Working from home has been a bit of a disaster for some people. However, it is safe to say that many people would have enjoyed it more if they had more chances to prepare properly. Now that we are all in the swing of it now, we have the opportunity to look back and see how it has been affecting us, especially as many people have the chance to go back to their office. But has working from home had a negative effect on your life?
Children
We love our kids, there is no doubt about that. But working from home while we had to homeschool was a new level of parenting that many people were not prepared for. Trying to find the balance of working and making sure your kids actually finished their math work was a stressful event for everyone. A lot of parents mental health suffered as we had to learn the new way to do maths and try and get those reports in on time. We love our kids but their teachers deserve medals for having to educate them.
Your body
If you work in an office, you will know that your desk is set to a certain height and your chair is designed to support your back. Do you have any of these things in your home? Probably not. In fact, many people lacked the space to set up a home office and had to work from their dining table. Having to work from your dining table is not good for your back and there is a good chance that you need to see a Chiropractor to repair any damage that has been caused.
It was lonely
Working from home can be very lonely, especially during the lockdowns. Many people spend days or even weeks with no contact from the outside world. We tried to stay in touch with everyone through Zoom chats and social media but it just wasn’t the same. Even if we had our kids and our spouse in the house, we had nothing new to talk about and missed the variety of our social interactions. People even went as far as adopting animals to help prevent them from feeling so lonely during the day.
Our animals
If we had pets before this all kicked off, they were left shocked by the sudden change. Our dogs loved it. The people that they loved the most were suddenly in the house all day. And as a result of us being the house, they got plenty of walks and cuddles. But unlike dogs, our cats were not impressed! Suddenly having the humans in the house when they are supposed to be out was a shock that they did not appreciate. Many cats became stressed out and attacked their owners for being in the house too much. And if a cat is stressed, it can develop some dirty habits. This meant, between Zoom calls, we had to scoop poop as they refused to use the litter tray. Thanks cats.
Despite all these challenges, people made this work, not for a few months, but for almost 2 years! That’s how adaptable humans are, and Kudos to all of us for pulling it through. Work-from-home is here to stay, and is not going away anytime soon. So take a look at what were your biggest challenges, and make a plan so you can overcome them and not feel stressed about them. Reach out to friends and family for forming a game plan, make sure you don’t feel alone and defeated, plan out your days in advance and stick to a schedule, and you’ll realize there’s more to love in Work-from-home than hate!
