For the very first time in our lives, we have been given one of the greatest gifts of all. Extra time.
With the pandemic and spread of COVID-19, the global shift to home-based work has completely altered the way we live. Take a minute to reflect and ask yourself, how has this truly impacted my work life? For many, it’s the cut in time spent commuting to work, and for others, it’s being able to manage their time from home, that has made the difference. Now that we are blessed with the power of extra time, which should allow us plenty more freedom, many of us have now found ourselves with a healthier work-life balance to enrich our lives for good!
Many of us Londoners know the commute to work was, without a doubt, tiresome, and the hours spent standing up in a jam-packed tube carriage was an everyday nightmare. One time, the carriage doors didn’t even open and I was trapped for an hour wearing a thick fisherman’s jumper so you can imagine how sticky I got – even worse, there was no signal so I could not call anyone! It definitely was not a fun way to pass time. However, since COVID-19, that long-haul to work has become a thing of the past. In this light, I guess we could even go as far to say that, lo and behold, something positive came from the pandemic!
There is no doubt that working from home has come with its own benefits. With the newfound extra hours on our hands, we now have the opportunity to harness time itself and use it as a tool to invest in ourselves. This allows us to attain goals we simply couldn’t reach before, due to lack of time. For some, this looks like an extra hour a day investing in a new course. For others, this looks like time spent with family or mastering a new language.
For me, an extra hour and a half gained in my day gave me space to focus on my career in PR and to continue my journey mastering the guitar and piano, skills I picked up at age 7 and gradually lost when time-restraints became tighter, as they do (sadly) when we grow up. Playing the guitar and piano again has really changed the way I view life – there is always something positive to look forward to each morning, and for that, I give praise to BlackHouse Media and hybrid-working. I encourage everyone that works from home to use their time to invest in something that brings them joy, whatever it may be. There is never such a thing as too much time.
Working from home has truly empowered me to use my extra time wisely and rekindle my love for music. How has it empowered you?