Errr...where do I begin...
“Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way.
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town,
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way.
Tired lying in the sunshine, staying home to watch the rain.
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today.”Perfect lyrics from one of my all-time favorite numbers Time by none other than Pink Floyd from their album, Delicate Sound of Thunder.
Well, these are thunderous times, aren’t they? When I was in a job, my boss’s boss had made a statement that we raved about back then. And he made that statement on the pretext of showcasing your talent or your achievements to the organization. He said, “Performance in silos is like brilliance on the moon.” The profundity in his statement had left both my boss and I gawking at each other. As much as it’s the mantra within an organization even today, with the prevalent lockdown scenario, isolation is the essential trait and it seems that performance/ brilliance will have to happen in our silos and the moon would be the best place to be.
Brace it, but you are going to be hounded by procrastination. Laziness is going to be your ally. Confusion will cause your mind to spin. Anxiety will grip you. Pain will be back-breaking. Fear will make you shit your pants as you may see the number of COVID-infected people go up on the ticker of your TV/mobile screens. The social-keeda inside you will keep itching in your ass to go out but you will be clueless not knowing what to do and how to do. You may feel frustrated, irritated to say the least. But all hope isn’t yet lost my friends. Hope is what fuels our desires for a better future reality. Adversity helps us get in touch with who we really are, and hope directs us to what is it that we wish to be.
Now, let’s not be all hunky-dory, shall we now. This is the perfect time for you to get in touch with yourself, reflect and inculcate some of the things that might take you a very long way. In view of this, I have designed a hail-hearty recipe of FIVE ingredients for all you #WFH or work-from-home warriors out there.
So, let’s kick the tires and light the fires, big daddy!
TAKE THE PAN OUT AND TOSS THIS IN - #1 DON’T GO ON A BINGE WATCHING SPREE
“Have you watched YOU on Netflix?” said one.
“I am on season 3, as of now.” said the other. “It’s super gripping. I watched the last season back-to-back.” The other proudly added.
Netflix’s stock is soaring these days and will continue to do so. They say a TV is an excellent slave but a terrible master. Temptations are galore. Research has shown that with technology, as TVs have become smarter, and our viewing experiences have altered, we have become more vulnerable. The watching-the-latest-original has become a topic of discussion, and the coolness of it has made us all attach a sense of pride to these. If I haven’t seen it, makes me feel like an almost outcast in a group. In times like these, when you are confined in your house, you will be tempted to reach out to your remote and switch on and be carried away by emotions. The plethora of choices that are displayed in front of you will not only entice you but will also confuse you, thanks to the paradox of choice – “the more choices there are to choose from, the lesser satisfied we will be with whatever choice we make.”
It’s okay to be seduced by it some of the times but not let it govern your time. So, it’s not to avoid being seduced altogether, because eventually, you will be, but it’s best to limit your seduction.
Following are some pointers to help you keep your pants up:
Have preset times in a day to watch TV but only for a preset duration (e.g. 1 hour a day or two). The latter duration part is the most crucial. Be aggressive on the duration and it’s not necessary that you have to watch the entire movie at one go. The beauty of these apps lies in the aspect that, you can begin from where you left. It’s not like the erstwhile cable television where the movie will be aired from 930 to 1130pm and if you miss it, you have no idea when it will be aired next.
Decide what is it that you want to watch. A movie, a series or Kapil Sharma (Lol !). This shall help you limit the irritating-time-wasting part of browsing through the categories and not fall prey to the analysis-paralysis of picking one.
Once decided on what to watch, stick to it for that preset duration. You have decided you are going to watch a movie, then after fifteen minutes, you click the back button on your fire stick and go onto watch something else, then again after some time you change, and so on. This happens to all of us. This only leads to more stress and more irritation.
·And for heaven’s sake, stop watching News at this time. The COVID ticker at the bottom of the channels, showing the rising number of COVID-infected people, is like a ticking time-bomb about to go off. This shall not only raise your fear and panic but may also cause paranoia. The pandemic may not get to you but panic will surely kill you.
If you go on a binge, you will be sure to feel regret, after a few days of bingeing “Shit, I think I wasted all that time.” (yawn!)
THEN ADD THIS IN THE PAN - #2 FEED YOUR MIND AND THE ATTENTION DIET
As I write this article, I have checked my WhatsApp at least a dozen times, twitter three times, facebook thrice and Instagram three times, even gone, had lunch, surfed the internet randomly and checked what’s on TV news. Sigh! Over a period of time, as we have been plundered with information from all corners, our attention spans have drastically reduced. Just like current follows the path of least resistance, we too fend for the stuff which requires the least amount of time and effort from us. So, just as we need to constantly strain our body to the hunters of a workout regime, it’s vital to strain or force our minds consciously and continuously to work hard for the information we seek. We further need to deprive our attention of the constant stimulation it desires.
Since there are massive amounts of information to feed on, it becomes all the more difficult to choose what to focus on. Sometime back, Mark Manson wrote an article titled The Attention Diet where he brings out a golden rule to beat this constant craving. He wrote,
In a world with infinite information and opportunity, you don’t grow by knowing or doing more, you grow by the ability to correctly focus on less.
And goes on to bring out Two Goals of the Attention Diet:-
·Firstly, what stuff is worth paying attention to?
·Second, to find out nutritional pieces of information, to feed your mind.
And the Three Steps to the Attention Diet:
To cut out Junk information i.e. information that is unreliable, unhelpful or unimportant. It is short-form content, flashy, emotionally charged and addictive. Junk information hooks us because it is pleasing and easy, causing us to develop low-level addictions. Junk gives us an escape route from our daily stresses, and so eliminating this would be tough! It would trigger a volley of emotions inside.
To correctly identify Nutritious information, i.e. information that is reliable, helpful, very likely important. It is long-form content, thought-provoking, requiring deep analysis and reflection. Nutritional information, since it is long, will be considered boring. It will require us to stay vested on something for longer durations. It will be tough to consume such pieces of information but they will help you with some high-level behaviors.
Consciously cultivate habits of deeper focus and inculcate longer attention spans.
As the country locks-down (fingers crossed) and the COVID ticker goes up, it’s best to take time off and focus on stimulating your mind with the most nutritional information available just like you would like to feed your body with the most nutritious of diets. Long-form of content works best here - in the form of books, audiotapes, articles, etc. They stimulate both the brain centers – emotional and reasoning parts. Sitting with interesting reads, in books and articles, hones your attention spans, sharpening it.
Take this as a boon time, while you sit with your feet on the table, to think of the junk in your information life, and eliminate it.
·Unsubscribe to crappy shit and subscribe to better shit.
·Delete ridiculous phone apps and keep the ones with the most utility.
·Stack yourself with the books you wish to read before you die, and get on to it. You are not going to live long enough to know experience everything so you might as well read on what you want to know about.
·Pick out domains outside your job world – say on areas like health, mind, AI, cybercrime, internet, etc. Make a list of these books outside your work domain but within your areas of interest and add them to your Flipkart, Amazon cart. And begin reading them one by one!
·If you wish to search on information, stick to Wikipedia. That’s a no-bullshit unprejudiced and straight forward info.
SPICE IT UP BY ADDING THIS TADKA! - #3 DONT JUST KEEP WORKING CONTINUOUSLY
Are you a workaholic? Okay, no offense. I know you want to catch up with the work that has piled up off late but “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” I wouldn’t advise you to go play outside but at this time, no-work would mean managing your distractions or engagements wisely.
If you can’t meet up with friends & family socially, catch up with them on call. You have been too busy to not to. Applies to me too!
Catch up on your entertainment bit intermittently - that episode that you were watching or that movie you had left halfway, but keeping in mind what I highlighted in point #1.
Exercise at home and space your workouts - You may be working, then stop after an hour of work and do those push-ups or crunches. Or take out those dust-laden weights lying somewhere in your house, and start pumping iron at home. Space out your workouts – like a little in the morning, a little after work, a little in the evening. That will invigorate you from the boredom of staying inside and keep you active.
4. Keep the stretches on - Ever wondered, that the fulcrum of most of the activities you do is on your neck. Come to think of it, your neck is the probably the most physically stressed out part of your body. If you are watching TV, the pressure is on your neck. If you are working on your laptop, the pressure is on your neck. If you are reading, the pressure is on your neck. If you are chatting on mobile, pressure is on your neck. If you are surfing the internet on the phone, the pressure is on your neck. If you are tweeting, the pressure is on your neck. If you are posting on TikTok, the pressure is on your neck. Be consciously aware of the time you are spending on each activity, leave it all of a sudden, and do some stretches. Stretch your neck. Stretch your shoulders. Stretch back. Stretch your thighs and legs. Rotate your wrists and ankles.
Some good links to get an idea about stretches is :
.
ADD A PINCH OF THIS - #4 EAT RIGHT IN TIMES OF STRESS
I could have clubbed this point under any of the above, but I wanted to be very blatant on this. We are in a way in extraordinary circumstances. My parents have seen the war (some or the other) times during their era, but I have never experienced a situation when we have been under complete lockdown, even if on certain days. I have heard and seen curfews on TV, but never have actually been in one. This is a different kind of emergency. This makes me feel a tad bit stressed. I am sure it arouses a form of stress, frustration, irritation, anxiety, depression, sadness in you too. But do you know what our body’s natural answer to combat all this is? Eating a lot of yummy, tasty, sugary fat. Yes! I know ‘coz this is a natural response. Hence, it’s essential that you don’t lose focus on what you are eating or you may land up gaining a couple of kilos by the time we are out of this.
I have harped about ‘Eating Right’ in a previous article of mine (click here to again refer to it, if you like), but here are a few rules to follow:
Don’t randomly munch on what’s kept in front in front of you, or what you have stocked up. Be aware of what you are putting in your mouth, and ask yourself – Is this what I am supposed to eat at this time?
Stick ‘to Eating Right’ and to the timings, like you usually do. If you don’t know the hell I am talking about, go back to my article on '3 Pillars of Fitness' to get an overview.
If you wish to eat something sweet, have it one-and-half hours after your lunch. Not after dinner or any meal that you have just had. However, keep it to a minimum of once or twice a week. And limit the quantity. If you have no idea, call me to know how many portions you should consume!
Have lots and lots of water.
This time in a way is a boon for you as you may not be able to, one, go out to eat crap, and two, you won’t be able to order crap from outside as delivery will be restricted. My only request is don’t buy crap and stock it, like chips, biscuits, etc and blindly munch on them.
LASTLY, STIR UP THE CONCOCTION WITH - #5 BE RESPONSIBLE AND ACT RESPONSIBLY
As the days go by, and we see a rise in the number of infected people, we feel saddened by the people who have been inadvertently infected and have been quarantined. But we also are angered by idiots who continue to act irresponsibly by way of – continue to party, continue to be a part of social gatherings, continue to host events, continue to skip the scans at the airport, continue to hide their medical conditions, continue to travel, etc and continue to endanger the lives of others. Either they are blind to see what’s going on around us or simply are indifferent. Either they actually have lost their capacity to think or they have become complete nihilists. Being responsible has not only to do with oneself it’s to do with others too
A humble appeal to all the ‘intelligent and all-knowing’ people of the world to:
CARE about others and not only yourself;
CONTRIBUTE in prevention of COVID from tipping by not scratching-your-itch of going out. Let it itch there and distract yourself and stay indoors, whoever the hell you may be because your outgoing personality is killing us all;
EMPATHIZE with the people who are infected, instead of out-casting them because they are infected. They are humans after all, and not cases.
DON'T MAKE FUN of those infected while sitting over drinks. PRAY for their speedy recovery.
DON'T try to act corona-invincible ‘coz you aren’t.
STOP being mechanical-forward-button-pressing-dumbos, everyone now has enough knowledge already.
Establish a better and healthier form of communication on your social media, and not just highlighting the number of cases/deaths.
Have better things to talk about, not just about coronavirus and make-some-or-the-other- opinionated-bullshit up.
Okay, I am done with the above hearty recipe for work-from-home and for all.
Stay safe, stay healthy and stay fit.
