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Working from home during a pandemic

Many companies are telling employees to work from home for the next few weeks.

SAN DIEGO — Britta Henry has always had the freedom to work remotely.However, she's never been forced to work solely at home, until now.

"You kind of have that dream of working remote where you can go to a coffee shop and sit there, but now we're forced to stay in one place and not really have that interaction," said Henry.

Britta works for an ad agency. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, her company has relied on conference calls and online methods to do its jobs.

"We're not doing video chats, but we do have screen shares so that we can see what we're working on and do presentations that way," said Henry.

Britta isn't alone. Local companies, like Qualcomm, as well as others around the world, are doing the same. Even the news industry is taking part.

CBS network reporter Vladimir Duthiers is working from home after some of his co-workers tested positive for the virus.

RELATED: Tips for working from home, from someone who works from home

On Twitter, the hashtag #workfromhome is trending. Some are sharing playful gifs. Others are posting about their desk mates, aka pets.
One man wrote, "putting an alternate spin on this...it's not every day you can save a life by sitting at home watching Netflix and eating snacks!! Be a hero."

"It's just a different way of doing things you have to adapt to," said Henry.

Henry said benefits include being able to do laundry, or meal prep while you work. Having the ability to wear something a bit more casual can also be a plus, but she recommends doing the opposite, as well as taking breaks.

"It helps to put on normal clothes," said Henry. "Make sure you're focusing on things and take a lunch break. You have to set times for yourself to motivate yourself."

Many people see the "work from home" order as a good thing, suggesting more companies offer the flexibility for employees even after coronavirus fears die down.

"It will be interesting to see what it's like when this is all over," said Henry.

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