It’s been two weeks since I began working from home, in a 10×10 ft room populated by a queen size bed, an oddly shaped cabinet for clothes, books against the window, a range of pictures taped to the wall, and now a modestly sized desk that buttresses by laptop and monitor. I’m extremely fortunate to have a comfortable room to work in from home, and a giant window that overlooks the highway and a few tall buildings, letting in ample sunlight throughout the day.
But it hasn’t been without challenges. Working from home presents its own challenges.
Our routines have been overthrown
For over a year now, I’ve held a stable routine of going to the office, followed by the park, and finally the library before coming home. Now, the very different kind of work I engaged in at these locations is confined to my desk, robbing the chances of creativity. There is a good chance you all set a routine for yourself, even if it changed between each days of the week. While routines seem to signify rigidity, it also greatly improves your mental health in ways you might not be aware of.
It’s true. There is a good argument for humans wanting to seek novelty. In fact, novelty bias is one of the over 175 biases we are afflicted with. Yet, what is it that makes us enjoy our favorite song even if it has been on repeat for a week? Why do we re-watch some TV series when we can recite every dialogue from it (F.R.I.E.N.D.S!)? Although novelty grabs our attention, it is overrated. Ed O’Brien, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, assembled a research study to test the hypothesis of enjoying repeat experiences. Counter to previous research, Mr. O’Brien found that across the board, repeat experiences were far more enjoyable than participants predicted.
Routines are built through these repeat experiences, which if practiced enough registers as a daily habit. Although working from home has put a dent in your day-to-day routine, you can still practice it by doing the tasks you would have done otherwise in limited capacity.
Many freelancers swear by a midday walk or exercise session, which can be a vital reset. And when it’s 5 p.m. or when I’m finished with my tasks for the day, I commit to the physical act of closing my computer. I make sure I’m present with my family. I cook dinner, we all sit at the table and eat, and then we play a board game or watch a movie. I make sure to spend my evenings doing something that feels like home. – David Dennis, Forge
We feel more guilty when we waste time
Working from home saves you time. Period. Even though I live a block away from my office, I can still save a modest 20 minutes commuting between the office, library, and home. For an average American who spends 1 hour per day on commute, it adds up to a significant five hours per week. And what happens when we’re faced with abundance? Paradox of choice. The paradox of choice is an observation that having many options to choose from, rather than making us happy and content, can cause stress and makes decision-making more complex.
Our brain finds it hard to handle this shift from scarcity to abundance – we get overly optimistic about achieving more than our average capacity, and end up wondering where all those Sunday afternoon hours disappeared. I spent the afternoon today engaging in leisure tasks and letting my brain wander around, convincing myself that I had enough time to write and publish this article. Although I did end up publishing it as planned, another task I had set for myself fell through the cracks.
To help with the issue of abundance, it helps to externalize your plans for the day onto the calendar and time-box each activity, even if it pertains to your personal life. By doing so, you will clear your head and free your brain of clutter.
When I think proactively about how I want to spend my time — when I separate the planning from the doing — I can throw myself into each moment with joyful abandon and my full attention. No second-guessing, rationalization, or discipline required. – John Zeratsky, Speaker and Author
All boundaries disappear
This alludes to the first point about the disruption in our routines. Because we’re confined to this limited space day in and out, the boundary lines start to become blurry. You begin to eat where you sleep, or where you work (yours truly). My chair has replaced the slightly wet soft grass in the park. My window replaced the glass walls of the library. The commute to and from office has become a two feet jump from my bed to my desk. This convenience brings with it a sense of mundane.
Have you ever felt like the most insightful thoughts you’ve had all happened in a specific location, possibly one where you read a lot or practice music? There is a reason behind this. In his book The Organized Mind, Dan says that our learning is influenced by context and by the location where the learning takes place. Students who studied for an exam in the room they later took it in did better than students who studied somewhere else. This is possibly because of the context effect, which says that people are better at recalling information in a particular context or location where they first learnt that information.
Although you cannot go to all the places you normally would, it would still help to take walks around your building or even inside your home. It also helps to assert some boundaries around the various rooms in your home. I hope to do this by eating food at the dining table (or really anywhere that is not my bedroom). And have a break between the end of a work day and the beginning of a personal day by taking a walk. What about you?
A highlighter to rule them all ✍️
Of all the articles I have written so far, the one I wrote today was my favorite in terms of the routine I followed while writing it. Normally, I would think of a topic the previous week and sit down over the weekend to read more about it from various sources before putting together my thoughts on Medium. However, this time I followed what Nat Eliason recommended in this video. I used Roam, from beginning till the end, to collect the references and write the draft.
I feel great because now all of my thoughts and sources I found are in a single location where I can reference it in the future while another topic springs up. Wait, did you want to know what Roam is first? Check out the 3000-word guide I wrote as a primer to Roam and Notion. I say all this to introduce to you the highlighter that saves me significant amount of time when I read articles online: Weava.
I’ve been using this for over six months now, and find it incredibly valuable while taking down notes as I’m reading something. Although, I wish there was a way to connect Weava to Pocket so that the highlights are transferrable between the two apps.
Brain food from the internet 🥫
Design: Sad, but still funny
Jure Tovrljan, a creative director based in Slovenia, has given makeovers to famous brand’s logos to make them more relevant for the coronavirus age. The Mastercard circles and the Olympics rings now maintain safe distances apart from each other; under Nike's swoosh reads, "Now Don't Do It;" the Starbucks mermaid wears a protective mask; and Corona Extra's symbol now reads "Need new name."
Economy: How do we get out of this pandemic?
The first phase of the economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic is already under way with measures that, while costly, are relatively ‘easy’. The second phase – restarting the economy – involves the more challenging task of overcoming people’s fears of contracting the virus from a co-worker. This insightful dives into how we can do that via a two-step process.
Productivity: Why working from home is so exhausting?
This was one of the articles that inspired me to write this week’s piece. David mentions a few great points on why working from home can be challenging, but not impossible to overcome. He recommend the most important thing you can do while working from home is assert boundaries so that you aren’t working around the clock. Read more for some great insights.
Science: What the heck happens when we get coronavirus?
People infected with the novel coronavirus can have markedly different experiences. Some report having nothing more than symptoms of a mild cold; others are hospitalized and even die as their lungs become inflamed and fill up with fluid. How can the same virus result in such different outcomes? Loved reading this piece!
A glimpse into my life 👀
I spent most of my evenings working on my book, taking a course, and finishing a proposal for Grace Hopper’s, which meant I had to de-prioritize reading books for a while. I plan to pick it up to the same capacity as before soon enough. So instead of talking about a book that’s keeping me company, I thought of showing you my modest #WFH setup since this seems to be a trending topic on LinkedIn now.
You see the clothes that I’ve tied around the leg of the table? Courtesy of the many scratch marks on my leg. What kind of a designer makes the corners of a table so sharp? 😞
Hi there! If you’re feeling generous, can you like this post on Substack? It would greatly improve the visibility so more people can enjoy. You can follow me on Instagram for fun life stories and LinkedIn for not-so-fun life stories. Email ask@bsoundarya.com for questions.
Aaand.. you’re awesome. Don’t forget that. :)
Paradox of choice is so true. There is so many things that we want to do and end of kind of confused on what to do and might event miss out on what we should actually do :)