Working from home and the seasons

You see more of the seasons when you’re working from home

As I sit in my home office shivering and looking out at the rain, I’m thinking that one of the many benefits of working from home is the ability to experience and enjoy the seasons much more than you do when you go out to work. In that situation you are always rushing to get somewhere, thoughts elsewhere, and the time of year and weather is a barely-noticed backdrop.

Winter means delayed trains or allowing more time in the dark mornings to scrape the windscreen, autumn is leaves on the line and remembering a brolly, summer is sticky journeys in bright sunshine (with luck). Having dashed into your place of work, all too often you’re cut off from what’s happening outside by glass, artificial light and air conditioning.

Long ago when I was a personnel officer at Boots I spent a couple of years working in an internal office with no windows, and couldn’t wait to get out at the end of the day. Sometimes what was happening outside was a surprise, like coming out of the cinema to find it’s gone dark.

Working from home means more time spent in one place – my home office – and many hours spent looking up from the computer and gazing out in thought, unconsciously absorbing the changes in the trees and fields.

I find it grounding to be more in touch with the season and nature. It reminds me that my worries are tiny by comparison and that if I’m going through a tough patch, it will in time change, just as the seasons come and go. And working by the river must surely be a subtle reminder to go with the flow!

Those of us lucky enough to have a workspace in the garden have an even closer year-round connection with nature, as garden office fan Charlie Dalton reported so lyrically in his recent post – ‘the gentle thrumming of bees is a constant soundtrack to my office day’. Typing this with cold hands I’m looking forward to the day when I can take a table and chair outside and be warmed by the sun while I read or make notes.

Do you enjoy the seasons more now you’re working from home? What’s your favourite part of the home working year?

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