Throughout my career as software developer over last 13+ years, my employers have actively encouraged the use of 'Work-From-Home' whenever required and I had used extensively. But the 2020 is different. I started WFH from March 17 hoping that this will go on for a month. But by April, it was pretty clear that WFH is not going away soon. Initial month was a bit hectic with working in multiple time zones on tight project deadline. The prolonged isolation has its effects on the productivity and health.
Then the school started in June. For a week I observed the routine of my son during the online classes. He would get ready before the class, have his uniform and change it once the classes are over.
This caught my attention, and I have tried to follow this to come out of the 'Pajama-habit'. Treat the office time similar to how I used to do it before the lock down, minus actual travel.
- Do exercise/yoga/walk in the morning
- Get ready before being active on office network. Mentally prepare for going to work.
- Dress appropriately. Not necessarily the formals, but not the night clothes.
- Take breaks similar to how we do in office.
- Return to home in the evening by changing to home clothes, spend fun time with the family.
- We may have to attend evening and night calls. But have a mindset change that office hours are over.
- Do personal projects after the office hours the way we used to do.
- Basically, simulating pre-lock down office life at home.
Of course, there are household duties that will need our attention during the day. Still having this kind of routine does change the mindset towards our work. To some extent, it avoids overburdening ourselves with too much work in a single day, while also ensuring we don't spend entire day procrastinating.
It is understandable that there will be many distractions at home, but when I carefully observed, this was also the case in office. Reduced intake of water, sleep imbalance, lesser exposure to sunlight and fresh air, back/neck/shoulder pains are some of the health related side effects of WFH. So hopefully, having a schedule will help counter these.
