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I had seventeen years of working in an office. Now I've left that environment there are things I miss. It's taken me a while to realise it . Nowadays my average day is spent on my laptop in bed. This isn't because I'm a lazy cow. I just don't have a spare room with a nice desk and work space. It also makes packing up dead easy - I literally fold my laptop up and am ready for the school run.
I have a cat to keep me company. I try and keep clear hours so I don't get the urge to work all the time. However like I said office life had its perks. Here's a couple of things I definitely miss about new my work/bed life.
No chat about Love Island
This is a big one. I tend to catch up on TV the following day as am a bit of a lightweight and can't stay up late. I now have no one to talk to about what I've watched (aside from my partner who isn't interested especially if it's rubbish TV). I have now resorted to chatting to the the cat instead. She's helpful and will try and look interested but it's not the same. It's too one-sided and so it tends to fizzle out.
No free coffee/tea/snacks/paper/printing etc.
I took for granted that I could swan into the office kitchen and refresh myself with whatever delicacies were on offer. There were always sweets or chocolates that someone had brought in. If there were no tea bags then it didn't mean that you had to use the horrible instant coffee granules because...well we never ran out of teabags. There were free lunches once a week (though these weren't great and tended to be a strange hybrid meat on a stick which we called 'meat lollies'. Don't get me started on printing. I miss that printer so bad.
No help with IT
I am in a fix at the moment as my word documents look strange and aren't in the right format. I've tried Googling. I've tried fixing it myself. I miss the IT guy from work. I miss him so much. I think I miss him more than the chat and the constant supply of teabags.
Too much time with my thoughts
I guess this is an extension of the 'no chat' thing. In the office there was always a distraction- someone coming in complaining, some argument about timings, someone going on about how trendy Peckham is these days or an edgy new restaurant where you eat food off the floor whilst pigs walk up and down your back. Whatever. Today I've had zero distraction. I spotted the local fox sitting on top of our neighbours shed. This fox is also a freelancer and is sometimes up for a bit of banter. I asked him if he'd been watching 'Love Island' this week but he blanked me. I asked if he'd ever tried a 'meat lolly' and he shrugged and walked off. I felt my thoughts spiralling into a mild panic. What if there was no work coming in ever again? What if I had to go back to working in 'Habitat' like I did in my twenties? Would they accept me or was I too old? Then I started getting a pain in my side and worried about that. I'm need distraction.
Not enough email
I know this is crazy as most people are overwhelmed with email these days but my inbox has been quiet of late. In my old job I'd get about 50+ internal emails a day. Most of them were telling me about how messy the kitchen was or how someone had nicked all the teabags but now I mainly seem to get marketing emails from Joules. Yes of course there's the odd client/work thing but it's predominately marketing guff. I miss those heady email days. I miss getting infuriated. Also I HAVE NEVER PURCHASED AN ITEM FROM JOULES AND I AM NOT KIRSTY ALLSOPP SO PLEASE LEAVE ME BE.
Bitching
My old pals at work and I would spend a good half an hour or so each day bitching. It was just the norm. There were usually 1-2 people who drove us insane and were therefore easy targets. Now I don't have that bitching thing anymore. There is one Mum that gets on my nerves but I haven't spent enough time with her to actually build up a consistent argument. She is definitely annoying but I lack in-depth material to draw on. Also none of the other Mums are interested because they have lives (I also feel bad as I don't really know her so it's actually not fair play). Who do you bitch about when you're on your own all day? The fox? Cat? Bin men seem to be another popular target but I'm perfectly happy with them and think they do a good job.
So there you go. If you're in an office and thinking - ooh God I fancy working from bed then reconsider. I guarantee you'll miss these things. Even the 'meat lollies'.
Especially those.