Meditations on the Home Office
On Monday, March 16th at 8:45, after I picked up the morning joe and as I was pulling out of the Edgartown triangle to get to my real estate office my phone rang and the message from my broker was; “go home”. I wonder how many other people on Martha’s Vineyard, and around the country got the same message and what happened next?
The Old Reality Disappears
I drove home and sat at my dining room /great room/ living room table and made a list of all of the things that I would get done in the next “week or two”. Then I turned on Netflix and didn’t shower or get out of my leggings and sweater for 3 days.
Now, seven months and a beautiful and very busy Martha’s Vineyard Summer later I, like many others, made a decision to go into the next winter of the new normal better prepared for Zoom meetings and a largely virtual professional life. I had to get out of trying to work in my relaxation zone and into a real work zone, so I converted a spare bedroom into a home office.
The Search Begins
According to First Coast news, the company Profitero reports the word "desk" was the second-most searched item on Amazon during July and August behind "face masks”, and the sales of residential home office supplies doubled since the coronavirus pandemic began with people wanting to upgrade.
My upgrade began with a search on Wayfair for a desk that could be delivered to my home by an overstressed FedEx guy. When it arrived I begged him to please come inside and put it together for me, he just laughed, I think, hard to tell with the mask and it may have been at me with my messy hair and yes...leggings and sweater. I made up my mind to approach the desk construction with tremendous patience. Four days and some wine later, and after having to undo the work that I had done a few times, I had a new chrome and glass corner desk, a comfortable yet stylish office chair, and a cheery orange and grey carpet ( a palm reader in India told me that I should have orange in my life every day, that it is very auspicious ). Auspicious or not, I’ll enjoy looking at that orange carpet as we go into the darker months.
I’m not alone. According to Furniture Today, “A recent survey commissioned by the American Home Furnishings Alliance said that about 74% of American office professionals have worked at home due to stay-at-home mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it appears the trend is likely to continue”
The New Reality - We Got This
Finally, after a late winter and spring of Zooming I sprung for a new Mac PC with a 27” screen. My ipad and laptop frustrated me in the virtual new reality and my justification for the investment was a need for a larger format to work with, and that slot on my desk for a keyboard. My work as a Realtor has become a series of virtual marketing, home tours and floor plans and my work as a mover has become one of virtual surveys and quotes where the virtual devil is in the details. On the positive side my clients are much more open minded about using technology to achieve excellent results. I’m going to order an orange mousepad and see how far the auspiciousness takes me.
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