Keeping your sanity intact while WFH!

Day 72 of working from home.

I think we all can agree to the fact that this is the longest we have worked from home and it is not that easy! Especially for people like me who like to meet colleagues in person to discuss the work, tasks in hand, etc. Although, meeting platforms like zoom/teams have made these things a little easier for us, yet it's not the same.

Many studies show that meeting in person increases trust, generosity amongst people. Whether it is a formal or informal conversation the small nonverbal gestures during the in-person meetings like hand signals when someone wants to talk or head nods get lost in the virtual meetings. This is one such example and there are many. The emotions like such provide a healthy work environment which increases the efficiency of an individual and also keep the sanity intact.

But the question is how to keep sane when everything is on virtual platforms right from formal meetings to celebrations? here are the top five tips which I follow:

1. Be grateful! We daily come across so many posts and news of people losing their jobs, be grateful if you have one and if you don't be grateful for the fact that 'it is not you' its COVID. You did nothing wrong, its the companies who need to survive and firing people is their last resort.
2. Cherish non-agenda meetings for a change! Take out some time to actively participate in the employee engagement meetings organized by human resources, or any other department in your firm without seeking a formal agenda. These meetings help in light chat and strengthen the bond which gets lost in virtual formal meetings.
3. Indulge yourself in yoga or meditation! This is part of almost every article on the internet today, hence you can understand its importance. Take out a few minutes from your schedule to practice yoga or meditation for inner well being. It will help in mental happiness and stability.
4. Appreciate monotony! Our lives have been monotonous with the same routine of eat-work-sleep repeat, then why not try to appreciate the monotony in it by eating a variety of healthy food, working on work hours (it's important to differentiate between personal and professional time while WFH) and resting on time. While appreciating your usual days you will soon start enjoying it.
5. Talk to your partner! Irrespective of whom you are living with, it can be your husband, live-in partner, roommates, parents, family, etc. make sure to take out 10-15 minutes in a day to talk to them on any topic. The topic is not important talking is! One suggestion, don't discuss politics, it gets too boring and intense at the same time.

These are my pick which is helping me survive through this lockdown, I hope it will help you too!