Britt Skrabanek

The Interchangeable Pros and Cons of Working From Home

I was feeling damn good about myself that evening at the restaurant. Mr. H and I escaped our shared home office and embarked on a date night. We left our business behind, put some pants on, and went out to dinner. In the restaurant bathroom, I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed a couple of—shall we say—issues.

A generous speck of chocolate was on the bottom of my chin. I legitimately worried that it was cat poo since I am now an official caretaker of my 17-year-old cat, Panda, and I discover cat “presents” on my clothes on the regular.

No, I did not do the taste test to confirm chocolate vs. cat poo. I was satisfied with the memory of scarfing down a row from a chocolate bar earlier that day, deeply caffeinated while working on content in my drafty office.

My hair was mostly presentable for a change, but my sweater was not. If you must know, it was on inside out.

My sweater felt funny throughout dinner and I couldn’t figure it out. One look in that public mirror was all it took to realize my work-from-home wardrobe malfunction. Thankfully, it wasn’t my pants. Which yes, I’ve worn my pants both inside out and backwards before as well.

Rarely looking in the mirror is just one of many occupational hazards I have experienced while working from home. Green smoothie in my teeth, cat vomit on my sock, oatmeal in my hair…been there, done that.

Since so many of you around the world have been working remotely over the past year, whether you wanted to or not, I know you feel me on the absurdities, realities, and surprises we face by working exclusively in a home environment.

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It’s Okay to Be a Multi-Dimensional Human and Not Give a Damn

What do you want to be when you grow up? This was a common question we kiddos were asked by adults who towered over us and grinned. I’m not sure if you heard it too during your childhood years, but it’s one of those weird conversations that has incredible staying power.

This pressure to lock ourselves down into one role is something we are taught from a young age. The pressure continues as we become adults. When you meet someone new, chances are, they will ask you: What do you do for a living?

It’s kind of a bizarre question to ask someone. Because we all do lots of things in our lives, don’t we?

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Hello, We are The Creative Introverts

Hello, we are The Creative Introverts. We wanted to take a moment to introduce ourselves because very often people think they know who we are, but they don’t. They think they have us all figured out, but they haven’t because we are very often misunderstood.

We are the artists who share our innermost feelings with the world. And yes, you’re right. It is damn strange that we share our innermost feelings with the world as introverts. But, we are also creatives.

Art becomes more impactful when others absorb it, interpret it, and feel it. We creative introverts have done the impossible, summoned the courage to share these innermost feelings—our art—with complete strangers.

We write, we dance, we sing, we act, we paint, we sculpt, we photograph, we film, we play, we cook, we build, we design. Although we make it look effortless, we vomit before we go on stage and cry in the dressing room after the performance.

So, why do we share our art with strangers? Wouldn’t our lives be simpler and more serene if we kept our creativity to ourselves? It would. But we feel compelled to share our art because we have something to say…and this is the best way for us to say it.

We found a way to express ourselves when no other avenue worked for us. When we try to fully express ourselves in everyday situations, we can’t quite pull it off. And so we rely on our creative outlets. In fact, they are a lifeline for all of us.

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How to Pivot Like You Mean It

I know everyone doesn’t love the show “Friends” like I do, but stay with me as I bring up a classic episode that I swear does relate to the topic I’m about to get into. Some of you are already chuckling, it’s the “pivot” couch episode.

Instead of paying to have his couch delivered by the professionals, Ross decides he will deliver the couch himself—up several flights of stairs in a Manhattan apartment building.

He convinces Rachel and Chandler to help him and they hate him every minute of carrying that 300-pound couch together. As the trio attempts to squeeze the couch through the narrow stairwell, Ross’ iconic “pivot” screaming moment happens. The couch eventually makes it to the apartment…only after being sawed in half.

You have been warned: A pivot comes in many forms and it’s best not to wing it.

Many of you reading this are bloggers and authors. Perhaps you want to change your blog focus entirely because you aren’t really passionate about the subject matter you initially chose, or you’re a fiction author who wants to transition into non-fiction because fiction isn’t as fulfilling and/or fruitful as it once was.

For others, you might be looking for ways to create or diversify revenue streams.

And yet another group has been forced to pivot because of the times we live in. Whatever you were doing before took a direct hit from COVID, your livelihood was jeopardized, and you need to figure some shit out to survive.

I’ve pivoted a time or two and I know many others who have done so successfully. Here are some things I’ve learned from myself and others about how to pivot on purpose—even if you had absolutely no intention of making a pivot at all.

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Your Attention is Your Most Precious Commodity

All of us are knee-deep in the Information Age. We must figure out how to manage and consume information that travels at the speed of light. Our attention is in high demand.

I don’t know about you, but I always thought it was time—that time was our most precious commodity. That’s almost it, but not quite.

When we are distracted, our attention wavers. Being distracted not only takes time away from us, but it also takes energy away from us. Refocusing after just one interruption can take up to 23 minutes. This fight for our attention seriously adds up.

You start to see just how precious your attention is. And you’re possibly arriving at the same conclusion as me…I need to be better about protecting my attention.

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