I work for a fairly traditional financial services firm – and when we transitioned to a largely remote work force in March, not many thought then that we would be planning to work this way well into 2021.

From a cybersecurity perspective, I like to say we were as lucky as we were prepared.  I wasn’t preaching Cybersecurity Authenticity to our staff for the last two years specifically as part of our mass absenteeism planning.  I just thought really achieving cybersecurity awareness would require whole life behavior changes in the staff.  They would need to be cyber-secure at home, so they would be authentically secure at work.  Watching the flurry of content that was produced in the last few months to address this very topic, I felt validated.

Similarly, no one had asked me to replace our cumbersome, legacy multi-factor platform, to a modern Identity and Access Management solution with single-sign to critical platforms.  I didn’t predict needing to enroll hundreds of employees for remote access in a few days.  I just thought Momentum is the Enemy – and we should always be challenging our current approach to try and ensure we are best able to defend and support our clients and business units.

Whether this was luck or planning – I certainly wasn’t prepared for just how exhausting the last few months have been.  My calendar is jam packed every day – as there are no informal meetings and I am clearly over scheduled.  It just feels intrusive to call colleagues at home (even if I am dialing their extensions and the calendars are free) for a casual question or clarification.  No just passing someone in the hallways or at lunch, and starting a quick impromptu chat for an update or two.  It somehow feels more courteous to book their time – if you can find a sliver of free space in their calendar.

For someone who was accustomed to working in a traditional office – perhaps the most dramatic change is what I call the end of Twilight Time.  That hour or so when your work day winds down, and before you start the commute home.   Maybe you get your inbox under control or complete a task that requires some focus and quiet.  For me now, as a parent with kids at home, when the “work day” ends, it is hard not to just jump right into the work-of-the-home.  I go right into prepping dinner, walking the dog, or just trying to focus on my kids.  The shift is often stark and immediate.

Similarly, I often used weekend mornings at the coffee shop to write these blog articles.  That has not been possible, and my home office was never really intended to be physically isolated or quiet enough for the type of focus I needed to put down my thoughts.  And frankly, it just felt too indulgent to spend time on the esoterica of cyber security management.

In the end – I have to say I am lucky and fortunate.  With a partner who is front line healthcare worker and leader, with an elderly parent and in-laws – so far, my close friends and family have stayed healthy and safe.  My organization has weathered the financial impacts to this point, and our investments in defense in depth and secure remote working have held.

And now four months into the new normal – it is feeling just that – normal.

While I do want to get back into the office for camaraderie and frankly a change of scenery – it was the Twilight Time I truly missed.  So for now, I will have to block off the last hour of my work day to replicate and reclaim that space.  But maybe I should have always done this – maybe that Twilight hour was time better spent heading home anyway.  Maybe being intentional and proactive about my time, as I was about our cybersecurity, was what I should have always done.

Sometimes tragedy and disruption is was it takes to remember we are always in Twilight Time – we just don’t realize it.  We don’t know when our lives will change dramatically – and when we will be forced to prioritize and re-balance.   In a field that could demand all 24-hours of our day, we have to make time for ourselves and the people we care about.

We have to remember that Momentum is Enemy – and not just when we think about cybersecurity.