A Break from Routine

A Break from Routine

  • By Matt Jones
  • Mar 21, 2023

It was three years ago right about now that COVID was bringing the world to its knees. In mid-March of 2020, the president put travel restrictions on all flights in and out of Europe, the NBA suspended its season, and Tom Hanks announced that he’d tested positive for the disease—all in the same night. It was officially a national emergency two days later.

I remember how surreal it felt watching the whole world shut down. Things you didn’t know could be cancelled just kept getting cancelled. The entire March Madness tournament, called off like you’d call off Friday-night plans because you made them feeling ambitious, but now that it’s time, you’d rather just stay in and watch a movie and go to bed early..

We’ve come a long way since then; I think it was well before last year’s ISC West conference that we were already talking about how good the return to normalcy felt. But one product of the pandemic era is here to stay, probably for good: work from home..

I’ve been working from home full time for a little over two years. I love not having to deal with morning or afternoon rush hour; working in pajamas until 10:30 or 11; squeezing household tasks like unloading the dishwasher or folding laundry into breaks in the workday. I’m more consistently caught up on sleep than I’ve been at any point in my life since my last summer vacation. .

But for all of its many (many!) benefits, work from home has its drawbacks. I didn’t realize how many of my adult acquaintances and relationships came from work until I didn’t see coworkers anymore. My fiancée comes home from the office more days than not with some little anecdote about something funny that one of her coworkers said. And more days than not, I’ll parry with a story about something funny the dog did that afternoon..

Trade shows—more specifically, next week’s ISC West in Las Vegas—have become a nice break from routine, a chance to get back out in the world and have face-to-face interactions with coworkers and other industry professionals. Will we talk shop? Primarily, sure. But before and after, there’s small talk—sports, news, movies, the weather, Vegas plans. There’s dinners and happy hours and afterparties to socialize and build relationships. And every once in a while, a change of scene comes along when you need it the most..

Travel safely, and we’ll see you—live and in person!—in Las Vegas.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning and Campus Security and Life Safety. He can be reached at MJones@1105media.com

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