Today’s Sound Off is about returning to work:

Dear Heloise: Now that Covid seems to be slowly fading, my boss has ordered everyone back to the office. I had been working from home and loved it. I was far more productive at home without all the noise and water cooler gossip.

We really don’t need a big office because we have only one secretary and the rest of us are worker bees. I want to approach my boss and explain that working from home is far more beneficial to both the company and me, but I know he’ll put up an argument. He’s something of a control freak and thinks everyone is cheating him and the company we work for by not working hard enough. I can’t speak for the rest of the company, but I know I’ve done well by working from home. Oddly enough, I can put a load of laundry in the washing machine and go back to my computer and work, listen for the buzzer, put the clothes in the dryer and go back to work. And I still get more done for my job and on the homefront.

I know I’m not alone, because I’ve met up with some of my co-workers and they feel the same way. We seem to work better, produce more and are better organized by working from home. Now with gas prices going through the roof, the cost of dry cleaning our clothes and other business expenses, it makes sense to work from home. — Homebody in Ohio

Homebody, I agree with you. If someone is more productive at home, why not let them continue working from home and come into the office maybe once a week or even once a month, depending on the business? The expense to a company of running a large office is extremely high these days, but if a manager can cut expenses by using a much smaller office and staff, which every corporations loves, he’ll look like a hero. Most companies look for ways to lower the cost of doing business while still providing excellent service to customers. Your boss might benefit from proposing this cost-cutting measure to his company. However, much will depend on your co-workers and their ability to produce a positive outcome by working from home. — Heloise

FAST FACTS

Did someone give you a journal but you don’t want to keep a record of your daily life? Here are some other uses for that journal:

— Write down favorite recipes.

— Use it to make sketches of things.

— Track the plants in your yard with name and details on what makes them thrive.

— Use on a trip to remember places and people.

— Use when shopping for furniture to remember what you liked and what store it was in.

A STITCH IN TIME

Dear Heloise: I was always running around trying to find scissors or needle and thread while I ironed clothes so that I could mend things. Finally, I tied a small bag at the back of my ironing board with all the tools I need to do a quick repair. This way I don’t forget to do those repairs. — Sharon V., Ulysses, Kansas.

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Hints from Heloise run occasionally in Lifestyles. Readers may send a hint to Heloise, P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Texas 78279-5000, fax it to 210-HELOISE, or email: Heloise@Heloise.com. Letters won’t be answered personally.