When she was instructed to work from home at the start of lockdown, Tamsyn* relished the thought of not having to wake up at the crack of dawn and sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get to her office.
Instead, her mornings were leisurely. She’d get out of bed just before 9am, make coffee, then settle down on the couch with her laptop.
But now, more than six months into lockdown, she says the novelty has worn off. In fact, Tamsyn says she’d give anything to spend a day at the office catching up with colleagues in the kitchen or talking through upcoming projects in the boardroom.
“It was really awesome in the beginning. I just felt so relaxed – and, honestly, I hoped they’d let us all work from home forever,” says Tamsyn, an operations manager based in Cape Town. “But after a few weeks I realised I felt really isolated from the team.”
Things became even more complicated when she was promoted to a more senior role three months into lockdown.
“To begin with, I’m quite new at the company – I only started in January. Although I didn’t yet know my colleagues well, I’d interacted with them for a few months and that made communicating remotely okay. But after the promotion things became quite difficult.”
Tamsyn felt herself becoming paranoid about every interaction, retyping emails over and over to change the way she phrased things because she was worried about the tone she might be conveying.
This story is from the 5 November 2020 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the 5 November 2020 edition of YOU South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
'I'M BACK!'
ACK!’ Scandal after scandal hits Jacob Zuma, yet nothing ever brings him down. Now he’s plotting his return to parliament and he’s hinted he has his heart set on another term as president
A BRAIN YOU CAN COUNT ON
Meet Aaryan Shukla, the 13-year-old from India whos just been crowned the worlds fastest human calculator
FUN WHILE IT LASTED
It's all over for oddball couple Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher
THE TEEN MACHINE!
Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo has set the footballing world alight with his dazzling displays
A BETTER LIFE FOR ELIJAH
A rare condition means this little boy can't bend his arms and legs, but his parents are doing everything they can to give him a normal life
A DOCTOR'S JOURNEY
He chose to do one of the toughest jobs in medicine: looking after children who were dying. In this moving extract from his memoir, Cape Town paediatrician Alastair McAlpine reveals how, with wisdom and humour, sick kids taught him crucial lessons that changed his approach to life
'SA WILL ALWAYS BE PART OF ME'
Cindy Nell-Roberts is starting a new lite Down Under with her family. She tells YOU about the chaotic but happy p ansliepent why shes missing home
HOW TO SPOT A NARCISSIST
They often look like the most confident person in the room, but narcissists are insecure and desperate for validation, says a new book
DEFIANT TO THE END
He went from star athlete to Hollywood hero and ended up a reviled criminal but OJ Simpson remained unapologetic
BRING IT ON TAMMY!
Peet and Mel Viljoen arent going to let threats deter them from their fabulous life