What am I missing when I work from home?

Yesterday marked my first day back to work in the new year!  It was a normal work from home day for me, I set myself up with my favorite cup of tea and iTunes playing in the background and dug into budgets.

As my day progressed and no one called or video chatted me, I started to wonder how everyone elses holidays had been, how their kids liked the presents from Santa and if they all had fun at New Years Eve...

In the past we would have all sat around with our coffee's and shared stories and got caught up on each others news and would have all felt connected.  I sure wasnt feeling connected. 

So I OCS'd one of my team members and she took me (via computer) around to say hi to the other team members who were in the office yesterday, we did a quick 5 minute catch-up and I felt so much better.

I then went back to my head-down work and was SO productive.  When I started to think about it, I asked myself "What did I not do today that I would normally have done if I had been in the office?"

1. I didn't run out to grab a coffee from Tim's!  Hmmm that saved me money and productivity time.
2. I didn't spend an hour catching up with different collegues in the office. Hmmm that saved me MORE productivity time.
3. I didn't run out to buy myself something for lunch... Hmmm more money and time savings!
4. I didn't sit in traffic or fight for parking... Saved me some sanity!
5. I didn't run to my favorite shoe store.... you get the picture.

So I know I missed the social catch-up part, but that was easily accomplished in a very short period of time. And the other things, really if you look at what I gained versus what I 'lost', I think I am ahead of the game.

Just more food for thought.

ta ta

Sher