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December 1, 2020

Our Final Employee Pandemic Q&A

Our final Q&A is with our Manager of Marketing and Administration Kristine. Unlike the rest of our team, who are back and forth to job sites throughout a given week, Kristine has had a big shift from going to the office everyday, to working exclusively from home. After almost 15 years of the same commute, it’s been a big change!

Q Have you learned a new skill / taken up a new hobby during these times?

A: I must admit, I had lofty ambitions at first about how productive I would make all the new spare time I had, but I’ve actually been pretty lazy on the new skill or hobby front.  As a usually very busy person though, maybe being lazy could be classified as a new skill or hobby for me?  Learning to sit quietly with myself vs. always being on the go is definitely a new thing!

Q: How have you adapted during these times (generally) and/or working from home?

A: I had to go through a lot of transition until getting settled on a more permanent basis recently.  We have a pretty full house, so I did a lot of shuffling around workspace wise until taking over the spare room as my office.  In the early days it was also tough until I brought home all the materials I needed from our old office.  It was also a process to relearn doing things in a new space – I was so used to the office after almost 15 years of being there every day!  But now that I am fully set up I’ve gotten in a good groove.  We have 3 dogs at home, so I try to use their morning walk and afternoon walk as the delineating time between work and personal time, since there is no more arriving at the office or leaving the office to punctuate the workday anymore.  On a personal level, I’ve had to adapt to a much less busy personal life – the only places I go anymore are shopping, hiking or ferrying my kids around on occasion for things they need to do!

Q: What do you miss most from pre-pandemic times?

A: While I’ve adapted to a much slower life, I do miss things like having dinner with family and friends, going to concerts and shows, being able to travel.  It really strikes me how much I took for granted.  While I think it will be awhile until things like concerts and travelling will be an option, I do hope to be able to at least hug my family and friends again sooner than later!  Work wise I also miss the in-person time with my colleagues.  I was usually the first one in the office every day, so got to say hello and have a quick chat with everyone as they came in.  It was a nice way to start the day!  My office mates are now my 3 dogs, and they are not very chatty at all.  Even if they were, there isn’t anything new for us to talk about!

It’s hard to believe 2020 is coming to an end, and like everyone we are looking forward to a new year and the promise of change it brings. What are your hopes for 2021?

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