Being Caught
By: Tania John
Tags: Online Classes, Office Culture, Covid Diaries, Zoom Meetings, Work From Home

Lockdown hasn’t been much hard on me, but after three months of it, it has started to make me worried a bit. No No, it’s not the worry about if we’ll be able to control the pandemic, it’s about how people are adapting to the present scenario. I’m afraid that lockdown has made me so cozy under the blankets, that even the slightest rain makes me cold. I embraced this state of ‘doing nothing’ until May End; Until when the online classes started from June 1st. I suddenly realize being at home and on social media for so long, has decreased my attention span to even less than fifteen minutes.

A month ago I read about ‘the new model’ of TCS to continue Work From Home (WFH) post-pandemic and to normalize it. Back then, I was overwhelmed to see their immediate results in shifting from the common norms and taking their stands to save their employees from the long hectic commute. Especially when I’m the kind of person who loves to stay indoors. But a month later, this is what I think about LIVING ONLINE.

Let’s just go back to our good old days, say 6 months back. Though getting up early morning and rushing to classes was a headache, there was always an urgency in getting out and getting things done. Even though I had barely 100 steps to reach my classroom from the hostel room, the fresh morning air prepared me to leave the laziness behind and perform better.

And when it’s lunch break, it’s not the same people you’re having lunch with. It gets to be a different group, a different idea, and a different taste altogether. And how not to mention the countless number of tea breaks and Leisure times, we spend with people, get introduced to new folks every day, networking and collaborating.

And when it’s evening, it’s time to leave and make life more beautiful. Each day ends with a surprise in itself. Some days you just sit around with friends while some days are dedicated to sharing with interest groups. Some days can’t be made any better, that you just want to be back home and value the silence in life. Some days you want to see around, go for a walk alone, and contemplate about life decisions.

And forget about relocating yourself to a new place. If WFH comes into effect, the childhood dream of every typical Indian of going places when I get a job will remain left out forever. Would that also mean companies can start paying the employees less and professors can take longer hours for students?

The Point is:

It is not about going out and meeting people.

It is not about having gatherings and festivals.

It is not about lazing around during overtime.

It is not about making weekends, weekdays.

But it is about creating impacts and leaving footprints.

Ofcourse, What can be a better Work Partner than a Black Coffee?

Home has always kept me Extra Productive and Work From Home was kind of my dream job till lockdown happened. But I feel the quality of life is gradually decreasing and no value is being added in daily routines. I’m just trying to do stuff every day, but I also realize that I’m not at my best. Creative Block being most prevalent, lack of drive to work on makes me more divergent. Zoom Fatigue has hit hard, harder is staying focused for a long time online.

Here are a few pointers that I have thought of to keep a healthy Work-Life balance with WFH and SFH (School From Home)being prevalent:

Keeping Realistic achievable tasks for each day, and developing software that ensures the worker stops working after a time limit and after task limits.

Motivate employees to complete the task within deadlines and critical path method for a weeks task.

Ensure that Weekends are not made Weekdays (and vice versa😉)

Implementing Operations management, Work Study and Ergonomic techniques to Employee management to have optimal results.

Ample office working hours for brainstorming, get-together, lunching and sharing emotions.

Keeping classes spread across the day, (morning, afternoon and evening sessions) with each subjects having close links connected.

Opportunities for Students to discuss and debate online creatively.

And this is a great chance to actually implement the value based education system as teachers can now assign work according to the child’s rate of learning and grasping abilities. A continuous and comprehensive evaluation system can reduce the pressure for end sems and keep a positive learning curve throughout.

From an employer’s view, WFH is an easy cost-cutting method. But with time, the decrementing levels of an employee may affect the company in itself and will be kept unrecognized. And when it comes to schooling online, its going to be a challenging task ahead.

A perfect mix of both options if considered, for schooling as well as for work, may help us get the optimal balance! The Right Balance for S.M.A.R.T work!