How To Make 'Work From Home' Work For You

As someone who has been Working from Home for a year and a half now, I thought I should share my two bits on how I overcame the initial frustrations of this arrangement and have come to embrace it.

My journey

I have outlined below the phases that I went through before I could really embrace Working from Home as a way of life. In hindsight, I do believe that this cycle is equally applicable for any change journey that one might face.

Phase 1: Fighting it

I have always been an extroverted and gregarious person. Hence, being confined to the house with no colleagues or daily social interaction was quite an uphill task for me; and one that I certainly did not take to very kindly at the start. My initial days saw a lot of frustration, loneliness, insecurity and at times unproductivity.

I often found myself feeling low and sorry for myself. The tape that seemed to play in my head was – “I am going against my nature by staying at home”. Anyone I met over the weekend or socially, I found myself complaining to about my situation and how the odds were stacked up against me.

I would tell anyone and everyone, who would listen or even pretend to, how very lonely I was. Or how this arrangement was not working for me.

This was a very gruelling and testing time during my WFH stint. I will call this period “Fighting it”.

This phase lasted for a few months. I was getting work done, but not to my optimal capacity. I was going through the motions of WFH, but as someone with no other option and with a lot of resentment.

Phase 2: Reframing it

What really triggered a change was an article that I chanced upon about “Managing Energy”.

It really changed my perspective about how I viewed my situation. The excerpt in the article that really changed my mindset was as follows

People can cultivate positive emotions by learning to change the stories they tell themselves about the events in their lives. Often, people in conflict cast themselves in the role of “Victim”, blaming others or external circumstances for their problems. Becoming aware of the difference between the facts in a given situation and the way we interpret those facts can be powerful in itself.

The article goes on to talk about three alternate lenses to the Victim lens that could really change the way one feels about a situation

With the Reverse lens, for example, people ask themselves, “What would the other person in this conflict say? And in what ways might that be true?”
With the Long lens, they ask, “How will I most likely view this situation in six months?”
With the Wide lens, they ask themselves, “Regardless of the outcome of this issue, how can I grow and learn from it?”

Each of these lenses can help people intentionally cultivate more positive emotions.

Although it was a conscious choice, to enter a WFH arrangement, I was constantly telling myself that I was going against my nature. I was making myself and those around me feel miserable for a choice that I had so willingly made. I was positioning myself as “A victim”. The moment I considered “Reframing it”, things started to really look up.

Phase 3: Embracing it

Once the reframing was triggered, I slowly moved into the third phase, which I will call “Embracing it”.

I started to consciously consider the many benefits of Working from home.

It gave me the opportunity to manage my time the way I wanted to
I was suddenly thinking of new and innovative ways to connect with people: Working on a research project by gathering multiple perspectives, writing articles with inputs from others, posting videos of my dance on social media etc.
I saved a lot of time on commute
It saved me a lot of time that I might have lost on tea breaks, water cooler conversations or extended lunch breaks
It allowed me the opportunity to focus on my health and wellness
It gave me the opportunity to manage my time in such a way, that I could pursue my other passions. For example: I was able to wake up early every morning and put in an hour of dance practise which culminated in a solo dance recital
It allowed a lot of time for reflection and serious introspection

Today, I still have days when I miss the camaraderie and colleagueship of a job that requires face to face presence. And there are days when I feel I could have been a lot more productive. However, the difference is that I constantly try to look for ways to reframe my perspective and look at how I can do things differently.

How we can ‘Reframe’ the current situation

It has been my observation that while the current situation is certainly alarming, frustrating and fear inducing in a completely unprecedented way, it calls for a lot of reframing to tide over calmly.

Reframing or focusing on happiness does not mean denying or avoiding a situation, it simply means we are building positivity. Research shows that positive experiences increase resilience during crises. And that people who experienced more positive emotions during a crisis were more resilient, experiencing fewer symptoms of mental illness in the aftermath of those crises.

During these times, can we look at innovative ways to stay connected with people and reframe our situation? We can take a cue from some of the following examples

Yesterday I joined 7000 others for an online dance workout session from the comfort of my home through a fitness app
Chris Martin, John Legend, and other artists are performing impromptu live concerts online for their fans who cannot attend concerts in person
Google is working on a “Play together” feature in their games app which will enable individuals to organize with their friends to play games together online.

Even as we talk about the future of work, about moving towards a gig economy, an AI enabled world and an age of disruption, I think that the current scenario provides an opportunity to see how we can make technology work for us to bring us closer and act as an enabler.

On a lighter note as someone working from home for the past one and a half years, I have not felt more connected to others in a long time! ?

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Vaishnavi Chella Member since March 17, 2020

Vaishnavi Chella is a Human Resources professional with 4+ years of experience. She has worked in the past with organizations such as Infosys and EY and is currently a Lead Consultant at ‘totus consulting’, a boutique HR consulting firm. She is an active blogger and writes on the areas of human resources, psychology and sociology. She lives in Gurugram, India.