I think we can all agree that the last few months have been pretty crazy. Between the pandemic and a refractory dust allergy, work had temporarily suspended itself. As the dust settled and life got back to normal, it was time to pick up where I left off before the pandemic. This is when I started receiving emails from my clients asking for status updates. Even though I had moved to a remote country and avoided getting bogged down by work, I still had to respond to these unanticipated requests. This is when I decided to start this blog – to explain to people who might be in the same situation as I was how and why my job suspended me instead of writing me up.
Remote Work Has Its Perks
I moved to Thailand to escape the rat race. The idea was to get away from it all and work remotely. I figured there would be plenty of demand for my services in a country that’s practically within my reach. The only problem was, I couldn’t work. The dust had got into my respiratory system and I spent more than a week struggling for breath. It was probably the worst week of my life. I couldn’t even leave the house. Luckily, my wife was cool enough to bring up my mail and leave me some English chocolate to keep me going. When the dust finally settled, I was able to get back to work. It’s not that I wasn’t grateful for the opportunities that my clients had given me and the work I had been able to complete. It’s just that there was so much I missed about being at work in a physical office.
Healthy Communication Throughout Office Hours
I think most of us were relieved when work suspended itself. We weren’t sure how we were going to keep busy. It was strange going from a full schedule to zero activity, but it also opened up a whole new world of communication. We were suddenly able to sit down with our clients and have meaningful conversations about their businesses. This is what I love most about my job – that no matter how weird or hectic things might get, we are always able to find a way to communicate effectively.
It might seem obvious, but having a working phone isn’t always enough. We have to remember that some of our clients are older and might have trouble getting online. For those who do, it can be a challenge to stay connected. This is why I love email so much. My inbox is always overflowing with messages from my clients. It’s like being a personal assistant all over again but without the stress of having to worry about whether or not I’m going to get fired any moment.
More Free Time
Even though I wasn’t working, I was still making money. This was the part that I didn’t anticipate. I figured that with no work, I would have plenty of time to devote to other things. This is why I was so happy about receiving emails from my clients. It gave me a reason to get up and moving. I didn’t have any deadlines to meet, so I figured I might as well get out of bed and start doing something productive.
Thailand is a beautiful place, and I was lucky enough to be able to work from home. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though. When you’re working remotely, it’s really easy to lose sight of reality. It’s easy to get so absorbed in what you’re doing that you forget to check in with the world around you. It’s important to take care of your mental health, and I found that keeping busy was the best way to keep my mind off my troubles.
How Not To Let Fear Hold You Back
When I decided to leave my job, I was filled with fear. What if I got sick and couldn’t work? What if my clients found out and didn’t want to work with me anymore? These were the kinds of questions that plagued me. Luckily, I had my wife and child to keep me grounded. They helped me realize that I was making the right decision for myself and for our future. Not to mention that working remotely has its perks and I was probably able to finish projects that I had been putting off thanks to the chaos of the pandemic.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time in Thailand, it’s that you can never tell what can happen next. It’s been a wild couple of months, one that I wouldn’t want to go through again for the sake of my family. This is why I had to make the tough decision to suspend my job. I might not always like my job, but I’m grateful for the career that it has allowed me to build.