What I really want to do…

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…is just take a few months off, absolutely forget about work of any kind, and read my way through the books on my shelf that are taunting me with their “un-read-ness”.

Instead I am frustrated at feeling isolated.

I had a pleasant call, late this afternoon, with someone I sometimes work with. She is up in the Chilcotin at her cabin, but still working on some documents for the program. She’s been retired for a number of years, but I have found that people who worked for the program I work for, kinda suck at retiring. And that’s not a bad thing, because it means they are still contributing valuable skills that aren’t otherwise available in-house.

She commented how she and I are two people alike in our self-expressed introversion, and that the two of us have both expressed in emails to the other that we rather miss the office.

There is something very important missing by working from a distance. The organic nature of open and unscripted dialogue. The unplanned conversations about topics we are all working on different aspects of. When you hear others having a conversation it can spark dialogue and unexpected “aha” moments that can move projects forward in more positive manners.

But you can’t get that from a distance.

Remote working can be damaging to teams. I feel that almost every day now. I feel isolated. Not part of a team.

It’s ironic. I love being alone, am so happy to spend time with myself gardening, reading, writing, with a camera stuck up to my face. I could disappear into any of that for months and not feel alone or isolated.

But when it comes to work…isolation is another matter all together. It feels demoralizing.

And you just can’t fix that with a MS Teams call.