Its been 2 years that the Pandemic looks like a never ending saga. Variants are just mutating and all we get to know every time is that the next variant is even more harmful.
Initially less cases or any wave subsiding used to give me a sigh of relief or a feeling that we might go back to work leaving this monotonous journey of Work from home.
I know there was a time when we used to seek approvals for work from home and even there are organizations where they used to have limited number of work from home per month.
Let me take you on my journey of working from home; Yes its a blessing in disguise but its equally challenging or I would say a bane too. At times, I literally crave to go back to office.
I am a new mother (not so new though - 10 months old) & all I get to hear every time is that "How lucky are you , Latika" ? You don't need to go to work when you were carrying, your pregnancy was so smooth and now you can take care of your child without leaving your job. Honestly , I think little differently. Firstly , I never would have left my job even if we were not in the current situation , I would have still stepped out after 6 months of my maternity break and would have dropped my daughter in a day care without any guilt, because I had no other option.
Things I miss the most while working from home and I wish I can turn back time :
Cribbing about the Commute - I know we save on Commute for hours due to work from home - As hypocritical as this may sound, most of us used to crib about an exhausting drive to and fro from work or the traffic which we used to face , but you know what ? Its that "me time" which in hindsight not only soothes us, but also prepare us to face the entire day. Now ,The commute at home only consists of raiding the refrigerator for food, visiting the loo and then back to bed / work place.
Crave for a Routine - The previously robotic life feels like a luxury now because all I crave is a routine. I want to apologize to everyone and the universe for constantly cribbing about my monotonous routine. While I yearned for a laid-back time at home for a major part of my life, now that we have it in abundance, it’s so hard to not get frustrated. Utilizing free time only looks good on paper as its tough to pass time practically.
Another Gospel Truth - Excess of everything is Bad. There was a time , I literally used to look at my list of shows and movies to watch and crave for free time to catch up with the same. Now that social-distancing has fetched us all the time in the world, I feel least-motivated to dedicate myself to one show/movie. All I end up doing, is surf the OTTs and expand my watch-list.
Another thing that I learned Procrastination - Its the only fun when you have a lot on your plate. You’ll eventually get tired of procrastinating as well.
Meeting my colleagues - While the comfort of your bed is one thing, working in a room with no one around can get pretty dull after a point of time. It’s times like these that make me realize that those coffee break sessions, group lunches and gossip breaks were high points of my day. It’s human nature to crave attention and interaction even if you are an introvert and just prefer being the listener. If we think to it ,we end up spending more time with your office family than your real one.
I am sure most of us can't wait to meet our office friends over coffee breaks and complain about the whole 'work from home' punishment.
In the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak and work from home advisory, One thing which has not changed along with the flow of such news is that "office reopening" looks like a dream.
Initially less cases or any wave subsiding used to give me a sigh of relief or a feeling that we might go back to work leaving this monotonous journey of Work from home.
I know there was a time when we used to seek approvals for work from home and even there are organizations where they used to have limited number of work from home per month.
Working from home is one of the most liberating things to do.
Let me take you on my journey of working from home; Yes its a blessing in disguise but its equally challenging or I would say a bane too. At times, I literally crave to go back to office.
I am a new mother (not so new though - 10 months old) & all I get to hear every time is that "How lucky are you , Latika" ? You don't need to go to work when you were carrying, your pregnancy was so smooth and now you can take care of your child without leaving your job. Honestly , I think little differently. Firstly , I never would have left my job even if we were not in the current situation , I would have still stepped out after 6 months of my maternity break and would have dropped my daughter in a day care without any guilt, because I had no other option.
Things I miss the most while working from home and I wish I can turn back time :
Cribbing about the Commute - I know we save on Commute for hours due to work from home - As hypocritical as this may sound, most of us used to crib about an exhausting drive to and fro from work or the traffic which we used to face , but you know what ? Its that "me time" which in hindsight not only soothes us, but also prepare us to face the entire day. Now ,The commute at home only consists of raiding the refrigerator for food, visiting the loo and then back to bed / work place.
Crave for a Routine - The previously robotic life feels like a luxury now because all I crave is a routine. I want to apologize to everyone and the universe for constantly cribbing about my monotonous routine. While I yearned for a laid-back time at home for a major part of my life, now that we have it in abundance, it’s so hard to not get frustrated. Utilizing free time only looks good on paper as its tough to pass time practically.
Another Gospel Truth - Excess of everything is Bad. There was a time , I literally used to look at my list of shows and movies to watch and crave for free time to catch up with the same. Now that social-distancing has fetched us all the time in the world, I feel least-motivated to dedicate myself to one show/movie. All I end up doing, is surf the OTTs and expand my watch-list.
Another thing that I learned Procrastination - Its the only fun when you have a lot on your plate. You’ll eventually get tired of procrastinating as well.
Meeting my colleagues - While the comfort of your bed is one thing, working in a room with no one around can get pretty dull after a point of time. It’s times like these that make me realize that those coffee break sessions, group lunches and gossip breaks were high points of my day. It’s human nature to crave attention and interaction even if you are an introvert and just prefer being the listener. If we think to it ,we end up spending more time with your office family than your real one.
I am sure most of us can't wait to meet our office friends over coffee breaks and complain about the whole 'work from home' punishment.
The bottom line, however, remains the same. It’s not about what the internet or popular opinion suggests - whatever helps us remain sane and happy. It could be working from home or out of an office or even the Hybrid model - mental satisfaction is something that most of us are running after, at the end of the day.
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