While Sweta was wondering why she is not able to get enough ideas for her content at the moment, there was Komal, not able to understand why her back pain is getting worse, no wonder we are dealing with a work from the home crisis.

But what is work from the home crisis?

On March 25th, 2020 when workers left the office they did not know that this was their last day of the year neither as students did we had any idea.

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Covid 19 has transformed our relationship with work, some have lost their jobs while others are introduced to new ways of working. Does this mean we are in the period of the work revolution? or is it a crisis?

working or studying from a home always seemed like a dream but the pandemic changed it all. We were introduced to our new office "The Zoom Studio".

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when the pandemic started everyone had a sense of relief, we were enjoying our little sweet times with our families and ourselves in the belief that we will be seeing our peers in few days or so, but alas. It has been more than a year since we have interacted with them face to face. 

What have these changes done to the workspace in general?

According to the MSC research student vedika "We are all in a melancholic state right now. It is getting more difficult to detach ourselves from work. You are constantly working, the pressure is always on and then there’s the added pressure of home responsibilities too, she further adds that if it continues for long we will be seeing some permanent effects of isolation."
Talking about why the work environment plays an important role she adds " our work environment gives us a purpose, it gives us motivation. when we see our peers and work with them in the office we have a sense of motivation, talking with our boss, the tea breaks are a great way to feel motivated and specially brainstorm ideas, which sitting alone in a room with family shouting at your doorstep can be a huge problem"

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This lack of choice of being able to choose between workspace and a rest space can give different signals to our brain which can hamper our productivity but also our body clock. According to therapist Annie Miller "When we use our bed for other activities, like working, we create an association with wakefulness. We want the bed to be a cue for sleep, and working in bed weakens this association, which is not the case since the pandemic has started, therefore many young people are experiencing a high level of anxiety. Their productivity has reduced dramatically."

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while Komal agrees to this but she also admits that staying home has allowed her to have more time for her kids as compared to before. She further admits that though her body has taken a toll due to increased hours of screen time. Her psychological state has also been affected. She says " being able to rest while you are constantly working is tough, it just doesn't feel like a break!"

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Talking about finding the silver lining Vedika says "Though being able to separate workspace boundaries is getting tougher among individuals, we should be looking at the silver lining of it. The silver lining of being able to work at the convenience of your home, having to wear whatever you like. There are many cons to it but if you start looking at the pros, it will help you to cope with this crisis".

While increased working hours, screen time, and less productivity have been stable for the working individuals, work-life has also not been easy for the student.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweta who is a full-time student at the University of Tasmania, Australia, and is also creating content side by side describes her work-study balance as "hectic".
She describes her post-pandemic state as "anxious". She further adds that using the same space for studying, making content, and resting has indefinitely slowed her down, she is less productive and feels that her body requires more breaks as compared to the pre-pandemic era.
While the world is still deciding on a revolution for good or a crisis for bad, Vedika suggests it's time that we should start looking at mechanisms to cope with it. She suggests "seeing the silver lining behind it is important now. we should also not leave working on our bodies! physical exercise is a must here!,which will keep our  happy hormone dopamine in place"

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Sweta admits that exercise has not only improved her health but also tremendously has affected her productivity.
Sweta also added " When you are working from the same room and doing everything there, the key is to set priorities, If you start setting priorities, things can get easier, and getting work done is no more a problem"

Studies show after all these days many employees still prefer to stay at home than to go and physically work with people. Therefore it is difficult to understand whether this a revolution or a crisis?

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