This is not a didactic post. So if you believe that you will get some great tips for a good work-life balance, you can stop reading right now. Because I am really, really, really bad in managing work-life balance. If I am immersed in work, I don't realize the passage of time. I find it very difficult to switch off my work-mode. The gears in my brain are constantly moving. Thinking the thoughts. Making the plans. Optimizing to-do lists. Even when I am sleeping. I get dreams about my work. Some might call them nightmares. Now you know how bad I am with work-life balance. And at rare times, like on longer holidays (anything more than 3 days) when I am able to switch off, I get so immersed in my personal life, that I need a serious kick in my butt, to switch on my work-mode. So inertia works both ways for me. I can't seem to do anything in half measures.
But there were some factors pre-lockdown which helped me somewhat. Like it was clear to me that you could afford not to work on weekends and instead be a couch potato. If I could see darkness, outside my office cabin, I instinctively knew, I could now go home. Fixed office timings helped a lot, as you couldn't have meetings if everyone had left. Also my stomach used to tell me it is time for dinner and thus I knew I should shut down my laptop.
But this lockdown has played havoc with my carefully cultivated habits and instincts. Now every day is same - the concept of weekends is like a thing of past. I don't need to go home to eat, as now food comes to me. So another signal to shut down my laptop is taken away by these really cruel times. People can now call for meetings at the drop of a hat. They think if you are 'Working From Home' there is no point in following office decorum, of not calling some one late in the night. And in these dark times, even if you get engulfed by physical darkness, your natural instincts - of calling it a day - are curbed.
So if you are like me and you too have a spouse who is totally totally aghast at your inability to be at home while 'Working From Home', here are few things your spouse can try at his/her own risk. If any aggrieved spouse is reading this post, don't hate me. Thank me for the suggestions below.
1. After 5 pm, start mixing alcohol in his / her beverages. It will lull him / her into sleep putting the laptop on sleep mode.
2. Start playing music / TV at a really high volume. He / She can't have too many meetings by just being on mute.
3. Jam their mobile signals and kill their WiFi - without them suspecting that it is not God's act
4. Throw his / her laptop outside the window, by mistake of course
5. Video call his / her office crush. That will force him / her to come out of makeshift office space, in a more agreeable mode. And may be with his / her pyjamas on too.
Reiterating. Aggrieved spouses should try these things at their own risk!
What are the methods you will try which are less riskier? Help my wife know, in the comments section!
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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here.
Previous Challenges : Letter W
