In 1994 I started the business of www.wheatonsprague.com working out of my home in a 12′ x 13′ bedroom that had been temporarily converted into an office. There were two of us in the office (my business partner and I.) I had a computer, a land line phone, an inkjet printer and some software. No email. No internet. We didn’t have an office until after 5 or 6 weeks, at which time we were able to move. The home office wasn’t a “remote office. “It was just an office. There was no such thing as a “remote work” label back then.
In April and May of 2020, and now in December, I find myself working once again full time from a home office. This one is a basement office of about 8′ x 10′. It’s all mine. I don’t have to share it, and it’s too small to do so anyway. I have a computer, software (mostly cloud based), a copier that I don’t use (everything is electronically done) and a phone. The phone happens to be a mobile phone and is more powerful than the computer from 1994. I could work in our business’s office but it’s closed temporarily due to COVID19. Everyone in the company is working from their home office.
Isn’t it a bit ironic? I mean, I started in 1994 with a computer, a phone and a home office. Now in 2020 I am working in the same context. Of course there’s more connectivity, and the internet gives almost unlimited options in the ability to do work and communicate with staff.
Microchips, a screen, a phone, and a home office. Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.
What’s your experience?
JOHN L WHEATON BLOG 