Find your Corner

Do you live alone? With a family? Of two, three, four, five?

Are you housed in a place teeming with people?

What do the spaces in your house mean to you?

Whatever your living arrangements, do you have a corner? An escape?

That photo (as it looks now) came to be as a result of the pandemic. Previously, it was just an area under the stairs with a table to study for when I had exams. But the pandemic, the global dampener, transformed it. My thought then was, what better than a comfortable place to work, seeing that lock down was going to be our new way of life.

my laptop is not chained to that desk, nor the desk to the corner!

But, as cozy and as comfortable at it looks (and it is), as much as it has brought me a great amount of satisfaction working from there, there are moments when thoughts of it bring anxiety and the sight, great discomfort which sometimes almost borders on terror! This happens when there is a pending task that I am afraid of or unwilling to confront. A pretty and pleasing corner becomes unappealing. The welcoming ambiance disappears, and it its place…a wildly fluttering heart.

An escape room should be your safe place

It took me a while, but I finally convinced myself that my laptop is not chained to the desk, nor the desk to the wall! And that, great surprise, it is okay to move around; swap one space for another. Yes, it started out being created to form some semblance of office life at home, depicting work mode to enhance productivity. Unfortunately, it can get stifling. So, if sitting in front of the TV today gets the job done, then so be it. If on the bare floor where you can feel the cool comfort of the tiles, (which I am now wont to do), then by all means. For meetings, I carry the audio speaker around if I don't have to speak. I am no longer tied to that space. And my fluttering heart has slowed significantly! If your corner is the kitchen tabletop, or outside your front door, or on your bed, or in your car, then that is your escape. And an escape room should be your safe place.

Monotony does not help - creative twists are welcome. I have a colleague who moves around the entire floor of our office with his laptop. He can be found anywhere on the floor, the reception, the Board Room, at someone else’s desk or simply standing around, working; he is not chained to a spot, least of all his desk. And we can attest to his productivity, there is no doubt about it.

Renew mental drainage by filling up spaces and vacuums.

Currently being on lock down means a great deal of self-reliance; the concept of DIY is no longer abstract. Many people are developing gifts in previously unknown areas. Hitherto hidden talents are being discovered. This [new] act of ‘self-care’ requires a great mental, not only physical, state. It is therefore important to quickly dispel strange emotions and feelings that can degenerate into depression in a twinkle of an eye. Renew mental drainage by filling up spaces and vacuums. This is imperative given that there is no predictable end – at least an end as we know it – to this whole new normal. Don't get chained to the desk. You are not restricted to one spot.

No matter the restlessness or agitation, some people do not have the option of physically leaving home, some do. Many, for different and possibly even valid reasons need the escape but no matter the situation, we all have a responsibility to our respective stakeholders – family, employers, employees, clients, friends etc. And the first of those stakeholders, whatever the scenario, is you. Can you imagine the domino effect of letting the ball drop if you are not in the right frame of mind to discharge your own quota of the responsibility? A quota that might well be indispensable to a large extent. Not to load on the pressure, but can you imagine?

There is no one-cap-fits all solution

A lot has been written on managing work from home, but the reality is usually a different story! There is no one-cap-fits all solution. Each person must navigate their own reality depending on physical location, family circumstances etc. The cap that fits is what works in each peculiar situation.

We cannot afford to get sucked into the dark spaces, we must find a corner that is lit and it doesn’t matter what part of the house, as long as it is works for you. Maintain your sanity; fight monotony.

Our (now tending towards generic) salutation 'I hope you are staying safe' should be modified to include 'and sane?'

“Monotony is the awful reward of the careful.” – A. G. Buckham

Zouzou Mused.