Are you working from home today that we are under the lockdown cum enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)? If so, there is a greater chance that you experience the merging of your professional and personal lives. In this situation, the lines between your work and domestic activities somehow becomes blurred.
But don’t worry, you are not alone. A number of workers, mostly those whose line of work is in the development sector and can make or deliver their outputs online, are also experiencing the “merging”. The question is how to be in control considering that merged life is sometimes messy, tiring and even results to under-sleeping.
I asked a few friends whose professional and personal lives have also merged under ECQ. To reconcile not only the demands of their time but also to keep themselves sane, they advice trying the following:
- Do what you used to do on normal days. Get up, eat, work and sleep just like pre-ECQ. If weekends are for movies, then maintain the same.
- Maintain your working hours. If you work eight hours, maintain it so that your body clock will not be shattered. Moreso, you will not be shocked when the ECQ is lifted and you go back to your normal work routine. You can ask the members of your family to somehow cooperate with you on this or ask them to also do the same. For your kids, ask them to study — just like in normal days.
- Schedule meetings during work hours unless necessary. Of course, the exceptions include differences in time zones with the one you need to meet. For most development workers, however, meetings come anytime of the day. If that is the case, make the schedules as “normal” as before.
- Use your work attire. This will have some psychological effects on you to be productive. For most people, using house clothes somehow affects productivity and lessens the urgency to finish the given task or deliver the output.
- Use wisely the time that you “gain” under ECQ but you’ve been losing in traffic. You can devote it to reading, watching news, exercising, cleaning or even urban gardening. Just be sure that you will not experience a major shift once the situation normalizes.
Do you know of any other ways to deal with a merged personal and professional life? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box.
Polevu 