There’s an abundance of military service recognition blanketing the month of May (rightfully so, it’s Military Appreciation Month, after all), including Military Spouse Appreciation Day. Every year, the Friday before Mother’s Day, this year, May 6, is reserved to highlight the amazingly resilient and talented military spouses working hard to support their families.
It’s one of our favorite special days at Instant Teams because we completely appreciate and understand the military spouse lifestyle, including everything it takes to work from home successfully. We’re committed to connecting military spouses across the globe with meaningful remote work.
Honoring You with Humor and Humbleness
We look forward to honoring the sacrifice and commitment of our fellow work-from-home military spouses in the best way we know how—with humor and humbleness. Sometimes military life calls for laughter to keep from crying, and even though online meeting hiccups are now the norm, there’s nothing like a virtual meeting gone bad to keep us all humble.
So, here’s to you, the unofficial-official keeper of the PT gear, backpacks, dog leash, and champion of your own remote work career.
We see you.
We hear you.
We appreciate you.
Take heart, a deep breath, and laugh out loud because you’re not alone. We’re all doing the best we can. There are a million little reasons why work-from-home life is imperfect, but, somehow, it’s the perfect fit for military life.
Go ahead, don’t be afraid to admit it—how much do you relate to these WFH struggles?
Everyday WFH Distractions
Some days you’re killing it, multitasking with the best of them. And, other days, you’re taking the hours on minute by minute. But, one way or another, awesome military spouse, you just get it all done, despite very real distractions.
- Always working hard to beat the “Three-Headed Procrastination Monster”: snacks, chores, and scrolling.
- Pivoting from pesky and sometimes NSFW text autocorrects:
Sorry, I meant to say onion.
*opin
*opioin
GAH, OPINION!
- Wondering, can an Instapot, crockpot, air fryer (fill in the gadget) really make dinner in 10-minutes? Then, find yourself reading bathing suit reviews for 30-minutes.
- Tactfully telling your neighbor “no, you can’t babysit, you work from home”—after they mention that they notice you “sit at home all day and have food delivered.”
- Planning the perfectly-timed Target/coffee run between client meetings to get your first sip of your favorite holiday blend. How many PSL cold brews can you drink in September?
- Knocking out 50 squats without losing your breath and chatting normally during your work call.
- Cleaning the kitchen while listening to a professional development webinar.
- Contemplating the daily shuffle: Where should I work today? Bed, coffee table, kitchen counter, patio, hiding in a closet.
- Seriously trying to break the Pavlovian response to the Slack chime notification.
The Virtual Meeting Low-Down
Gratefully, virtual meetings are here to stay, and we’ve all accepted and, most of the time, appreciate how technology levels the playing field. But, no matter who you are or how fancy your equipment is, you’ll always forget to turn off the mute button at least once.
- Ever the optimist, thinking, “Yeah, I have plenty of time to run that update before the meeting…”
- After the meeting starts, noticing your clown-like appearance on camera after you’ve amped up the makeup to counteract lousy lighting.
- Furiously changing camera angles to slim your double chin right before a customer meeting.
- Answering the daily yet, somehow baffling question, yoga or sweat pants?
- Seeing yourself as the leading actor in the “eyes-closed” “mouth-open” video screen capture circulating on LinkedIn.
- Nonchalantly explaining away the terrifying overhead helicopter/airplane/field artillery noise booming on base to a non-military colleague.
- Finding yourself distracted and envying everything in the camera shot of your teammate’s gorgeous office space. “Did you get that at HomeGoods?”
Surviving WFH Life During a TDY or Deployment
There’s basic military spouse WFH struggle, and then there’s WFH TDY and deployment struggle. It’s the same game, but you’re definitely playing at an expert level.
- No problem, I can buy a house and close alone. I’ll just mark myself AWAY at work for a couple of hours.
- Sorry dear co-workers, gotta bail; we have two practices at the same time tonight. I’ll be online after bedtime to catch up.
- Crushing last-minute Instacart goals for tomorrow’s packed lunches.
- Are they doing virtual school conferences yet?
- Sure, it’s normal not to talk to my spouse for ten days in a row.
- What weekends? They don’t matter anymore. Thedaysnowblurtogether.
We’re betting one or two of these funny scenarios sound familiar because they happen to all of us. We’re all about honoring and conquering relatable WFH challenges. So, with love and admiration in our hearts, we’re wishing you a productive, peaceful, and laughter-filled Military Spouse Appreciation Day.
If you have kids, pets, spouses, and doorbells invading your workspace every day, we understand; we do too. Instant Teams wants to help you maximize your unique skills and talents anyway. Whether you’re already working from home and want to partner with a premier military spouse company or have just started your remote work search, we want you to join our community by creating your Story today.