Get Out
When I first started my new job it was during the height of Covid. In person meetings were off the table and Zoom and Teams were the only way you had “face time” with anyone, whether clients or co-workers. I got into a groove of not going out and meeting folks much, even when things started opening back up. It was just easier to stay in my home office, get my work done, and dial into meetings online as need be (even though I rarely used my camera for these!).
This work from home habit became so normal! It was so easy to just get up and work in my PJs, start the laundry as I walked by, put the dishes from the sink into the dishwasher, or quickly run to the grocery store for something that we needed.
Coincidently, I noticed my work output and personal interactions with my family declined. I was not as sharp as I once was. I had grown more intolerant. Little things bothered me more. Even though it was great to be home when my kids got out of school and I got to see my wife more frequently (she works from home too) I ended up getting on her nerves and my kids nerves more.
So over the last couple of months I started making a focused effort to get out of the house and meet with folks in person. I now have multiple in person meetings a week, and I also stop by and work from the office sometimes, which helps me in several different ways (personally with social interaction and professionally as I can bounce ideas off of others).
I still work from home, but not exclusively! Its great to have work flexibly but since I now meet and see people in person more I have noticed a change in my overall attitude and productivity.
A Real Christian Businessman realizes we need human interaction on a regular basis. Covid stopped that for a brief period of time… but God designed us to be in community with others. Allowing the habit of working from home 100% of the time with no in person interaction to be the “norm” is not good for us in the long run.
If you have already gone back to the office and are meeting clients in person then take what I have written with a grain of salt. But if you were like me and had turned to 100% “work from home”, take a minute to revaluate it all and put some “people” back into the equation.
It’s how we were designed!
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another…” Heb 10:25a (NLT)