Chuck Luce, the Chief Compliance Officer & Associate Director of Business Operations for Sensible Financial, began working remotely in mid-March. He didn’t have a home office at the time, so he carved out a space for himself in the basement of his home. To be honest, it was more like a utility room with a few less-than-elegant pipes in the background. Fortunately for Chuck and his family, the Luces have a relative on Cape Cod, so Chuck, his wife, Erin, and their two children, Charlie, 7, and Rosie, 5, moved to Falmouth for the summer. Chuck got a bigger basement office, with fewer pipes, and his family had fun at the beach.
Remote work from his summer digs afforded Chuck something else — more time with his family. They ate lunch together and walked on the beach in the morning and after work. Instead of commuting, he played with his kids. Though Chuck missed the gym and his yoga classes, he still exercised in the basement and walked on the beach. It was a peaceful, happy and efficient time. “It was so quiet during work hours, I was really able to concentrate,” says Chuck.
The quarantine did affect the family, of course. Erin had planned do some job-hunting in the spring and return to work in the fall. Since, according to Chuck, Erin handled 90% of their children’s home-schooling, she had to put her return to work on hold. That will continue at least part of the time for this school year as well.
Despite the challenges, Chuck made a smooth transition to remote work. Sensible migrated their server to the cloud a few years ago, so working virtually was the same as working in the office. Chuck says, “When I realized the quarantine would be long-term, I went into the office and got my company laptop and monitor from my desk. My remote set-up is nearly identical to the one in our Waltham office.” It might even be better. Chuck’s wife is an interior designer who used feng shui to organize his new home office.
Now that summer is over and the kids are in school part-time, the Luces moved back to their home, where they turned the guest room into a classroom/gym combo. Chuck is back in the basement where he added a backdrop to give the room a more comfortable and professional feel.
When asked if he’ll go back in when Sensible reopens its physical offices, Chuck says, “I’d like to go back to the office part of the time. Remote work has been great for my entire family. It’ll be nice to integrate remote work into my future schedule, as well.”
- Does he have a dedicated office? Yes
- Does he listen to music while he works? No
- What’s on his desk? Pictures of his wife and kids and pieces of kid-created art.
- Does he like remote work? Yes!