Day 10 of Being at Home
Having worked for 26 years in Delhi NCR, without wasting a single work day due to artificial factors WFH (work from home) is alien to me. In Delhi, we worked even when Ganesha Drank Milk from straw, Monkeyman terrorized poor kids, Jaats had their share of agitation or Kawads besieged the city every year. One always fancied the WFH option. Surprisingly, unlike other cities, Delhi NCR never shuts down, my favourite example of Bombay, which shuts on Ganesh Chaturthi, Ganpati Visarjan on 3rd Day, Ganpati Visarjan on 5th Day, and Final Ganpati Visarjan Day, All Rainy Days, Flooding Days, Days when trains stop working or when there is Cyclone etc.
When I first read about WFH, it sounded like a poor cousin of WTF, WTH, which one has heard often. WFH seemed like a novelty, luxury to someone who is from non-IT sector; FMCG (fast moving consumer goods). At FMCG, it’s hard to make people Work From Office (WFO). Working From Home (WFH) looked like a remote possibility because work cannot be measured by logging in to your machines…because the output is different.
Then COVID 19 striked, things changed.
So, the day of WFH arrived. Before government could announce lockdown, we were asked to work from home.
To put structure to new lifestyle, I planned my day in a way like a real work day. Get up at 530 am. Go cycling at 6 am. Come back at 730 am and start work at 9 am…..minus the commute at 830 am. One the first day of WFH itself, I felt that people were uncomfortable in meeting at 9..they said “yaar thoda adjust karo”.. let’s start at 10.
After sincerely working on this format for 3 days, Modi announced Janta Curfew for Sunday, soon Yogi followed it with announcement of UP lockdown; Modi once again appeared on Television to announce complete lockdown for 21 days. WTH, the life turned in to WFH mode without even saying “WTF”!
First shock of WFH was “No Outdoors”, meaning no cycling, no running, remain indoors within “Laxman Rekha”.
To help with exercises, our Yoga Guru came to rescue and asked us if we would want to do “Online Yoga” via Zoomcall. It seemed like a good call. We started on Day One of Lockdown. My yoga group had mix of some housewives and some professionals. Working with professionals is easy (ask them to keep quiet and they will), but most other people would not turn off their cameras and audio of their devices and instead of hearing Guru ji give instructions, one would hear their household noise from their houses where my co-Yogins would give instructions to their maids and husbands about jhaadu-pochha.
To streamline, I took matter in my own hands and decided to teach people how to use Video Conferencing, by letting only one person – our Yoga Guru, make the presentation. Now, its settled and one can do Yoga seamlessly. Been 6 days now.
Later, I combined weights and steps climbing to yoga, to have a good combination of cardio, weights and yoga. Feels a lot better in these quarantined – lockdown phase of life.
For workout from home, here are some of my learnings:
- You have to set a routine for it. Keep a fixed time. Let other people in the house know that you are busy, so that there is no disturbance. If you do it at the same time everyday, your sleep pattern, your eating pattern will automatically fall in place.
- Keep yourself hydrated, keep walking within the house.
- Working from Home needs more discipline. Divide your day in parts. Keep some day part for meetings and some for real creative work. This is a time to think and reflect. Plan your life ahead. Because when you go back to work, the life may not be same again.
- Scale down. Scale down on your food, scale down on stuff you may need, don’t hoard. Wash your hands, but save water. Shower once a day, but try being quicker. Help in household chores, which most of us are already doing.
- Connect with people you like over Microsoft Team, Zoomcall, Facetime, Whatsapp Video, Skype-any format. Have video conf parties. Keep talking to people. People may need your support.
Lastly, use a prayer everyday for wellbeing of everyone,
ॐ सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः ।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद्दुःखभाग्भवेत् ।
ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः ॥
which means: may every one be happy, may every one be free from all diseases, may every one see goodness and auspiciousness in every thing, may none be unhappy or distressed.
Let there be peace!
PS – The cover photo of this blog is from a fantastic photographer by the name of Wee Lee. You can find more of his work here.
