telecommuting ends soon at CMU

Beginning July 5, 2021 all CMU Libraries staff and faculty return to work in the Park Library building 5 days/week. This is part of a national change as employers figure out when, how, how often, if at all, and how many of their employees are returning to work and where. For some this is a gradual shift, for others it is rapid. 

I really enjoyed telecommuting and am sad to see it end. Telecommuting overall greatly reduced my stress levels, saved me travel time and gas, and allowed me to experience uninterrupted time for the first time in my CMU career to concentrate on publications and presentations, allowing me to be incredibly productive during COVID. I hope someday telecommuting will be allowed at CMU again.

Learning all the necessary tech to function and figuring out how to transform my classes remotely during the start of COVID-19 was initially stressful. But within days I realized that I could successfully accomplish most of my duties telecommuting and that I could transform others. Adapting forced me to learn new tech, processes, ways of thinking, teaching, communicating to transform my work, internships, and teaching. Investing in learning how to function well online and finding the time to do so was worth it.

COVID led to my first online conference. The ease of accessibility and reduced or zero conference fees allowed many who normally cannot afford the cost or time to travel physically. This made conferences more equitable and helped many who normally cannot participate. I enjoyed meeting and becoming friends with many archivists online, an opportunity that did not exist pre-COVID. Hopefully most conferences will continue to have at least some of their conference be online or recordings available afterwards online.

Sometimes you just need to be able to smell the roses during your work day.