WORK FROM HOME ROUTINE (PANDEMIC EDITION)

 

Before I get into what the post is about I just wanted to mention a tweet I read a couple days ago on twitter that resonated with me. Someone tweeted that work should be outcome based and not time based and in one of the replies, someone commented how the pandemic had shown them that it didn’t make sense to go into a physical office for 8 hours, to do work that can be completed at home in 3 or 4 hours. I have never related to a tweet and its comment like I related to this one. I totally agree with both people. Of course there are exceptions for people in customer facing roles, healthcare, engineering etc you actually have to be present at work to see the outcome for most of these roles. My thoughts are that this pandemic should if anything change how we work going forward. The time spent on commuting alone could be used doing something else, organisations that can, should really consider working from home full time  going forward or at least have a part time work from home option where employees only come into the office twice or thrice a week on a rotating basis. I mean some of us have been doing just fine working from home, meetings still go on as scheduled work still gets done. But as humans we also need social interaction every now and then so I actually think the part time work from home option, could actually be a viable one going forward for most organisations. Perfect work life balance if you ask me. My organisation still has what is considered essential staff, the finance, IT and administrative team, who go into the office about twice a week, but never more than three people at once. Appropriate masks are provided and there is a sanitizer station every few steps on the floor. You can’t exactly transfer all of an organisation’s systems especially sensitive confidential material or financial stuff to a home office set up, so these staff members come in once or twice a week for that purpose.

Image courtesy of pixabay.com 

Ok so on to the post. So my work day is typically 8 am to 5 pm but I prefer to do a 9 am to 6 pm routine unless I have an 8 am meeting or something. The reason being, that I am usually still taking work calls, sending emails or in a meeting or webinar that runs over past five pm usually until 5.30 pm sometimes. So I figured 9-6 works better for me most days. So this post will be based on a 9-6 work day.

8 am - 9 am

I do personal stuff. A quick 10-15 minute light workout while listening to a TED talk. Followed by a 15 minute Spanish lesson on Duolingo as I drink herbal tea, juice or some sort of drink it all depends on my mood and the weather that morning. I spend the rest of the time before 9am watching a short vlog on YouTube. I actually choose what vlog to watch based on the minutes I have free before 9 am.

9 am - 1 pm

Work day officially starts so I check on any emails and respond to those that need responding to. Take action on those that need action taken. Then I proceed with whatever tasks I have set up for the day. I usually take a 15 -20 minute breakfast break in between usually around 10am, which I eat at my desk.

1 pm - 2pm

Lunch break. I try to take my lunch break between midday and 2pm as much as possible, because most afternoons are either filled with a meeting or two or some webinar or the other and since I am home, I am either preparing a sandwich, reheating leftovers or making fresh food and I don’t want that process to interfere with my afternoon schedule. Besides I don’t want to make a habit of eating lunch at my desk while working (yes I can log off an hour earlier if I do this), but that one hour eating lunch and watching something on YouTube is a welcome break.

2pm – 6pm

Like I mentioned above most afternoons are filled with a meeting, webinar or something of the sort. Once these are done I continue with my daily tasks and log off at 6pm. My last task for the day is filling in my timesheet which we do online, I prefer to do mine daily since my tasks are still fresh in my mind. it’s just easier than waiting until the end of the month to fill in everything. And that’s it work day done.

Of course I take short five to ten minute breaks throughout the day to stretch my legs, give my eyes a break from the computer screen or when the weather is good get a few minutes of much needed sunshine.

It’s a good thing I have a personal laptop and a work laptop, so once I log off I don’t touch my work laptop until the next day. I don’t touch it at all over the weekend, once I log off on Friday evening, the next time I log on is Monday morning.

I go for a 30minute to an hour evening walk thrice a week, I try to make it Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so I can get some fresh air and human interaction. These walks usually coincide with a grocery run that I do on the way back. Nothing too heavy, usually a few fruits and vegetables that I can easily carry back home.

 

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