It has been a long month for all of us. I have been working from home closer to two months now. I got lucky that I have a predisposed condition – I never thought I would ever utter these words in my entire life – that got me exempted from working onsite, being an essential working and all. And I can honestly say that I love it.

But having only bedroom and not enough space in the apartment to set up two stations, our dining table has been transformed to one big mess. My work laptop, my gaming laptop and extra monitor and all the extras took over one side of the dining table. Chris’ setup took over the other side. So our dining table does not exist at the moment.

Being an introvert with social anxiety, I don’t really mind not being around people. Honestly, I prefer it. I don’t like being in crowds and getting to work and being at work tend to be very exhausting at times. And unnecessary conversations is something that I don’t really like. So this working from home setup is a dream for me. But oddly enough, as introvert as I am, I find myself having very slight issues with it.

It gets too quiet. I am alone for almost throughout the day with only the dogs for company. And it is such a surprise to realize that other people’s voices ground me in some way. My anxiety gets triggered when it’s too quiet. Isn’t that crazy? I didn’t realize that hearing conversations around me, regardless if I partake in them or not, relaxes me I guess. This is normally alleviated by music. But lately, it’s been a struggle. So I have been watching live streams all throughout my shift just so I hear a different voice.

Cabin Fever. Well not necessarily. But since Chris and I have been limiting our going out – meaning going to the store for necessities, I am pretty much in the apartment 24/7. And it’s slowly driving me insane that I have been s staring at the same walls for the past month or so. I know that I can walk outside. Fuck no. I am working from home for a reason. And I am not subjecting myself to a risk that I don’t need to be dealing with. So my quick solution? Going out the balcony and staying under the sun for a few minutes and breathing in some nice fresh cool air.

I have not been able to read. I personally find that really disappointing. I personally thought that I would be able to read more since I am just home and I should be able to just pick up a book. But I was definitely wrong. The commute to work is my reading time. And that is not part of my weekdays for now. Sure I can listen to audiobooks while working but I find it hard to focus with work sometimes when I’m listening to a book. Especially since I am dealing with some really sensitive materials, I try to give it the focus that it deserves. And books tend to divide my attention. And now that school started for me, it’s been a little difficult to insert some leisure reading in my packed schedule.

I forget to eat and drink water. Yeah – not good at keeping track of time. At least when I am working onsite, I have my coworker remind me that it’s time to eat and all of that. But since I started working at home, I often find myself skipping a meals. And if do remember to eat, it’s the not-Roma-proof variety. And I have been been having so many issues about this. My allergies are all over the place right now. The moment that I started working from home, my discipline about food went out the window and I am suffering from it.

Well I still have a month of working from home. And I still have how many days to keep my sanity at home. And I am just taking it one day at a time. One movie at a time? One Episode at a time? One stream at a time? Yeah – we shall see how this little self discipline project pans out.