Joe Kelly: 7 Reasons Working From Home Sucks

I've been stuck working from home the last week and I kinda HATE IT!

I know, I know. I'm lucky. Very lucky, I have a job, and have worked though the pandemic without interruption. I've also been lucky in that I get to go to work everyday.

I never knew exactly how lucky until this week.

So, last week I left the state to visit my mother. She's 79 years old and lives in Florida. She actually had the coronavirus when all this mess started and beat it. She's been alone for months, so I hopped on a plane and surprised her. I'll add I felt perfectly safe on the trip,

When I arrived back home, as per New Jersey rules -  and our company's practices, I was forced to "self-quarantine" and work from home.  (I'm not going to lie --- I'm not going into the radio station, but I'm NOT just staying home 24/7 either. Sorry, Governor!) I feel fine. Normal. No temperature and no symptoms.

So, I have a bunch of radio and computer equipment in my house, and I'm doing the morning show from home. (Kudos to us and our staff if you couldn't tell....)

The thought of doing the show from home always sounded fun. Then I did it. I'm over the "fun" part......

Here are my 7 reasons why working from home sucks:

1. The Snacks. The food working from home is the exact same food as living from home. It's not bad, it's just the same. Tuesday morning while I was on the air I had Lucky Charms for breakfast. Wednesday - some kind of store bought bagel. This morning I'm having left-over pasta salad. Again, the food ain't bad, it's just the same food. When I go into work, I'll stop at Wawa, or we'll order breakfast from a local restaurant. Sure, I could run out to Wawa... but I'm home... there's food here. Again, it's just the SAME food.

2. The Same People. Do I miss seeing  the faces of Jahna and Harry Hurley (Talk Radio Host of WPG down the hall)  in the morning? Apparently so! Look, I love my family, but they're the same people I see the hours of the day that I don't work. We run out of things to talk about when we're only talking to each other. I need some outside world people creeping into my days, otherwise I feel like I'm the token old guy on the Big Brother TV show....

3. The Noise. At work, we're a radio station. We laugh, yell, and crank the music up. I don't care how understanding a family you have, but nobody is happy when you crank up the music at 5:45am. At work I can dance, sing along, slam the door, run up and down the hall. At home, I'm kind of slumped over my little make-shift studio trying not to make too much noise and wake everyone up.

4. The Hygiene. Yeah, when I go to work I shower every day, wear clean clothes, and even shave once in a while. Working from home - why bother?  I can just hop out of the bed in my PJ's, fire up the radio equipment and lean into the microphone. No shower necessary. Frankly, I'm becoming offensive to myself.  I did start the week off by showering Monday morning before I went on the air... but, Tuesday it was just easier to not.....

5. The Car. Since I first got my driver's license, I've always liked to drive. I have a short commute, but I've always enjoyed the drive to work. It's so early, the roads are clear, and frankly, I always enjoy seeing deer almost every morning. When you work from home, there's no driving. There's walking down the stairs. More people die each day walking down the stairs than behind the wheel of a car. (I made that up....)

That's it. I'm working from home, so I'm lacking the energy to finish this... 5 sounds good. I didn't really want to do seven reasons anyway.....