Remote Work Reminders: Coping with Home-office in the Time of Coronavirus


With the Coronavirus pandemic and its panic sweeping the population, a lot of knowledge workers are stuck at home. With the mantra of stay home – stay safe everywhere, I thought it would be good to jot down some points. These reminders are more for me than for anyone else to be honest – as I have the uncanny ability to sleep 14 hours straight at any sudden chance I get.

1. Stick to some form of a routine: A loss of usual routine can be the beginning of a lot of personal miseries in the world – as guru Jordan Peterson says. Waking up late, forgetting to shower, – unusual snacking and consumption of entertainment in the times of office - can quickly spiral down into chaos. Believe me I have been there, finishing 2 movies and lots of snicker’s bar in the name of “working from home”, and feeling awful about the whole thing afterwards – should not be on anyone’s to-do.
So instead, remember to get fresh and get ready – at least in semi-formal clothes to psych you up for action.
Take a timed lunch break.
Close it down at night to focus on the entertainment / other works now.

2. Remember the informal things you did in the office: With 8-10 hours a day at the office, we have a lot more than just work in the office. We have our social connections, chit-chats, gossips and meme-sharing with the colleagues. It is a good idea now to call them up every now and then, even without any work-related issues.

I have started calling up my go-to gossip bros every other day now just to have at least some semblance of normality.

3. Put an information diet in place: There is a ton of info about the pandemic coming out every day. From half truths to whole lies, and scary facts.

With infinite scroll in facebook, and all the latest newsletters being about the crisis, it is easy to be dragged into the fight or flight mode again and again – tiring your body and mind in the process. So, track how much time you let yourself consume such information. Bookmark only a few prominent news sources and put a limit on the consumption. Say 30 mins max per day. Ignore the thread for the rest of the time.

Personally I am checking https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirus for all the updated data, and just prothomalo/bdnews24 for the news in BD. I have not been able to stop scrolling FB for the latest news totally though– but have put a timer on the app so that I cannot run it for more than 30 mins a day.

4. Bonus tip: re-start doing something you did in school breaks: If you have sold your soul to the job a long time ago, it might be difficult to feel alive at home. A good idea is to remember what you used to enjoy when you were younger. Be it painting, story books, video games, practicing a musical instrument, anything that can take you back to that mental space – while keeping the social distancing alive.

Here are my points. Comment your ones below, I will edit this post to incorporate new tips into it.