If you haven't heard, Dallas-Fort Worth is having a weather condition. It's Winter Storm Quantum, and the signs are everywhere: Streets are quiet, there's no line at Pecan Lodge, supermarket shelves were stripped bare on Sunday night and #thundersleet is trending on Twitter.
To the dismay of parents everywhere, school districts are shut down, and many flights out of DFW Airport and Dallas Love Field have been canceled. Sleet is sleeting, and the Weather Channel predicts that it won't end until Monday night.
If you're not employed at Starbucks or some other emergency occupation, then you're probably right where we are: "working at home." We don't mean to be know-it-alls, but we're old hands at this working-at-home thing. We've weathered the pitfalls and know exactly what it takes to stay focused and use our time most wisely.
Here are our five tips on how to work from home during a weather emergency:
Really work from home
Okay, we're starting off with a buzzkill, but the sad fact is that an ice day isn't the work inhibitor it used to be. If you have an office job, odds are that you can do 90 percent of what you do in an office from your home. The difficulty lies in, you know, actually doing it at home when you have all these distractions and no boss around.
It might be tempting to stay in bed and work, but you'll likely get more done at the kitchen table. On the upside, you can skip the shower, rock the pajamas and listen to your music without headphones. It's not as great as not-working, but at least you can work knowing that your lunch won't get jacked by Susan in accounting.
Build something important
Despite your good intentions, you can feel your concentration begin to flag. In an office, that might mean taking a few laps to break your coworkers' concentration or reading company memos in the breakroom. At home, you can get more creative.
We're talking pillow forts. It's a "constructive" break. Not only do they make you feel young again, but they also offer insulation from the cold. And if you build one structurally sound enough, it can be your new office. Tack a picture of a beach inside, say three “Jimmy Buffetts” and relax.
Build a cocktail
We're not going to advocate that you work while drunk, but what's the harm in a little something-something to keep you warm while you fill out spreadsheets? An Irish coffee or a hot buttered rum will hit all the right spots, and you'll be feeling downright cozy in your pillow fort. Return to the womb, slightly buzzed and blanketed. The outside world slowly fades away, and emails go unanswered.
Watch The Shining
First of all, it's a good movie. Second, all work and no play makes you a dull boy. Plus, you'll really understand what Jack Torrance is going through. Maybe hide the knives before you start, but truthfully, your kids watching Frozen for the third time today is more likely to get to you, which is why they are now considered enemies of Pillow Fortlandia. No, you let it go.
Nap
What we said earlier about not working from bed? It still stands. But there's nothing wrong with napping from bed. In fact, it's pretty much required when it's dark and cold outside. Import your mattress into Pillow Fortlandia. Take a hard isolationist stance against outsiders. You live here now. The Pillow Fortlandia shogunate has always been at war with February.
Winter storm "Quantum" coming through town.
Sahm started playing steel guitar at age 6, followed by the fiddle and mandolin at age 8.Courtesy of Arts+Labor
A still from the documentary Sir Doug and the Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove.Courtesy of Arts+Labor