For me it was about wanting to change the scenery. We all know the transit period in Finland between the winter and spring is not the ideal for a person who likes to spend their free time outside. The weather is transiting from snowfall to rain, and this year especially the ground has been covered with ice everywhere. So, I did what I had been thinking for a while. Packed my bags, rented a cabin in the Schwartzwald Germany, and went there.
In our firm the motto “the work is where you are” really applies. When I was searching from our intranet the guidelines for remote work, I found out that from our firm’s perspective—it does not matter where you are working from as long as it is okay with the client—I asked from them, and as you can see it was okay.
My usual workday goes the same way as back at home. I wake up, eat breakfast, then drink a cup of coffee, and open the computer. The difference is that when I am looking out of the window, I am gazing at a German village in the middle of the mountains and the forest. And if the weather is sunny and warm, I move my office to the terrace and take my meetings from there.
A thing that I have noticed in the past couple of weeks working from here, is that you get things done differently. Back at home it felt like there were all these people to see and it was harder to balance private and working life. In here, it is a different story. After work, if I feel like it, I can hop on a forest trail and go for a walk or take a bike and ride it to the next town to have a dinner in a different restaurant than usual.
Don’t get me wrong—about work/private life matching—I have the freedom to organize my work as I please. But with that freedom comes a temptation to fit in everything that you want your weekdays to have.
I recommend that if you have a chance to change the scenery, you take it and go somewhere else for a while. It has relaxed me in my life, and I believe it will relax you as well.