I realized that without a good structure, my projects wouldn't be the best, and I didn't want my