Summary

The author reflects on personal growth and lifestyle changes experienced during the pandemic, finding unexpected benefits in staying home.

Abstract

The pandemic has unexpectedly brought about positive changes in the author's life, leading to a newfound appreciation for home life and a desire for self-employment. The author shares insights gained from this period of introspection, including the enjoyment of outdoor work like trimming shrubs, the effectiveness of working in short bursts on various tasks, and the utility of lists for maintaining focus. The article also touches on the author's dislikes, such as mowing the yard and the presence of wasps, as well as the simple pleasures of observing neighborhood activities, the satisfaction of a clean kitchen, and the importance of regular cat litter cleaning for a better-smelling home. The author emphasizes the value of being present for pets, the benefits of washing smaller loads of laundry, and the necessity of scheduling leisure reading. Ultimately, the pandemic has reinforced the author's belief in their ability to be tidy and productive within their home environment.

Opinions

The author enjoys the solitude and productivity of staying home, considering working from home as a viable long-term option.
Engaging in outdoor activities like trimming shrubs is enjoyable and beneficial for mental health, though not desired to be done frequently.
The author maintains a dislike for television and mowing the yard, the latter being a chore they would outsource if possible.
Working in short intervals on different tasks, interspersed with household chores, is a preferred and effective work style.
Lists are found to be essential tools for focus and productivity.
A decluttered space is conducive to getting more work done.
The author has a particular disdain for wasps, contrasting them with the more favorably viewed honey bees.
Regular cleaning of the cat litter box is important for maintaining a pleasant home environment.
Ideas often come to the author in the shower or while driving, reinforcing the importance of these activities for creativity.
The author's cats benefit from their increased presence at home, even when not directly interacting with them.
The author advocates for reading for pleasure and the need to actively make time for it.
The experience of staying home has proven to the author that they are capable of being both tidy and productive.

It’s Like I Don’t Even Know Me

What I’ve learned from staying home during the Pandemic.

The Pandemic has altered my life in ways that I hadn’t anticipated. While the disease itself is horrific, the effects I have seen in my personal life have been somewhat positive. I talk about that a bit here in a piece I wrote in response to a challenge. Being forced to stay home has taught me that I can actually enjoy it. I might be going off the deep end a little bit, but I enjoyed the ten days that I had to stay home from work so much that I want to work from home now. Not as using a VPN to log into the organization’s server, but as in, working for myself. There is a tendency to want to take huge leaps, and I’m all for it. But, there is also a tendency to not think about everything that comes along with that leap if you are successful. So, I’ll be contemplating it for a while.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share a few things that I have learned. Some of them will be obvious to some people, to the point of having been second nature and never even considering it, but for me they are novel ideas.

Working outside makes you feel better.

I enjoy trimming shrubs. I even enjoy loading the limbs etc. into the bed of the truck and taking them to the wood pile in the back. Now don’t get crazy; I don’t want to do this every day or every week even (though every week would be ideal for the maintenance of the yard), but I enjoy it.

I still don’t like TV. Staying at home has not changed that.

Working for small bits of time on different things is helpful. Write for thirty minutes, go put laundry in, fold the clothes. Write some more. Sit outside with the cat. Do dishes and clean kitchen. Take a learning tutorial. All in 30-minute chunks or so. You can even take naps; just don’t nap for longer than 30 minutes.

Lists are wonderful tools to keep me focused and help me get more done.

I don’t like mowing the yard. Okay, I knew this one, but it has been reinforced. While working outside has benefits, and I feel better for it, I don’t enjoy doing this particular one, and it would be one of the first things I’d outsource if I could. But I do, in fact, feel better after mowing.

A decluttered space really is more conducive to productivity.

My neighborhood is interesting. I do a lot of the work while sitting at the dining room table in front of windows, and I enjoy watching people, dogs, horses, John Deere tractors, and cars pass in front of the windows.

If you sit in a rocking chair with a cat, she will rub her face across the arms furiously. I do not know why, but this has been proven over and over by more than one cat and more than one rocking chair.

Drinking water is very fulfilling. Preferably with purchased ice, because the stuff made in home freezers tastes funny.

A clean kitchen makes me feel better.

I do not like wasps. I can live in harmony with honey bees, but wasps are aggressive and they prefer to live right by the doorways. They are evil and they must be destroyed. Plus, their tiny little waists make me feel bad about my life choices. I relate better to honey bees and their figures.

Rooms smell better if you clean the cat litter more than once in the morning and once in the evening.

The best ideas come in the shower and when driving. (I knew this already, but staying in place has really brought it home.) (So to speak.)

My cats respond well to me being around. I don’t have to be giving them attention 100% of the time; just being around make them happy.

Washing smaller loads of clothes and folding them straight out of the dryer makes an undesirable chore less undesirable.

If I don’t make time to read for pleasure, I will not read for pleasure Again, obvious, but I’ve done a lot of reading while sitting in coffee shops, which I cannot do at the moment. So, I have to carve out time at home to read, just as I would have carved out time to go to the coffee shop.

I am capable of being tidy.

I am capable of being productive.

Originally published at http://www.ratherearnestpainter.com on July 11, 2020.