Work from ANYWHERE
My first office had no windows. Just a desk, a bookshelf, a file credenza, and a couple of chairs. I showed up most days, worked hard, and earned tenure. (2002-2009)
From that office, I went to the Dean’s office as Assistant Dean. My office in the dean’s office had one entire wall that was a window overlooking the little patio where people could eat or relax or whatever people do on campus when they aren’t in class. (2009-2016)
My next office had clerestory windows make of security glass blocks. The wall with the clerestory windows looked out into the cafe in the building. (2016-2018)
My current office has a half wall that is window, looking out onto the patio where the building’s garbage is collected to be hauled away. (2018-Present) Ok, since March 2020, my actual office has been in my home, with windows that look out onto my backyard.
In all these varied cases, it has been true that I have gotten lots of work done. Especially this year, I have been able to teach my standard teaching load, and address the rest of my workload from my “remote office.”
Back in my first office, I imagined that the square cinder block atrocity where I was seated could really be ANYWHERE. I could be on Mars, or the Moon, or the basement of the Alamo, or [literally anywhere]. In moments of “escape desire”, I would imagine myself unburdened by an office, and traveling the country instead, stopping and “jacking in” whenever I needed to attend a meeting or whatever.
My current experience working from home leads me to think that I am getting (on average) the same volume of work done as I was able to accomplish sitting in the “Official Office.” So, why do I need to go back?
One of my prior employers used to blithely assume that people were taking the day off if they weren’t at their desks. I was more willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, since they were getting back to me in a reasonable timeframe with the information I requested. It has also been proven quite conclusively that if ALL faculty members came to campus at the same time, ~20% would have no places to park…
And truly, it was just my own fear-devotion that drove me coming to campus every day. There is no policy that says I need to work every day from campus (so long as my work gets done). And I presume that most folks only came to campus when they had to.
It would not surprise me to learn that I am the last to figure this out… But teaching from the road sounds SO COOL. Anyhow, keep smiling!