Life during the Lockdown

It’s the 2nd day of the 21 day lockdown and many who suddenly find they have to work from home are wondering how on earth they are going to manage. What will it be like? Will I be able to be productive? How do I keep myself motivated & engaged for 21 days?

Here are some pointers as to what you can expect & what you can do:

1.    Get the basics right: How good is your home WiFi? Does your company expect you to be connected to the virtual VPN? How do I do that? Make sure you understand what kind of connectivity is needed and ensure you have it. If you need to be on a virtual VPN, make sure you understand how to connect to it or get someone to help you do it. For this is your lifeline and if it isn’t up-to-speed (pun intended!), you’re dead. Most of the meetings will be on video on Google Hangouts, Zoom or other platforms, and a poor connection will show you in a bad light.

2.    Where am I going to work from? Choose your home office spot carefully, keeping in mind not having distractions, noise or interference. This is especially important if you have small children at home (Yes, we’ve all seen that BBC interview with an expert when his child runs into the room behind him!). Remember also that this is where you will take those video calls, so your background has to be either neutral or pleasant to look at. There are tools to blank it out altogether but it's safe to be aware of the backdrop to your presence on video during a virtual meeting.

In addition to this, think of the locations in your home where you can shift to when you are not interacting with others- the living room sofa (if there are no kids at home), the balcony during the day or elsewhere. Remaining in the same place the entire day can be mind-numbing, boring and demotivating, so take this seriously and move your base as much as possible.

3.    Ensure you get adequate physical activity: When we go to the office, we usually get a lot of physical activity just getting there and back: walking, driving, riding, climbing stairs, walking between different points of access, etc. We also put in a lot of activity at the office without realizing it: walking around when on the phone, walking to the washrooms and back, going to the pantry for coffee and back, walking across to consult with colleagues or going to meeting rooms-there is a lot of activity which we don’t register. All of that does not happen when you’re at home. So it is vitally important for you to compensate with enough physical activity to keep you feeling good & on top of it.

What can you do? Start the day with exercise: if you have a treadmill or exercycle at home (which you have but don’t use), now is the time to use it! If you don’t, walk up & down the stairs of your building multiple times to get a good aerobic workout. Don’t worry, no one else will be using them! Do stretches to ensure you don’t become stiff from all that sitting. If you have exercise equipment like weights, stretch bands, the Bullworker, etc., use them. If you don’t, full bottles of water are a useful duplicate.

Sitting for long hours is not what we were designed for, so take exercise breaks during the day. This is a lot better than having multiple cups of coffee that will leave you feeling wired but sick at the end of the day. Take mid-morning, mid-afternoon breaks-go for a walk around the compound (again, there won’t be anybody else around! If there are, stay away from them). Or do calisthenics at home. Walk around, chat with your spouse, check-in on the kids, talk to your father & mother- move around.

I exercise once a day with additional bursts of activity in between. Result: I’m not only managing well but have lost a kilo and a half in a week!

4.    Don’t be a burden: Work From Home doesn’t give you the right to be a burden on the rest of the family. Instead, use the opportunity to be a delight. Work out a schedule to share the household work with your spouse (after all, there are no maids & cooks coming). Some of these household chores can be your activity during the day as well

What can you do? Discuss it with your spouse and decide where he or she would like your help. For example, I make the morning coffee & breakfast, wash the dishes post breakfast and again in the evening, bring in the washed clothes from the terrace, take out the wet & dry waste on designated days, etc. Once you’ve scheduled it, it becomes easy & a welcome routine from sitting nonstop all day.

5. Set yourself apart for at least a half-hour: Give yourself some quiet time every morning or evening to centre yourself. Pray, meditate or read your holy book. Think about what you've read in the context of your life. Consider all that you are thankful for. Think of all the near and dear ones you'd like to reach out to that day.

6. Schedule your day: Remember that you're working from home! So treat every day with the same discipline in terms of preparation and schedule your work to be truly productive. This includes a schedule for when you get up, what you do for your kids, for your spouse, the house, exercise, breakfast and when you sit down and start work- not just what you do when working! Similarly, when you finish working, what is your schedule -for the house, with your spouse or kids, parents or reaching out to family & friends on Skype or phone.

As far as possible, dress for work! Have a shave, or put on your makeup, dress appropriately as you would for the office, wear comfortable shoes. If you are in your jammies and a T all day without shaving, you aren't going to be very productive, trust me. By all means, dress easy as you would for the office if you don't have any external meetings. So that you're in the right frame of mind and all set to take on what the day has in store for you. Even if it's a surprise video meeting with a client or the team at an overseas location!

A schedule gives us a sense of normalcy or order that has a calming effect because we feel more secure and in control. We need this more than ever in an environment that seems to be spinning out of control! It's likely that you began the lockdown by watching too many movies late into the night or binge-watching GoT all over again. If you did that, you know it left you blank & drained the day after-not what you would have done before a working day. So exercise self-discipline and behave just as you would on a normal working day even in your after-hours activity. It will do you an enormous amount of good.

7.    Make use of the time & energy saved on commuting: Many of us spend up to 3 hours or more commuting to & from work. Now that you’re not doing that, you have 3 extra hours to do stuff which you couldn’t do earlier! Pick up a passion you left behind: Start writing again (I did!), start exercising again, painting, gardening, reading- you know what you like. Just do it (with apologies to Nike!).

Spend quality time with your children; give them the attention you've always wanted to give!. Set aside time for your spouse so that you have shared moments to remember from this crisis. Build your relationship with your in-laws or spend more time with parents if they live with you. These are the most important relationships in your life, so make use of this opportunity to develop them!

You can also use the time to upskill! Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do better? Check out the many courses on LinkedIn Learning and choose from a wide array that is available. Many of them, if not most are free! There are also many on platforms such as Coursera that are free. Do your research online, enroll for one of these and do an hour every day. Pace yourself, and you can probably do multiple short term courses in 3 weeks. You can also do paid Certification courses.

So it’s up to you. You can use this lockdown as an imposition that you have to survive. Or you can use it as an opportunity to thrive. And come out of it fitter, better, with better relationships with your loved ones, and more productive than ever before. Seize every day!