After voluntarily entering self-isolation three days ago, I’ve come to a startling discovery.

Working from home, barely seeing people, meetings over Skype and phone, very little human contact… I have been voluntarily self-isolating for the better part of three years of my life.

I’m an introvert who runs her own businesses from home, and I really thrive on working alone and not having a lot of human interaction throughout my workday.

And up until now, I’ve been exceptionally content with that arrangement, each day for the last several years.

Since the coronavirus outbreak, and Canada going into voluntary self-isolation as a country, the only real change is that my husband is now also working from home. He’s in his basement office, I’m on the top floor in my everyday office. We occasionally cross paths in the kitchen during a workday.

What I’m trying to say is that outwardly and logistically my life has not changed AT ALL since the coronavirus outbreak. Everything for me should be business as usual.

And yet, everything has changed.

I’m an anxious mess. I’m exhausted all the time, focusing on work is harder than ever before, and I feel more drained than I have in years.

That is why I am here to tell you, friends and readers who are now working from home and beating yourselves up for feeling exhausted or unproductive all the time, no, you’re not lazy.

What you’re feeling is entirely normal, and completely reasonable.

And here’s why: