Work From Home | Work For Home | The New Normal | Six Tips to Help You Stay Sane

Pressure cooker whistling, toddlers peeking on Zoom Calls…sounds familiar right?

Welcome to Work From Home (WFH) – the New Normal for most of us, who are privileged enough to work within the comfort of our homes without having to step out. It has been over 4 months that we are confined within the four corners of our homes. Yet, we are managing and pulling through! Let us admit it, most of us were not used to the life that we are leading presently, right? Yet we have been striving to adapt ourselves to this routine, and hey, it isn’t as bad as it seems.

Let me share a bit about myself. I am a Legal Professional currently employed with the Legal Department of a leading Real Estate Brand in India. I look after litigation, drafting, resolving legal issues for my Company. My nature of work involved a lot of travel, both within the periphery of the city as well as outside West Bengal. However, 90% of my work has been reduced to work from home. Not that I am complaining! In fact I feel a part of the privileged lot who has to rarely step out for office work, given the current pandemic situation. 

While many of you have beautifully adapted yourself to work from home, others are still juggling between chores at home and con calls. Let me tell you, you are doing fine! The laundry bag might be overflowing, the kids might not be adhering to their limited screen time anymore, but hey, don’t get into this guilt trip (read trap)! We are all coping ourselves and adjusting to something almost all of us have never been into before.   

ONE Set up a routine for yourself: Define your working hours. In case you cannot strictly adhere to it, at least try and fix it. Remind yourself, that work from home is not equal to being available 24*7. If your job pays you for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, it could be stretched to 10 hours a day, but definitely not beyond that. In case it does, either you are not utilising your time efficiently, or you need to share the work load. 

TWO Get Dressed : While most of us have got used to our pajamas and night suits, try and have a bath first thing in the morning and get dressed as you would show up for work. If that is not possible, try and implement it atleast twice a week. I wear a saree that I could have worn to work once in a fortnight. Gives me a feel good factor, and helps me stay on my toes. A swipe of lipstick, and a hint of kohl as well. Some perfume to go with it. Believe me, it will only take another 5 minutes to get dressed up. And this in turn has a great impact on both your speed and efficiency. It will increase the day you dress up for work at home (from my personal experience). Just try and let me know 🙂

THREE Set up a dedicated corner for WFH : While the couch and bean bag might look alluring, don’t fall for the trap! Working from home is a lot different from what it is at office. Set up a corner where you would show up everyday. Try and keep that corner a little aloof from the rest of the house so that there is minimal interference from your family/roommate. Decorate it as you would have at work. Keep a simple planter, your organiser, water bottle, tea/coffee flask, few stationary items, your sanitiser, hand cream and you are good to go! Try and select a spot close to the source of natural light. Natural light always brings in positive vibes in your workplace. Also pay special importance in selecting your chair. Try and get an ergonomic one that will be easy on your back, neck, spine else you will end up with a deformed posture that will harm your health.  

FOUR Plan your day and other household chores in advance: Work From Home will also involve Working FOR Home simultaneously. It is important to plan how to go about it in advance. I make a mental note of my next day’s breakfast before I hit the bed. That way, I wake up and I know what exactly I am looking forward to make in the kitchen. Similarly, dusting and other chores are performed in between meetings. Don’t be shy to ask for help! You are a human being, not a machine. Do not overload yourself with work, be it at home or at office. Promise only what you can deliver.

Also get into the habit of writing down all you need to do for the day. Tick off whatever you accomplish (both for household chores and office assignments). Trust me, it feels great to tick off the list at the end of the day, plus you know how productive you have been. 

FIVE Communicate: Since chai and sutta breaks have taken a backseat, it is important that you get into a call with your teammates once in a while and see how they are doing at home. May be share a joke or two. Ask about their family. Ask about the assignment of the day. Ask if they need help otherwise. With pandemic and WFH, virtual socialisation is the only thing we can look forward to!  

SIX Breathe! Last and the most important one. Take periodic breaks in between work. Walk around the terrace for 15 minutes in between Conference Calls. Talk to your family. Unwind. No texting while having lunch! And no working lunches please! Anyway WFH has brought about extended hours of working. But at the end of the day, we all need to maintain our sanity, right?

Also no amount of pep-talk or no blog post can convince you unless you believe in yourself that you are doing good. So what is the toddler is on the screen for the whole day? So what if the floor was not mopped today? So what if the sink is overflowing? You’ve missed out on a meal and just made instant noodles for yourself? It’s fine, trust me! We are all constantly evolving and adjusting ourselves to this phase. This too shall pass. 

Is there anything that I missed? Would love to hear it from you.

I hope you find this post useful and keep good health. Until then, take care!