3 things 'WFH'​ taught me

Initially, I mistook WFH to be WTF. Even about a month back, I thought WFH was a typo. When I started working from home from the 16th March I could not think of a worse idea than this. With time, however, I have gotten used to it and now enjoying it. 'WFH' has had some notable changes in my life.

Please do not take me wrong, I am equally scared of the pandemic and want it to get over. I know things have been really sad and disoriented for the whole world. In this chaos, I have discovered some new perspectives and I am enjoying those.

Here are 3 positive side effects of working from home that I have experienced:

• A better work-life balance

Yes, The general perception is that when you are working from home you are available 24X7 to your boss and your company. I get it and yes you are (unless you live in a low network reception area) but working from home gave me a sense of comfort and cushioned my thoughts. From living a singular life in a different city where my routine went for a toss at least 3 times a day to waking up on time and eating a healthy breakfast was a welcome change. I reconnected with my school friends after six long years and it feels wonderful when you can have some unadulterated fun once in a while.

Working from home has helped with my concentration as well. I think because I am actually socializing a bit more and not staring at my laptop screen the whole day I can concentrate more when I sit for work. When I am sitting in front of my laptop it means I have actual work and not an excuse to not do anything else but work.

• Learning other skills (And also brushing up a few old ones)

Oh yes, I am learning to drive and now can't wait to go on a road trip with me behind the wheels. I also think I might have to buy an automatic gear fulled car when I make my first purchase. I am terrible at understanding gears.

Other than this I am learning (trying to learn) Spanish, reading, improving my skills working on my Ph.D. applications and improving my website. These things could only happen because I am home and relaxed otherwise. The next on my bucket list is to learn some coding!

Lockdown was the time when I could look into other aspects of life and how to sharpen and manage some skills.

• Experimenting with other forms and mediums

Like I said before the lockdown gave me some extra time and that helped me in brushing up on different aspects of my life. For the past 2 years, I have wanted to design websites and the lockdown gave me the perfect opportunity. I was approached with a few projects and this time I could finally say a 'Yes' as I had that extra time to deal with it. I started with the projects which mostly included rebranding and UX/UI designs and I loved doing all of it (even the occasional rejections).

I also got some perspective on what I wanted to do in the future. The break from the regular office trips helped in retrospecting my decisions. I started blogging and designing for myself and there have been some wonderful self-discoveries along the way. I have picked up some old hobbies like origami and handmade print-making and it has been wonderful. I did my graduation project on a handmade printed clothing line and it felt great to go back to where it all started.

Am I saving money?

Of course not. If anything I am spending more. In-store shopping has been replaced by online shopping & Uber ride fares to food getting delivered to my doorstep. If you are spending 12 hours in front of a screen you are bound to get dragged into the world of e-commerce and end up buying things you don't really need.