Are you working from home? Do you prefer to work from home or work from office?
I am working in an IT company in Bangalore, India. It has been around 10 years since I am employed in the software industry. During this period I have been part of three different companies that have offices spread across the globe. In this industry, everything happens over a mix of computers, softwares and internet.
I have been already provided with a laptop from the current company to support the project tasks. However, I have not taken much chances of working from home. Personally, I felt that going to office and working from office is the right way of accomplishing more goals as part of our duties, roles and responsibilities.
Even though, I had to travel around 1.5 hours daily to office and nearly 2 hours back home I preferred to go to office regularly without exceptions. So, it is spending 3-4 hours daily for commutation and that adds to 15-20 hours over a single week. And in office, it is mandatory to spend 9 hours of work as per the company policy.
On 22nd March 2020, things started turning around in a different way from usual. It is a period of the spreading Corona virus with COVID-19 victims all over the world. As it is gripping into India, our company has asked all the employees to work from home until further notice. Some of our colleagues did not have laptop and the company made arrangements to make desktops available at their residences. Hence, working from home opened new doors of opportunities.
For me working from home is a second thought than going to office. As it is now mandatory to do work from home, I had no other option but to adhere and comply with the company’s instructions.
Initially a few days was not easy because the network connectivity was not that good enough to support the high end software applications. Without hesitation, the home internet speed is upgraded from 20 Mbps to 40 Mbps. Now with enhanced speed, it is far better to take the conference calls through the laptop. High quality headphones was also provided by the company that fits quite well for the job.
When working on your tasks, laptop riser stand can inevitably support and enhance your ergonomic comfort level tp prevent aches and pains in your wrists, shoulders and neck. You can position your screen at the eye level and improve your worksatation.
Let me summarize about the daily routine activities of the job. Getting up in the morning and being in the system at 9:30 am for the daily status call with the client for around 1 hour is a usual business. Then it is about discussing with the colleagues on the tasks that are assigned to the team.
Every interaction with the team was going through conference calls. The conference call software has inbuilt features like screen sharing, file transfers, voice recordings and video sharing. After the tasks are discussed, we will get into work through screen sharing mostly such that the chances of errors and mistakes are minimized.
Once the call is over, I would take a walk around the house to stretch the arms and legs, drink water, go to washroom and come back again to the home desk. Again, there will be a few more calls with the different team members for some discussions. During lunch break I used to switch on the television to understand the pandemic situation taking place across the world.
After spending the time till 5pm on the project tasks, it is time for a small tea break and snacks. Then later there will be a team status update by everyone at 6pm. In this call all tasks done for the day and the pending tasks are put together for further follow up on the next day. By 7pm the work almost gets over unless if there is any priority tasks or calls in hand which might end up till 9pm or 10pm, but these are rare cases.
How will you feel if you are continuously at home and doing your office work?
Following such a routine for 1 month or so made me feel uncomfortable. It was because there was lockdown and the Government has taken strict measures to fight the COVID-19 across the nation. Therefore, no one could take their vehicles or shop outside the premises except for the essential commodities.
Most of the time I was in the house and it was putting more physical and mental stress. Then I decided to go for a morning walk every day for half an hour and that helped me to bring down the stress levels. Gradually, things improved and now I am able to focus better on the things concerning office as well as family affairs.
However, before I conclude it will be better for you to read some of the suggestions given below if you are working from home with a laptop.
- Have a comfortable seating and a suitable desk to keep your laptop and its accessories. It will ensure that you won’t get body aches. Keep away from noises and disturbances.
- Have a good internet broadband connection to do your office tasks because it supports your work whenever you are making calls, screen sharing and being on the software applications.
- Have some physical activity every day to make you feel optimistic and energetic. Also, ensure you get good sleep and rest. This is essential for your good health and happiness.
- Your family members may not be in the same track as you go. You need to understand their priorities and adjust with them to make your life simple and happy.
- Last but not the least, eat well, work well, pray well, learn well, and sleep well. Hope it is the solution for you.
This sort of work from home is going to be normal in the future for most of the organizations. So, adapt to this change and keep going.
Even now, the current situation is not stable and there are more and more cases of COVID-19 over the globe. It is always better to save your life first, then save your job. Still, we need to strictly follow the guidelines laid by the Government, the health authorities and the public organizations.
On a final note, stay home. Stay safe. Stay happy. Stay with God.
If you have any suggestions or work from home experiences, please leave them in the comment box given in the below section. Thanks!