Modus vivendi-A new mode of living the switch-off and switch-on paradigm
This previous post on TinkerShare left me with the insight from the current unusual times that
“The line between office and personal life is blurred. There is no longer a switch-on and switch-off paradigm”.
In the Pre-COVID world, until a year ago, I was in Design school and would mostly walk to school every day. It was a nice 24 min walk. Sometimes I would use the transit bus, and it would take me 12 mins and on really urgent days, I would book rideshare, reach in 5 mins. However, at all times, no matter what the situation, the travel time was a time to switch-off and switch-on. I would use the time to call my family, friends, or chat with the cab driver about the day so far or sometimes just be by myself to plan ahead.
Mental models for nailing work-life balance, meant getting good at switching off and switching on. So what changed in the COVID era? With the lockdown in place, more than 3 billion people, excluding the essential workers like defense and healthcare officials, have been pushed to work from home.
The new advice around the new culture of work-from-home seems to be to “Shuffle-well”, it’s about better ‘work-life integration’ not work-life balance anymore.
These times of pandemic work-from-home, unarguably, has called for greater work-life integration. Those riding the wave beautifully can be called the “Work-life Surfers”. With the balancing act at the back door, people are attempting to bring their whole self into their work-style and there is a larger acceptance of who you are as a holistic person than just an employee. The other side, of not being able to seamlessly switch off-switch on, is feeling a possible “digital burnout” time and again. It is a state of exhibiting a range of symptoms like lack of attention, difficulties in focusing, decreased physical energy, lack of motivation due to an increased usage of technology that can happen within or outside the working environment. (Nielson Survey,7/31 2018)
This blogpost explores some ideas around these unusual times where work from home, the new norm, is a game we all need to get good at.
Let’s look at people who are getting good at integrating their work and life completely-
Increased use of persuasive technology and dodging burnout:
- Staying connected even beyond work
Let’s face it, we have entered the new normal where spending time teleconferencing is the way we jam. Not just the workforce spends their time this way, but also young toddlers. Looking at those who have nailed the work-from-home game, they stay connected for communicating beyond work as well. Using the power of zoom to connect with family and long lost friends. The mental model here would be to switch off from work and switch on life beyond work using the same tools.
- Social media and Screen time demarcation
The Surfers demarcate screen time and social media. This one is tough but effective! If you really want to use your phone less, it’s recommended to remove all the major social media apps from your phone. Or setting hard deadlines on the use of social media and your laptop. Switching between devices for communicating as well as switching off video. It is said that 73% of young adults suffer from digital eye strain. In this new mode, I observed myself even purchasing anti-glare glasses to protect my eyes with the amount of screentime I was clocking. This physical change of outlook helps to switch-off and switch-on every time I disengage and re-engage myself.
- Allocating time and space for everything
Burnout can be dodged by timing oneself to do various chores and important tasks and also practice focussed attention on everything. Also, allocating space to work at home helps, in case you do not have a home-office setup. For a remote worker, amongst the multiple stationery needed, furniture is something that one might need to consider. An office chair can help save your lower back strain. Or a laptop stand can help your arm posture. Muscle fatigue is something that takes place when using incorrect postures or equipment. Good posture and ergonomics while at work silently support the mode of switch-on and switch-off.
Being an evangelist of self-care and health for higher productivity
When we work-from-home during the COVID lockdown, many of us struggle to maintain our physical health, sleep, nutrition, and mindfulness. I worked on a corporate project a few years back which dealt with a program at workplaces where the HR team takes ownership of their employees’ health along with the paychecks. Lesser the number of people falling sick, the higher the productivity. It was simple. It is true that the quality of work that employees churn out is directly proportional to their physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.
The program included first incentivizing employees who are good at taking care of their health even while at work- like drinking enough water, taking appropriate breaks, walking and stretching, setting a daily/weekly target of exercising or playing a sport.
We called them ‘health sherpas’. They would be ambassadors for good health amongst smaller groups of employees.
In the current work from home scenario, the original pain-point still remains. People still need to take appropriate breaks, and one needs to engage in a culture of mindful self-care practices at an individual level, that when shared, can then be emulated by others as well. So what we need is more evangelists and champions of self-care showing the way in their own remote locations. Here are some ideas:
- Exercising for a better form
“I keep my dumbells visible”- a colleague
“I allocate 30–40 mins of exercising for at least 4–5 times a week.”-a senior startup employee
Exercising has its own mode of operation. There are a lot of live-classes and free workout videos available online. Somehow in these times of lockdown restrictions, people are leveraging technology to maintain their form and stamina. I observed a rise in cyclists and people playing old-school badminton in my neighborhood. My super busy cousin joined an online MMA class, my mother joined an online yoga class.
There is higher motivation and ability due to better access to various forms of staying healthy. Switching off from one’s routine and establishing time and using simple triggers like notification or a reminder enables forming this new healthy habit.
- Weaving Hobbies
“I follow the mantra of work-play-love-health.” -a colleague
“I have started journaling and integrating reading 30 mins of something else into my routine.”- a senior startup employee
Weaving your hobbies into a workday needs to be practiced with rigor. Counselors recommend that it is better to journal the progress of hobbies as it boosts one’s mood. This could be a great mode for switch-off and switch-on as journaling and writing can increase one’s mental health.
Design your own experiences
Anything that makes your daily-living easier, more productive, more enjoyable, more pleasurable was created because of a problem and because some designer or a team of designers somewhere in the world decided to solve the problem. The places we live, work in, play in were all designed to make our life, work, and play better. No matter where we look at our external world, we can see what happens when designers tackle the problem.
The COVID-era brought its own designed life calling for exploring better work-life integration. How would you design a coffee experience in your own home or a jogging experience in your home balcony?
A few weeks as a tinkerer, I learned about valuing design thinking for your own life experiences. Design thinking for your life, especially for questions like how can I balance my work and life, needs a lot of reframing. The biggest reframe is that your life cannot be perfectly planned, and there isn’t just one solution for your life, and that’s a great thing. The newly designed life for you lies in how well your life shines in the midst of the day-to-day hustle. So go with the flow and enjoy the shuffle.
References:
- https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/covid-19-impact-is-work-from-home-the-new-normal/1981037/
- https://positivepsychology.com/benefits-of-journaling/
- https://www.careflex.co.uk/health/posture/fatigue/
- https://www.humanetech.com/families-educators
- Healthcare Infrastructures in India- Horizon research done by Godrej Innovation Centre
- Designing Your Life (Burnett & Evans) Introduction
