This is the fifth day of my quarantine. I should have started journaling sooner. But for the past few days, I was still in the mindset of wishing some miracles do happen, that I’ll go home today. Today is the day. This is it. Naturally, I thought that I’d better not start any routine that might not last.
Trying to work and fail yesterday
I’ve finally decided to re-read HakoMari – my favorite Japanese light novels. I lost track of the number of times I have re-read it over the years, but I know for sure that I haven’t read it this year, so this would be an interesting pastime. Of course, this is only after exhausting lying around, thinking about random things, and trying to work.
After trying to work yesterday, I came to the conclusion that the current situation isn’t optimal for work. The 4G internet connection is too low and unstable, reducing the willingness to search for information and feedback, as well as leaving no possibility for online meetings.
Without fast feedback and information, work becomes very tiring. Without meetings, you can’t interact in real-time with other people, and difficult work just cannot be done. My work as a product manager requires collaboration, so the lack of collaboration is, to say the least, discouraging.
You can say that I am complaining simply because nowadays youngsters are not able to survive without the internet, and I would concur. Although I think there’s nothing wrong with that in particular.
Another factor that prevents effective work is lightning, it’s too goddamn bright in this room that my mind often goes blank, though I suspect this is only a temporary blockage.
I guess you can even say that this quarantine time is perfect for deep work. I also thought of that, but reality showed me that merely having the time to think didn’t contribute much to deep work. One also needs adequate resources to facilitate it.
Another reason that I couldn’t work as effectively as I wanted is due to a psychological problem. Physically, I had already recovered even before they put me into the facility, so I am frustrated with the fact that a healthy young man is being kept here against his own will. Hopefully, in another 2 days, they’ll test me again and let me go home.
The government needs to be more flexible. Who locks people in a facility when they are physically okay even after an illness? I don’t want to bash the government’s genuine efforts to contain and control the pandemic, but there should be a system in place that tests and releases people regularly.
Cadence, people, cadence! Don’t the government know anything about product management at all? (Of course, they don’t). Another person who really needs to be quarantined could have been here in this room instead of me. I feel like a waste of space.
People at work seem to think I’ll be out of contact for a while
Back to work, a funny thing is that everyone seems to think that I will be out of contact for a while. Last week I told everyone that I had some family business to take care of so I did not attend any meeting for the whole week. This week I also won’t attend any meetings because the 4G is not strong enough.
The more senior members started to talk about what the team would do if they lose contact with me, which is thinking ahead too far, in my opinion. Well, not that I don’t understand their concerns. They have a company to run, so risks must be evaluated and contingencies must be made.
Plus, to those who haven’t caught Covid yet, the news they’re exposed to usually feature people dying or dangerous complications. It follows that people have an impression that Covid has a high mortality rate. I think that’s true only for the more senior citizens (not to be disrespectful), but I can see how that impression may be generalized across the population. Well, I am still here, still alive.
Next up:
Dafuq is that 
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