Today, 14th of April, marks exactly one-month anniversary of Pi Youth Association’s decision to close the main office and to enable all the employees and volunteers to work from home. Back then, this decision seemed merely as a wise precaution to take- the coronavirus had just reached Turkey and the number of infections were still relatively low. Right now, being in self-quarantine became a necessity, as the number of cases sky-rocketed to an astounding 61,000.
We truly consider ourselves to be lucky, as the work we do at Pi can be easily done from the safety of our home. We don’t have to leave our apartment and -in the process- endanger our health and the health of other people. For the networking, running social media we only need a computer and a decent WIFI- and we could do our job even from a nice, tropical beach in the Bahamas 😊 For the Conversation Clubs however, it was a tougher transition to make- we got so used to running the classes face-to-face, that it took us a while to work through the new arrangements. After a period of trying out new platforms and adjusting the format of classes, we finally managed to get a grip of it and now we are happy to announce that things are running as smoothly as never before.
To be quite honest, at the beginning I was very anxious. I wasn’t sure how long it would take me to get used to the new reality. In addition, the severity of the situation- the beginning of the outbreak in Turkey and the ever growing number of coronavirus cases in Poland- didn’t help to ease the dread I was feeling. Luckily, after the couple of days of not so subtle panic attacks I managed to pull myself together. Looking back, what helped me the most, was to stop obsessively checking the updates on the new coronavirus cases. I like to be informed what’s going on in the world and reading the news while eating breakfast is my well-established habit, but for now I decided to drop it. It was a wise decision to make and soon my mind cleared and I became much more calm.
In the meantime, I also discovered some perks of working from home. I appreciate the fact that we don’t need to spend two hours per day in the public transportation. Even though our commute to work is quite enjoyable- we usually take the ferry and admire the view of the tranquil sea and the beautiful coastline, it’s more convenient to just take a few steps into the living room where our current ‘office’ is located. It goes without saying that this arrangement allows me to sleep in and that’s always a huge plus in my book. Another advantage is the fact that now we finally have the opportunity to enjoy a warm, freshly- prepared lunch without having to eat it in a rush. Overall, the quarantine is a great time to brush up on our cooking skills and venture into new, exciting recipes that we’ve always wanted to try out. It’s also a great way to kill some of that quarantine boredom😊 As for my other ways to keep myself occupied during these trying times, be sure to tune into my next post at the end of April!