Work from home - deadline or lifeline!

This write up is based on great inputs from two stalwarts. Raja Jamalamadaka and Vivek Singh. My sincere gratitude to both you.

As we all are home locked to combat the community spreading of COVID-19, employees are directed to work from home to keep the system running. The process is more hard to continue than to utter. Only people who are doing their professional task in such condition can realize the inner conflict they’re facing every day. Genuinely it can create a lot of physical as well as mental pressure for many of them. As the whole industry is facing a challenging phase in terms of revenue, companies will go for cost cutting to sustain in market. “One penny saved is equal to one penny earned” – will be a convincing strategy for many organizations. If forecast of analysts will come true, a huge number of people may face lay off. In such a race of existence, everyone has to perform exceptionally well to prove their employ-ability. Overworking or less working, which have very high possibility to occur can jeopardize any career. In my opinion, people engaged in WFH, should maintain their consciousness about some apparently negligible factors which may produce severe outcome. To me it’s a dangerous mode.

PHYSICAL ISSUES :

1.      For female workers who have kids may face lower back pain especially who had undergone cesarean section. Water and Vitamin D deficiency may play a major role. Besides they have some household duties, rituals and other responsibilities related to baby can lead some physical problems.

2.      Pain in elbow and forehead are on the card for almost all. As monitors in office are placed in comfortable eyesight angle, looking the screen at the time of typing or doing some keyboard works are more easy than doing it on laptop or PC at home.

3.      50% possibility of neck pain if the monitor is not in eye level. Those with previous optical or backache issues may face bigger trouble due to uneven workstations.

4.      For the same reason along with unplanned rest or body movement can result damages in muscles.

5.      As there is a minimum body movement and changed biological routine, metabolism rates will come down resulting many health issues as well as loss of mineral.

6.      Most importantly , WFH mode can face a big challenge from brain, as brain can misinterpret working days as weekend holidays as the entire atmosphere will bring such signal to receptors of our Central Nervous System.

MENTAL ISSUES :

1.      Office is way better than work space. It’s atmosphere, orientation of furniture, overall ambiance, all these make a huge impact on thought process. Where everyone is busy with own work, you can’t sit idle. Your conscious thoughts will provoke you to find some unfinished tasks to make a fresh start. You can help from other desks also which you can’t avail at home stay.

2.      You may get variety of foods while staying at home and working to win breads. But real benefit of office is not the food but the social impact of colleagues. The witty exchanges, funny interactions, jokes, leg pulling and all such things can bring a solid refreshment to your thought process. You can entertain your brain by such harmless practices. You’ll definitely miss the option of recharging your brain by so easy means while working from home.

3.      Interaction impact has a great effect on our brain. You’ll get bored of seeing same old faces time and again. Gradually you’ll lose interest in happy exchanges. But in office you can meet an average of 35 faces per working day whether during lock down it’ll come down to an average of 12. This sense of repetitive images will increase boredom and your mind will become restless more often. You can’t concentrate deeply on duties. As a result you’ll be in vulnerable situation.

4.      Withdrawal will be a big issue. While working from home you’ll find it difficult to disconnect yourself from work after working hours. It was quite easy at office. Just after completion of work or time, whenever you get out of your office you can feel a difference in external atmosphere. If it was a hectic day at office, you can take a fresh breath immediately after you step out from that building. But in WFH mode, you have no option to change your natural surroundings. This may damage your work-life balance.

5.      Focus will be a major issue. A human brain can store 4 - 40 bits of conscious information per second. All big offices are usually designed to this range so that emotional well being of all workers can be taken care of. But while working from home, you may miss the rhythm of incoming signals. It can lead to distraction as overwhelming (more than 40 bps) or disinterest ( less than 15 bps). In both the way you’re inviting risks for your performance and career.

6.      Losing focus will lead to unnecessary social media access or substance abuse like over smoking or over drinking or trying some new addictive practices. It can kill you time and energy to a significant extent. Except all these, daily house chores will be a major catalyst to impact stability and sense of balance. You may get disturbed easily and lose your concentration.

Enough of scary predictions. Let’s think something positive. Let’s plan for prevention. Global economy is facing a massive downfall. Most of the organizations are running on calculative losses. It’s already predicted that a massive recession is coming from corporate world by cutting down costs for the sake of existence. Millions may lose job. In that shuffling process every company will prefer to retain best of the workers. That’s why it’s important to upgrade your employability, skills and other expertise to keep your name in their wish list. This lock down is an acid test for each one. Be physically and mentally fit so that you can justify your professional existence. Nothing extra needed. Just follow some simple steps and perform your duty.

1.      Make a plan of each day. Don’t be restless on any particular objective. Store your energy and enthusiasm for other activities also. Don’t forget that you are at home where you can go to bed at any point of time but you can’t hold time. So, don’t misuse it. Rather invest properly to utilize the full plan.

2.      Segregate your plan into small schedules and be ruthless about it. When you’re playing with kids, play full. But when you’re on presentation, don’t compromise with any possible distractions. Focus on the time table when your energy level is high and you can focus at your best. Enrol your family into your responsibility and let them understand clearly how important your duty is. You will have double benefit. Others will be cautious about your working hours and you will get schedules without unnecessary interruption.

3.      Do not overwork. It will lead you to discomfort. Avoid being exhausted. It can disturb your health and mental peace. Never let your proactive attitude steal another day from your schedule. Your entire plan may suffer and so as you.

4.      If you’re missing the neck to neck fight in productivity, just call some colleagues and discuss about progress of projects. Exchange opinions. Ask for suggestions. You can use video meetings for that. It’ll give you the feel of being on track and the sense of missing office environment will go away. You can concentrate more. Creating such accountability partners will make you more determined towards your goals.

5.      If you have partner who is also working, just make a rhythm calendar so that you both can do your jobs as well as do some household works and give time to kids and seniors at your family also. If you prefer to work in the morning, let your partner do it in the afternoon or evening. As you don’t have the opportunity to move out from house, make every moment of living joyful. Participate in every action. You will find a happy and friendly environment in every corner of your house. It can give you immense pleasure and a feel like treasure hunt.

6.      Mark a calendar day and time for celebration also. Just like you prefer to go for a candlelight dinner with your family. Arrange that type of ambiance and involve everyone. Spend some quality time with your near and dear ones for whom you have been sacrificing all your small and tiny desires throughout the year. Try to fill the emotional gap and make the celebration a grand success so that when you’ll start the next morning, you’ll be supercharged and with fresh set of enthusiasm. Sharpen your skills. Be unbeatable. Good luck.

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