The year 2020 began like any other year, with new hopes and resolutions. Everything seemed normal at first, but it was only the calm before the storm. Self-isolation was imposed everywhere when in January, one virus brought the entire world to its knees. All of a sudden, schools, colleges, and offices worldwide were shut down. Unprecedented challenges were staring in our faces. One of them was to work from home.
I was never comfortable with the idea of working from home. For me, home was a space to unwind, relax, read a book, and write a journal. But now, the lines were blurred between home and office and I had no idea how to work and not work at the same time. It wasn’t until a few days into self-quarantine when I began to understand where I was going wrong. To my surprise, it was self-quarantine itself that taught me the art of working from home that was a problem to begin with.
Keep your mind relaxed
It is easier to work from the office where everyone is focused on working towards one common goal. But when you are surrounded by young children and family members, being productive becomes wishful thinking. When you have a joint family, you are never self-quarantined. Helping them with chores would drain my energy, leaving me with little or no time to finish any of my work. It was then I learned the importance of unwinding; taking a stroll in a breezy evening, letting your stress leave your body. It’s true, a tired mind cannot help you win any race.
Planning is everything
Under self-quarantine work can turn overwhelming with never-ending conference calls and discussions. I was asking myself whether I will be able to meet deadlines or set my priorities right? These questions were running through my mind throughout the day. Time management became a challenge. There were cracks in my planning through which many small tasks were slipping through. It was the day when I learned, without planning you can’t achieve anything.
To relax, I began to spend more time in my garden. Nature has its way to heal your wounds and make you calm.
Self-quarantine taught the importance of keeping the mind relaxed, effective planning, gaining perspective, finding a dedicated workspace, and the need for efficient communication while working from home.
Unwinding and taking breaks were essential to combat the challenges of being productive while surrounded by family members, ensuring a tired mind didn’t hinder productivity.
The need for efficient communication, ensuring proper follow-up messages after sending emails to avoid any miscommunication or missed information.
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