Work habits – how has it been?

When we first started working from home, I had very definite uses for the two plus hours I saved every day by not having to commute. (Living in Los Angeles will do that!)  For about the first eight months, I divided the morning hour into half for additional writing and half for house stuff. I overhauled a shower stall in that time frame, organized closets, rearranged furniture and did a whole lot of things that I never had time for being away from home twelve hours a day.

Two years in, I’m proud to say that I kept up the writing part of that change, but the house stuff…not so much. Nowadays it’s mostly general house cleaning that fills whatever time I devote to it in the morning, and not the large-scale projects I embarked on in the beginning. But hey, at least the stories are getting written!

I didn’t want to not have a plan. I learned a long time ago that I operate best with a bit of structure and didn’t want to waste those hours that were just handed to me. The truth is that I put in more time at work – since I don’t have to drive and risk the crazy L.A. traffic, I can get on earlier with reliable frequency. I can take those early morning calls when they come (and they do come). There’s a world of difference between getting a call at 10 AM on a Saturday and rolling over to my dining room instead of having to get in my car and drive twelve miles.

As for my writing, I ramped up my game. That half hour I used to spend doing morning projects is now in a different sort of project – whatever my latest story is. So, it’s not a waste of that time, just a different focus than it was before. If I didn’t keep that in my sights, I was likely to toss myself onto the sofa and enjoy early morning streaming. Bad Claire, bad!

What about you? What did you change or not change over the last two years? Is life back to normal or is it still in pandemic mode in some form?

Have a great day!

Claire Davon