Lauren Long (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
Arianna Huffington said, “I find that I am much more creative when I’ve actually taken care of myself.”
I agree with Arianna, the creative juices flow much more freely when we’ve set aside time for self-care, and the same can be said for productivity. I find I am more productive when I have exercised, had a good night’s sleep and fuelled my body for the day.
But what happens when people have jobs or careers that don’t allow them to practice self-care as much as they would like, or not at all? When what they do for a living impacts the elements that sustain our quality of life?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but it’s been my experience that when you have a job affecting all of the above, you have a very neutral outlook on life. Add a toxic workplace environment to the mix and you’re left feeling stuck and wondering if you’re ever going to get out.
This was me six years ago. Before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, I worked at a sports bar as a server. When I transferred there from a downtown bistro, the bar was a great place to work. I got along with my coworkers and enjoyed working with them, and would regularly stay after my shift ended to hang out with everybody.
When we had a huge staff turnover, that stopped being the case. I went from looking forward to going to work to dreading it, and it was quite common for me to come home moody and grouchy from having to deal with obnoxious, entitled customers and picking up the slack of coworkers who wouldn’t or didn’t pull their weight.
Because I worked nights, my sleeping and eating patterns were all over the place, and if I came home later than I was supposed to, I had a hard time getting up and exercising the next day because I was so tired.
When the pandemic hit and I got laid off, it was a blessing. I’d been looking for a way out of that job for a while, and while I’m grateful for the work experience and confidence it gave me, it was never my intention to work in the food service industry long-term. I have my English degree, and I was working as a server while I figured out what I wanted to do with it.
During the dark year of 2020, I worked on myself personally and professionally. Once I wasn’t working nights, I was able to get my sleeping and eating habits back on track and establish a regular exercise routine. I canceled my gym membership because I was adhering to the stay-at-home rule out of courtesy to my parents and myself, and I found that it was easier to work out and be consistent at home because we had everything I needed.
On the professional side of things, I added more bricks to the foundation of my English degree by taking writing courses, which supplemented my resume and later helped me land my first remote writing job.
Working from home gave me my life back because I didn’t have to relocate for work, and the hours I worked were of my own choosing. It did take me some time to adjust to working remotely, however. My first writing job I did I was working 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week, and my exercise routine that I’d worked to establish was forsaken briefly. One of my writers would send me work after my working hours were over. Once I contacted those in charge and explained the issue to them, they removed that writer from my roster and I had an easier time of it afterwards.
Just like how I had to stand up for myself and set boundaries at my previous workplaces, I had to do that, and continue to do so, with remote work.
Remote work gave me my life back, and in a way, I’ll always be grateful to the year 2020 for giving me the reason I needed to leave the job that was sucking the life out of me.
Working remotely has taught me to be adaptable and to not be afraid to explore new employment directions and career ventures. Jobs in the writing industry are becoming more affiliated with artificial intelligence, and I am strongly against using that in a job and in the classroom.
I’ve also been rejected or outright ghosted by numerous remote writing jobs, so in June I took action and signed up for an eight-week training course on how to build and run my own virtual assistant business. With the skills acquired from the course and the support of the people who run it, I feel more hope for the first time in a long time where employment is concerned. I have a strong feeling that I was meant to take this course and follow this path of running my own business all along.
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Born and raised in Quesnel, BC, Lauren Long is a strong advocate for mental health and well-being, a voice for the pole community, a major Swiftie and a role model for positive body image. When she’s not writing, you can find her on the pole, on the training mats, or curled up with a good book or fanfiction.
