Microsoft is studying the switch to work from home, one aspect is not pretty

Many people are now far more familiar with their walls than they thought they would be.

The walls in their homes, that is.

Most every organization has been thrust into the future of work. What will determine failure or success in this brave new world?

Every day, they stare at them, hoping for an idea — or, perhaps a miracle — to come through those walls and return them to (a better) normal.

Working from home is something many weren’t prepared for. It was sprung upon them by circumstance.

Source: Microsoft told employees to work from home. One consequence was brutal | ZDNet

The switch to online learning this past spring was, for me, pretty exciting. It was, finally, all of the technology and skills that we have been using for years is now going to the next level. Decisions were made quicker than I had ever seen them be made. There were many pleasant surprises where teachers that had struggled with technology before stepped up to the plate and hit it out of the park.

Working from home had a dark side, outlined in the article above. It was really easy to work longer hours, causing symptoms of burnouts. Some of this was because parents and students may not be able to work until the evening, other times it was, “just one more thing, I’ll go to bed after I get this one more thing done”.

I implored with our teachers to be sure to take time out for a break, and not to burn themselves out. The Pomodoro Technique is one I use.