QUARANTINE BLUES

On your first day at school as a 5-year-old you, remember yourself crying your eyes out and all drenched up with the water running from your eyes and nose? All you could manage to say was, ‘I want to go home”. Or let me put it this way, your semester is about to end and all you want is to travel back home and eat delicious home-cooked food. If that did not ring a bell for you, here is something more relatable. You had a rough day at the office, the only thing you have on your mind is when that clock will show 5:00 pm and you can go home.

Why is it that, in every stage of our life’s one thing that’s common is going back home. Yes, it is our comfort zone, it’s the safe den. Then how come in the current scenario of the worldwide pandemic it is hard for people to be at home? Why is it that the lockdown or the self-quarantine is bothering us and playing with our state of mind?

To tell you the truth according to me, that’s how the humans are programmed. We like things our way, and if something or somebody tries to pressurize us we flip. In the above three life scenarios, there is a reason why you cannot go home, hence we plead, plan, or wish to go home as soon as we can. Keeping the same perspective, now when we are told to stay at our home, we want to go out. Even though when we know all the details of why we can’t.

Despite all this, once this pandemic ends, we will be back in our routine giving excuses why we can’t spend time with our family or learn that instrument or paint, etc. Earlier we used to complain as professionals that we do not get time for our family. Even better we were desperately finding ways to get that personal and professional work-life balance. The irony is when we are actually gifted with a reason to have this opportunity to stay with our family 24*7, we choose to extend our WFH hours. Why?

There is a reason its called ‘WFH’ (work from home). Only the location of your work has changed, the rest is all in the exact same place. The same clock in time, the same work, the same colleagues, the same routine. Then why we choose to stick with our laptops even at 7:30 pm without a reason? The company does not demand that. Every company wants you to complete those 8/9 hours daily and do your work during that time in the most productive way possible. The same demand as before. Why don’t we choose to clock out at 5 pm and spend time with our loved ones, family, or ourselves?

As far as I have the knowledge, once the transportation facility resumed people who were stuck in some other city due to their work came back to their homes as soon as they were able to. Educate yourself with the situation of others who desperately want to go home to their loved ones. You will start cherishing your scenario.

Now, where am I going with all this? Well, I believe everyone will agree with me that even at the time of such dramatic house arrest across the globe, what does not stop to happen is, life.

Don’t take extra work over the weekends just because you are available. Use this time to spend time with your family, friends, partner, siblings. Be thankful that you are in your safe den with the people you care about the most. Make the most of this WFH opportunity.

Here are some ideas I am doing, you should try them if you haven’t already.

1. Value your time – Strict routine of 9-5 or whatever your office considers a full day. No extra hours unless its something it can’t wait.
2. Keep the attitude intact – If anyone emails you or msgs you on the official chat after working hours, just like before WFH you take care of it during office hours or the next morning unless something is on fire.
3. After office hours give time to your family, remember they too are sailing in the same boat as you. They need you as much as you need them.
4. Have dinner with your family, rather than taking your lunch or dinner on the table next to your workspace. Remember you used to go to the cafeteria away from your desk to have your lunch, the same implies.
5. Read stories to your kids. Play with them. (Hide and seek, Bingo, NPAT (name, place, animal, thing)). Play anything.
6. Cook on weekends with your partner or better cook for your partner. Don’t forget the housewives have to take care of a lot these days. Respect that, and give them a break.
7. If you are one of those lucky ones to have a terrace/balcony, go up there have evening tea or play badminton or other sports with your kids that are safe to play there. Go watch the moon at night.
8. Add board games on the next shopping list. Learn chess, scrabble, Othello, etc (P.s: Ludo is never fun on the screen, just an opinion)
9. Turn on the radio after 10: 00 pm to listen to those old melodies or just for a fresh playlist. (For a change you should not know the next song.)
10. Listen to songs that are in the language of your mother tongue, it sure does lit us up and brings some memories back.
11. Sit with your parents, talk, play, and/or Call your loved ones and catch up.
12. For once stop checking the news. It does no good.
13. Have a ‘Movie night concept ‘ every Sunday or every 15 days.
14. Dress up every day for work like you would do normally before the hit of the virus. This will sure uplift your mood and self-confidence.
15. Be thankful. For if you are reading this, that means you are in a far better position than you think.

There are more options to give, but I think the ones I have stated above are the ones we already would have done if this pandemic was not in our lives. Just not this explicitly, rather it would have fallen under the umbrella of – ” Weekend plans”. Now it’s under “Everyday plans “

Be happy and content in your life, because one thing this pandemic has proven and that is money cannot come to your rescue every time you wish. You have the money, but you cannot go home. You have the money but that too cannot get you a cure for Corona. So have patience and enjoy life with whatever it gives you. The sooner we understand to embrace our beautiful lives and appreciate our families the sooner we will get rid of the gloominess and boredom of the lockdown.

Staying under the same roof for 24*7 does not count, living together under the same roof for 24*7 counts. Always remember there are people in this world who could give anything to have a life like yours.

Hope this article was insightful.

(P.S: This topic was recommended by one of our readers and is written with the motive of showing the brighter side of the current situation.)