Work Life Balance in Pandemic era....

TODAY......It's been almost 16 months(1 year 4 months) precise since the pandemic started in India. The country wide lockdown was imposed on 24th March 2020 and Life came to a standstill all of a sudden for most of us...

IT industry and many other small & large businesses moved from WFO to WFH culture. Little did we know that a 21 days lockdown would extend to lengths unimaginable at that time.

Initially we struggled to get a normal work life balance with all the challenges going around and it took us few months to settle in with this new normal. Today the new normal for most of us is....working long hours with all that noise and environmental disturbances that goes around in our homes. Be it door bell ringing, kids running around, maids coming in to clean our rooms, spouses or family members coming in to ask something, someone video bombing your calls while you are on VC,doing some house chores in middle of work, etc.

Although we are at a close proximity of our office workstations(laptops), it becomes extremely important for us to define clear working hours just the way we did while we were working from office. The pandemic has taken a toll on our mental and physical health. With no social interactions and developing less healthy habits due to limited/no workouts, lesser movements, mostly sitting whole day and frequent eating habits(sometimes large portions), it becomes extremely important that we shift focus on building discipline within the confinements of our homes.

Setting clear expectations with office peers and stakeholders on your available working hours, defining a routine to take care of personal commitments and giving sometime to yourself for overall well being is the key to survival in this era. If these boundaries are not defined than there will be complete stress and burnout leading to distress and miserable lifestyle. Ability to function smoothly, act reasonably and balance life will be lost.

Give sometime to your children,spouse,family members,friends and close ones as they see you more often at home. Don't pour out your office stress on them as you need to keep that away and build healthy relationships with your near and dear ones. Have sometime for yourself to relax, think through and meditate. Have a LIFE!!!

If you haven't started doing this already, you need to start NOW! Happy working and Happy Living. Stay Safe & Stay Fit.Stay BALANCED!!! :-)