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Prioritize taking a mental health day off...

  • May 27, 2021

Sounds great, doesn’t it? I remember the days when I looked up to WFH as a luxury and envied it. I believed one was productive by staying and working out of one’s comfort zone. However, this thought has changed completely with the lockdown scenario added. Moreover, I hear clients raising issues with the Pandemic - WFH arrangement.


The concerns spelt often and the strategies worth giving a try:

  • I am not able to draw boundaries between home and work. It’s both all day flowing into each other.
Strategy


-        While structuring your schedule in a the way that you have enough breaks to manage other work in between may not be possible all the time.

-        Do not get into multi-tasking the office work with a household chore. This leads to divided attention and most of the time results in spending double the work to get the tasks done.

-        Try changing schedules for what is in your control rather than trying to change it all at once.


  • We end up arguing rather than spending quality time
Strategy


-        Arguments happen when people do not agree with the other. Communication is the key. While everyone is put into erratic work timings since WFH began to try negotiating with work timings once in a while.

-        Make them understand that there are family priorities as well that cannot be compromised with work every time. Learn to say ‘NO’ when it is absolutely difficult to manage work.

-        Divide the house chores among the family members. Try shifting certain chores to weekends rather than squeezing them on the weekdays.

-        Quality time is not just spending free time together, sometimes sharing a task and doing it together can turn into quality time as well.


  • We are disturbed with each other’s work approaches
Strategy

-        The ones who are able to work in dedicated physical spaces within the home might sometimes even manage to be overproductive.

-         Most of the times when you are sharing the room with another family member who is also working from home you might get disturbed with each other and this might reflect in your work productivity. Rather try tweaking the schedule and take turns while you both plan/ important calls.

-        Understanding there are situations where you do not have the liberty to tweak, try and place your situation, that you might have a background interference and that it is not possible to gain control over it due to the lack of space available.


  • Being a working mom I feel guilty about not being able to support my child during online school hours
Strategy

-        While a child does not require adult supervision all the time there are instances when they require help. Teach the child to call out for help when required and whoever can manage to attend can be available for a brief time. Sometimes, it would be helpful to teach the child to make a note and discuss it with the parents when possible during the day.

-        For the younger ones, a lot of schools offer recorded sessions. The parents can go through the recording while they help the child learn in their home study times.

-        One does not have to feel guilty for prioritizing children overwork when absolutely necessary or vice versa as most of the situations are real-time. At times it may suit you to go with the choice of a career break or switch to prioritize family but at the end not feel guilty.


Taking a break gets all the more important with the busy & mundane lives we have been living for more than a year. We need to be more empathetic with each other as everyone is affected in some other way due to the Pandemic. Take a day off from work and utilize the time with leisure activities and spend time on your hobbies.

Carpediem would like to acknowledge the use of Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

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