Life After WFH Honeymoon

Is honeymoon over I mean Work From Home.

As millions of employees have been asked to work remotely due to Covid-19, this is no longer a debate.As the number of coronavirus patients swells across the world, the manner in which we work has fundamentally changed. ‘Work from home’ has entered our lexicon and brought with itself new anxieties, as for most people the line between work and home has begun to blur.As we get habituated to work from our homes, we also tend to be distracted by domestic duties. From answering the doorbell, to worrying about daily household chores, the reasons for low productivity are many. Also, there is a tendency to aimlessly browse the internet.

It’s although a reality that after WFH every manager is going to have to face the minute it’s time to call employees back to their desks. Sure, for a brief period there could be a honeymoon stage where employees are happy to be once again interacting face-to-face with adults. But before long, fond memories of autonomously working from home will creep in, especially as work-life becomes more stressful and hectic.

           

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                  

Work from home has given us Zoom fatigue, homeschooling young children and working at a makeshift home office are factors combining to make workers yearn for the office, say workplace experts.    

But still few people will believe that you aren’t productive unless you can be seen in the office. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of trust or if it’s a feeling of control? While the changing minds have a feeling that WFH does help with saving money and a better work/life balance when we have long commute times. Managers (especially those previously skeptical of remote working) need to be preparing for a new workforce coming back to the office; one that has tasted the fruits of remote working and won’t easily let it go.

For those of you who are at home (I’m guessing that’s most of you), how are you doing? If you’re like me, maybe you found the transition kind of novel and exciting at first, but now that’s fizzled out. As I said to someone this week, the sweatpants honeymoon is about to over. During WFH there was no physical separation from our work space and our rest space. Sitting on the bed for most of the day makes us forget the association between bed and sleep.  Which results in a bad sleep cycle and lethargy.

COVID-19 has not only affected humankind physically, but also mentally and financially. As the pace of growth of the economy falters, many of us are worried about our jobs. Working from home has meant that we share this anxiety alone, the Damocles' sword of being terminated hanging over us constantly.