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1 Comment / Life / January 3, 2023 / By

Happy New Year!

I wanted to make a great big post for New Year’s but couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that 2022 was already ending. Doesn’t it feel like we just had Halloween? It feels like we just had Halloween. And then just like that, the year is gone! It’s probably for the better that I wasn’t able to get a New Year’s post written anyway. My year-end post was going to round up all the great, exciting milestones in my life that happened during 2022, but when I really think back on the year, I feel like I really just went into survival mode with everything going on between work, school, and the health scare with my Dad. There really weren’t a lot of huge moments for me in 2022, and honestly, that’s okay. We have other years for big moments.

Like the one that’s upcoming.

With the move happening in just a few weeks now, 2023 is shaping up to be something of an adventure for me. Literally, everything will be changing with this move out of state. I’ll need a new job, as I wrote about in my previous post because it doesn’t look likely that my current job can keep me remote in Kansas. I’ll also eventually be enrolling in a new college out there as well since I’m not made of money and can’t just travel back to Indy whenever I need to take an exam or an entire course in person. And all of that isn’t even taking into account that I’ll need to find a way to be social too, despite pretty much only knowing my family that lives out there. I hope my friends here in Indy and elsewhere are planning on keeping communication channels open at all times because I feel like I’m going to need them.

The move does feel like an opportunity to hit the reset button on this game called life in a lot of ways though. The house we’re currently living in needs a lot of repairs done to it and rather than spend the time and energy, it’s nice to be able to start fresh instead. The house we’ll be moving into is bigger as well, and I’ll be able to have a proper office space separate from my bedroom, which is sadly not the case here in this house. There will be new roads to learn and places to go where there’s a very slim chance you’ll run into someone you know. Unlike what the theme song to Cheers would have you believe, sometimes it’s nice to go places where everybody doesn’t know your name. And, of course, we’ll be around family we don’t ordinarily get to see that often. It’ll be nice to actually be able to do things with them and celebrate this year’s holidays and special occasions with them.

I’ll miss Indiana. I’ll always be a Hoosier at heart. I have a feeling that this place will always feel a little bit like home and there will probably be times when I’ll want to come back. Hopefully, I’ll be able to visit when those times present themselves. But I feel like it’s finally time for me to get out of this place where all I do for an entire year is simply “survive.” Instead, it’s time for me to start living and flourishing. And this is the year that I’m hopefully going to be able to do it.

Until next time…

Going Remote

2 Comments / Work / June 12, 2022 / By

I started working for my current employer in 2014. It originally started out in an office in Downtown Indianapolis. Though our offices are still there and operate Monday through Friday as normal, I was one of the many employees who transitioned to working remotely from home towards the start of the pandemic back in 2020. While I would never praise the pandemic in itself for bringing about an era of global fear and uncertainty, I must admit that some of the changes that it brought about aren’t so bad. And one of those changes is the ability to work from home.

I’ve always wanted to work from home, even before the pandemic. I’m really just a big homebody. I can generally be in my element and be the most productive version of myself when I’m in my own space. I think there’s a large contingent of the world’s workforce that feels the same way because nobody wants to go back to the office. And believe it or not, there’s plenty of reason why we don’t want to go back, too.

First and foremost in my mind is the skyrocketing cost of gas. Commuting back and forth to the physical office is completely off my radar for the time being until gas falls back to a reasonable price (if it ever even does!). Whether you agree with the current political climate or not, who can honestly say that they are okay with those prices at the pump? Secondly, I can’t imagine going back to the distressing beige or gray cubicle walls when I can be here to pet my cats anytime things start getting stressful.

There are plenty of reasons why I would think that a company would want to embrace remote working as well. Less overhead, for starters! We’re not there consuming electricity, internet, water, or coffee. Hell, if the entire office were transitioned to working remotely, you could close the physical office completely and stop spending so much on a physical location! Logistics may sound like a nightmare, but it shouldn’t be — there are successful companies that have a distributed workforce all over the world. Plus, the hiring process might get a lot easier if you considered candidates from anywhere instead of staying local.

Want to get into the nitty-gritty? It’s easier and less expensive to head to your own kitchen for lunch than trying to figure out something to eat in the office. Your own bathroom is much more comfortable than sharing one with a bunch of other people. Your own bed is even nearby in the event that you need to take a quick nap during your break. And since you aren’t really dressing for anyone but yourself, feel free to keep those pajamas on, baby! Unless you have an unexpected video call, nobody is ever going to know the difference.

I’ve preferred every moment of working from home versus working in a physical office. So I guess the reason why I’m writing about it is to pose a question to the world: If it can be done from home, why isn’t it?

Until next time…