Here are the 10 slightly different “deadly sins” that you will surely know from your Corona home office in recent weeks. But honestly and among us: who cares?
Deadly sins in the Corona home office? – It doesn’t exist!
I want to straighten something out today. Because what we have been taught about “professional” work in our home office in the past few weeks does not only bypass the current exceptional situation in the Corona crisis in many cases, but is above all the old lyre of business is business – and private life is taboo in the job . Or why are we seriously suggested that it is a “deadly sin” and can cost us the job if curious children come into the room and crash the video conference with the boss?
Honestly, does everything in the home office really have to be super professional and perfect during these weeks? Best studio light – ideally white with 5,000 K. Clip-on microphone with digital radio link. The latest webcam with full HD and 60 frames / second. Sitting perfectly in front of you against a green fabric background to virtually conjure up the hip office loft from the small desk in the storage room.
Yes, I am exaggerating a bit, but I find the insanity and even negligence of putting employees in their home office, forced to do what they have to do or not do, so that they function professionally and the best even in the crisis Doing a job all the time. Deadly sins, embarrassments and no-gos always click well in the media, but I believe that they have no business in this (corona pendemic) time when life and death are really at stake.
I am aware that this text can possibly be a bit disturbing for you – depending on the current constitution and personal stress level. But especially in difficult times, I think that such impulses are important in order to question and change thinking and behavioral patterns in everyday life where they are a major burden for us.
And like other posts here on the blog, this text also contains ( attention! ) Portions of irony . So in the following 10 situations I couldn’t help but gently get to the bottom of the truth of real life in my home office. With my perspective on the many supposed “deadly sins” lurking in the home office – enriched with some personal experiences. I hope you enjoy reading it, because we are already having a hard time.
10 “deadly sins” from real (home office) life
1. The children come into the room
Incredible, how could that happen? Didn’t you follow the Corona home office tip to lock your door to the home office firmly and to lock yourself well when you are in the video call? Or did the 2-year-old read your extra large sign with “Please do not disturb” in red on the door? Oh man, curious children at home in a serious business call are inexcusably embarrassing. What should your boss and colleagues or customers think when they see that you have children? – And who also want to move around freely at home. But really, unreasonably something! 😉
2. The dog wants to go for a walk
Who could have guessed that the agile “ stand-up ” in the morning now takes three hours on Skype for Business? In the beginning you could skilfully drown out the scratching of the paws on the door by speaking louder, but the barking as an urgent call for the next tree is now unmistakable for all participants. How stupid that your colleagues now know about your Wauzi and you should bring him to the office after the crisis. After all, it has been proven what positive effect office dogs have on the working atmosphere.
3. The canary sings arias
You have already thrown a dark cloth over the cage, but even from the far corner between the washing machine and the hammered toilet paper in the storage room, the glaring whine penetrates through three doors to you. Who should be able to concentrate properly with this noise? I tell you: your bird and its arias will be to blame if you really screw up the presentation next week.
4. Next door the program runs with the mouse
You are just breathing deeply when your birdie finally takes a break, but then the sound echoes muffled through the wall from the living room: ” Yes Shaun the sheep, yes Shaun the sheep, ” – and the catchy tune for the next two Hours nested firmly in your head. Who thought it up that the WDR would expand its educational program in the time of closed schools and that mouse and elephant would now present us their laughing and factual stories every day? Yes, of course, you just don’t feel like laughing.
5. The neighbor mows the lawn
You put on the important telco for the annual meeting with your best A customer in the afternoon because it was always the quietest at home in the past few days. But you made the plan without your neighbor. Because just in time for your appointment, deafening noise and a minute later the exhaust gas from the petrol lawn mower will spread in your study. You close the window, but who could have guessed before the outbreak of the Corona crisis that double glazing in the home office is pure recklessness?
6. Ah, the washing machine is ready
Washer, dryer, dishwasher – it is like this: No other household appliances signal us so forcefully that we have to take care of them immediately. ” Pieeep, pieeep, piiiieeeeep! Come on, clear me out! “Call us dutifully programmed every 20 seconds. Well, too stupid, if you now carelessly enjoy the freedom in the home office to wash a load in between and have not calculated that you are in the middle of the zoom workshop with 20 participants at 60 degrees 1 hour 48 minutes later. Pro tip: just ignore it. It calms down again.
7. The Thermomix chops to level 10
All proud owners of a TM 4/5/6 know this: fitness salad in 5 seconds, grinding hazelnuts or crushing frozen berries for ice – level 10 can not only do magic, it can also numb your ears. It is inconceivable that you will be on the phone for business, facetiming or even a clear idea in your home office. After all, the finished sound sounds more inviting than washing machine etc. Do not only coordinate the working and meal times in the family, but also plan the dishes so that you can do without level 10 in the preparation. You can do it, right?
8. The delivery service rings stormily
“ Delivery today between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.“Was in the email of the order confirmation. So you quickly put the planned meeting from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. – it’s safe to be sure. But you all know that: You hardly dare to go to the bathroom for a minute – and who was still not there until 3 p.m.? And just at that moment, when all sound and video problems in the call are resolved at 3.40 p.m. – the doorbell rings. And as if there would be no tomorrow, because after all you might have missed the bell – or no longer expect the delivery. If you are lucky, it is only the package you have been looking for over 14 days via Amazon Prime, it is a bit stupid with the beverage delivery service, which takes 10 minutes for the ordered 15 boxes plus empties to the 5th floor of the old building without an elevator needs – everything is contactless. My very best expert tip:
9. Ping! SMS from the kitchen
At the weekend, you watched four tutorials to understand how you can share your desktop with your colleagues in the next video conference and thus also present the presentation slides. During your research, you even came across the Corona home office tip on the web, tidying up the desktop properly – like your desk in the office. And so you are in the middle of the conference with 10 colleagues and your boss, proudly presenting your slides – that’s what makes it “ping”. At the top right, the window flies with “ Rabbit, hurry up, food is about to be ready!“In and this is the moment when you wish the floor below you to open. I promise you, this will not only be a topic of conversation for your 25th anniversary, but you now understandably have a good reason for everyone to end this meeting on time.
10. Mom and Dad call the landline
You have probably already learned in the past few weeks that you set your phone to silent during a video conference. But honestly, who expects the landline phone to ring next to the desk? Usually only mom and dad call here – and certainly not in the middle of the day. No washing machine, the children tied up at the dining table in front of the Playstation, the Thermomix has been rummaging for 2 hours on the last update, Bello sleeps after the big walk around the lawn, the lawn is mowed and you really thought of everything. You thought. But the next “disruption” lurks in the home office faster than you think 🙂
This corona home office is an exceptional situation
I’m sure you know some of these situations from your life in the home office and I’m happy if I made you smile a little today.
I think it is important that we keep on being aware that this (corona virus pendemic) situation is an exceptional situation . A world full of insecurity like many of us have never experienced in your life. And now it should really be important – as a “deadly sin” it is even vital for survival! – that no children burst into the video, the desktop is tidied up in the PC, we peel into our usual business outfit in the home office and you take the posters of Zac Efron off the wall in the shared children’s and study room, because all this in professional business Call is embarrassing and dubious? – I ask you!
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a bit perfectionist. But at the moment I don’t care if the technology is stuck and it takes us 5 minutes to get it going. I don’t care if the landline phone rings during a Skype coaching conversation and I tell my parents that I will call them back later. I don’t even care if this blog post with 1,847 words contains a tiny spelling mistake more than usual. Who cares? – And what can I say … I’m really good with it.
Who cares? – Because we can allow ourselves now
The world out there is currently full of bans because of corona pendemic. It is all the more important to me that we now allow ourselves even more consciously on a small scale what is good for us and our private environment at this moment. Who cares if you sit in front of the camera in a video call with your colleagues in a T-shirt? Who cares if the washing machine calls in the background? Who cares if the picture or sound is not of studio quality – as long as you get on well? Who cares if you don’t have 8 hours of non-stop work in your home office now? And if it does bother someone, then you can trust that he or she will tell you.
Perhaps more awareness of ” Who cares ” can also lead you to more serenity in the next few days and at the same time more focus on what is really important. Not “deadly sins” and “no-gos” should determine our (working) life with fear, but “yes, I may…” now offers the chance to become a permit for more healthy self-care and conscious assumption of personal responsibility during this corona virus pendemic. Of course, this continues to take into account all currently applicable hygiene and contact requirements. Because that’s not fun!
(Cover picture: 123rf.com, 84270234, Andriy Popov)
I am happy if you share this contribution in your networks.
