Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Working from a home office

Pros and cons of working from a home office.

Travel time extremely low 

Is the office in the main part of your home or separate? Having a separate area is great because you can walk away from the area. There is basically no commute time to work which means that you don’t have traffic issue or such, but it is important to still prepare yourself as if you are going into some sort of office. Some people just spend their time in their office as if they are at home and run around in pyjamas and for men unshaven for days. This can result in lower productivity because of the relaxed feeling the person is achieving.

Chance of getting distracted – high

Some people don’t consider working from home working. Some friends or family don’t understand that even if you are at home during work hours, you are working. People figure your time is your time, and you can schedule anything during the day because you aren’t “working” because you don’t have an office to go to. Mondays in the IT world is a day when most don’t schedule meetings because it’s the day that issues can come up most often, basically issues that have not been seen over the weekend. In our business, we don’t normally schedule client work for Monday’s unless it is to support weekend work.

Interaction with others – low

There are no areas where co-workers meet and talk things over. The interaction with others can be extremely low and, in some cases, it can be hard to deal with because there are times when interaction is important. Depending on your job, sometimes having someone to bounce ideas off can be useful.

Distractions/interruptions can be limited

Without other workers around, there is less of a chance of distractions. The unnecessary chit-chat that happens in an office environment doesn’t happen with a home office because there are fewer, if any, co-workers.

Home and work life intermix

Without having a separate office, both work and home can interfere with each other. It is very important that sometimes you can walk away from the office part of life and enjoy the person time and vice versa. It is amazing how many times I have gone onto the computer to do some personal stuff and think of a work thing that will only take fives minutes. That five-minute job ends up being a lot more than that because I figure while I’m doing that one thing I might as well do this other thing and so on, and so on until hours have passed.

Flexibility

Having the opportunity to work when you need to but also being able to be flexible can come in handy. Not all work can be accomplished based on a structured work day, so having the ability to work when there is work and for any given length of time does help. Some days the hours are going to be longer than a normal way day, but then other days will be shorter. Another advantage is you can work when you are able and in most cases there is no one watching what time you show up, take lunch or leave.

Summary

There are both pros and cons of having a home office, and you can figure out if it works for you. I know that during Covid, a lot of people were working from a home office and some have found that they love it and others were happy to return to the office.

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Stores and restocking

 So many stores are now implying that restocking shelves is more important than customers shopping. We have been going into stores and finding it is difficult to shop because either aisles or shelves are being blocked with boxes of merchandise. I can see if it is the very end of the day and staff stay late to restock, but these are boxes that don’t even relate to the aisle they have been left in. The aisles are just being used as storage space. I do know that a lot of stores don’t pay for staff to stay after close to do the restocking of the shelves must be done during store hours. If you need to restock shelves during store hours, please try and limit the number of boxes that are out in the aisles all at once.

In some cases, the items that I want to buy are blocked with a stack of boxes, so I can’t even see the selection. I have mentioned this to some staff members and have been told that they need to get the boxes out of the back and onto the floor. I can see getting the boxes out of the back if you are going to be stocking the shelves right away, but not just getting the boxes out of the back and blocking aisles.

In one case I was in a craft store and found boxes and boxes of frames, etc., blocking the yarn and cross-stitch aisles. I was unable to find what I was looking for and told the staff and left and shopped elsewhere. The aisles in stores aren’t big enough to be used as storage as well as for customers to shop with shopping carts.

I am wondering if it’s a case of company policies being that stock cannot be in the back very long and must be on the sales floor, not thinking that stock should only be going onto the sales floor when there is room on the shelves for it.

Yes, we all understand that there are challenges especially during the busy season trying to keep the shelves stocked but during the slower times to keep customers in the stores we need to be able to find what we are looking for. If you are someone that works in a store, please remember that the customers are the ones that help pay everyone’s salaries and if we cannot find something because we can’t see it, we may go somewhere else, and not contribute to your pay.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Sitting and watching people

 Here I am sitting and watching people walk by. It is always a lot of fun to people watch and see the different outfits. I am seeing such a mix of outfits from people dressed for work to people that are clearly on vacation. It is fun to see how colourful some outfits are and how some outfits are very basic. I love just sitting and enjoying watching what is going on around me.

Sitting and seeing what is going on and how different people behave when they are out in public. It is amazing to see people sitting in a Tim Hortons and how they behave.

  • There is a couple sitting with their daughter, and I feel sorry for the daughter. Both parents are totally absorbed in their phones and ignoring the little girl. I hope that other times they spend lots of quality time with her. The little girl looks so bored and alone.
  • One couple doesn't seem to know where they want to sit. They have started off at one table and I think it was too sunny for them, so they moved to another table that wasn't quite so sunny. Now this couple has moved to a third table, and I think they are now happy as they are sitting in the shade.
  • Some people come in and take a seat, but never have anything to eat or drink. They are all just taking up a table while there are people looking for a table to enjoy the food they purchased.
  • Now the other group of people are taking up two tables which can seat 8 people, but there are only three of them.

It is always amazing to watch people walking on a sidewalk, as so many people don't think about there being two-way traffic on the sidewalk. People walk in groups across the sidewalk and don't want to give way to people walking towards them. In a lot of ways people don't think about using the rules of the road on a sidewalk, walking on the same side of the sidewalk as you drive makes it easier for everyone.

People watching can be so much fun. The time you can spend just watching what is going on around can be so enjoyable. Remember to take the time to enjoy what is going on around you. There may be things that make you laugh and other things that make you sad.