“You’re in early today” one of my colleagues commented to me this morning. “Not that early”, I told him, telling him that in the last eighteen months or so (during COVID), I’ve gotten into a fairly good routine of waking early, doing a few hours of work, and then taking a break for a morning walk, breakfast, and some of life’s pleasures.

But since I’ve been going back to the office, I’ve quickly fallen back into “bad habits”. I haven’t had a proper breakfast since I started. Breakfast has quickly fallen back into a “routine coffee”. Lunch has fallen back into the routine of grabbing something from a nearby takeaway. And “getting dressed and travelling to and from work” has taken up “too much time”, I told him.

In the last eighteen months, I’ve also been actually reading papers and websites (a fairly important part of my job), as opposed to only skimming them which I’ve started doing again.

In the time since COVID became a way of life for us, I feel I’ve gotten into a much better work/life balance. The 90 minutes or so each day that involved getting dressed/commuting etc, has been put into some more valuable things, such as having a lovely breakfast, making my own pot of coffee, and enjoying a lovely lunch. 

I have most definitely not been “under the doona”, as some of our politicians have expressed. In fact, I’ve probably worked harder, and more productively without the time that’s been “wasted” getting to and from work, including putting on an ironed shirt.

On the way to work this morning, I checked in on the nearby supermarket development. It will still be a couple of years before it’s complete.

And on the way home, I read the very confusing changes to the bus timetable for the Eastern Suburbs.

By the look of things, many of my current options to travel along Cleveland Street have been eliminated. Instead, I’m being “encouraged” to use the Light Rail. That’s all fine and good, but it does mean an increase in my commute time that will be “uncovered”.

Reading this post, it feels a little negative which I like to avoid on this blog. But it’s how I feel today. A little deflated, to be honest.