Bye, Weekend
My fuss was always about how short weekends were. We all used to say they didn’t last because they were made in China, until we had to buy Hisense. Now, I’d do anything to have those China-made weekends back because I no longer have weekends. They’re gone!
If you work in a traffic-ridden city like Lagos and Corporate Nights aren’t your thing, you most likely spend an average of four hours commuting daily. There are even some nights when the hardworking young people who meet periodically to network and drink after work, end up tailing lights home. You never know how stressed you’d be in any week, and 8 out of 10 times, the stress is not at work; it’s on the way to work and back home. And there’s nothing you can do about it.
So, you look forward to the weekend, so fleeting that it ends before it even starts. But you love it. It’s short and sweet. As much as you can, you block out everything that happened during the week, including work. Because even if you try, the weekend is too short to accommodate work. So, you leave everything till Monday and enjoy the short sweetness called the weekend. If you ever get stuck in traffic, it’d be on your terms.
This worked perfectly until Coronavirus struck and forced us indoors, broke congregations, scattered markets, took over meeting rooms, and forced everyone online. The work from home (WFH) we begged so hard for, to escape Lagos traffic but didn’t get, is now the norm. We now attend the meetings we previously avoided because the conference room was full and we didn’t have to be there in the first place. Say hello to Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Even your old classmates who never cared a hoot about you suddenly want to see your face. 🙄
If you’ve not been added to a new work WhatsApp group or get frequent work-related messages on the app, it’s probably because your boss prefers emails. If you’re lucky like me, your employer or boss has sent you data allowance, at least once since COVID-19 became a big deal here. You no longer have an excuse not to be online 24/7. Midnight mails are to be replied and Teams meetings can hold on a Saturday or even a Sunday (don’t even try to lie that you’re in Church). You can also touch base on a public holiday.
You suddenly realise that work from home isn’t as sweet as you thought, especially when no policies are guiding its implementation. Work from home in many organizations was just a pandemic response that ended favourably. Employees are safe, but they are also working more hours and some are even more productive than they’ve ever been.
Researchers have said that this may be the new normal. If this is true, we need to build structures around how we work from home and remember that email still works (stop convening unnecessary virtual meetings). For now, things will largely remain the same, especially the weekend meetings. Change takes time; ask the ruling party.
But until we get used to WFH and the right policies are put in place, so long, my lovely weekend.
