Working From Home With Dao, My Korat Coworker

When the office closed for good and I started working from my Sukhumvit flat, I expected quiet. Instead I got Dao, my Korat, who is not quite two years old and has decided my keyboard is his personal warm spot. He sits on the trackpad during Monday calls, and somehow every video meeting ends with a grey-blue cat face in the corner of the screen.

I have learned to set up a proper routine. I feed him before my first meeting, play with him for ten minutes at lunch, and keep a cardboard box beside my desk so he has somewhere else to be. It is not perfect, but he sleeps more and I have stopped scolding him for sitting on my papers.

Some days I miss the commute, but I do not miss the traffic. Working at home with a cat is slower in the mornings, and somehow more peaceful in the afternoons.