Work-life imbalance: Have we been working from home or living at work?

The pandemic changed several things drastically - from our social lives to working conditions, everything transformed in an instant. Whether it was longer hours at work or cleaning the house, the demands on our time increased manifold while our capacity remained the same.

"For a significantly large population, studies have shown an increase in the adverse psychological effects of working from home like loneliness, anxiety, stress, and increased pressure along with depression. Finding it harder to mentally switch off from work has led to the disruption of quality time spent with family members and finding less or no time to spend with oneself. Hence, creating a work life balance can be difficult when working from home because of lack of effective time and goal management. Also, difficulty in communication and establishing healthy boundaries are common obstacles," explains Ruhi Satija, a city-based psychiatrist and counselling therapist.

Mid-Day.com spoke to young professionals in demanding jobs to understand the toll of working from home on their performance and mental health. Further, an expert suggests ways to strike a balance in this work arrangement.

Vritika Lalwani, 27, freelance communications designer
Mumbai

A creative professional, Vritika Lalwani struggled with separating work from life. Pic/Vritika Lalwani

Vritika Lalwani was working as a visual graphic designer for an arts and culture space in Mumbai during the initial lockdown. The unprecedented expectation of working through a pandemic as if everything is normal and being expected to work longer hours affected the mental health of countless employees and led Lalwani to several existential moments. "For me there was a lot of pent-up frustration. There was so much uncertainty both in work and in life and no ways of unwinding. Measuring myself against metrics and clocks, planning for scenarios that might or might not happen-- what was the point of it all? Being prepared in advance sounded like propaganda that influencers and business coaches were constantly spewing, but they were empty promises of a future we couldn't really see."

"It made me really question the importance of what I was doing, what the meaning of work even was. It was a very existential time -- to confront everything you love to do, and have been trained to do as possibly useless in the long term. I still think about it, and it's sometimes very disheartening to think that we're so caught in the capitalist trap that our efforts just boil down to earning enough money to survive rather than following passions and sharpening skills."

Many reported feelings of guilt when they weren't being productive which led to uninterrupted workflow during the day. "Breaks of course were limited, and being flexible and responsible to my work meant being available 24x7 for not-so-quick edits, calls, and discussions. It became apparent that working from home meant having to justify (to others and myself) why I was spending time not being productive when I obviously had nothing else to do," admits Lalwani.

The exhaustive working from home scenario compromised her creative vision, "Each hour spent was calculated and productive. Despite being away from the watchful eyes at the office, Google calendars, hours spent on zoom calls, and agendas became markers for effort, and quantity of output quickly overtook quality. Speed and efficiency overtook thought and deliberation. The stress and pressure and lack of breaks and constantly changing timelines, I feel like my performance dropped which negatively impacted how passionate I felt about my job."

Work became the one thing most people immersed themselves in, thinking about it most of the time. "The separation between work and life became the most difficult to manage when life had apparently come to a standstill. Why not be in a meeting when there are no social commitments? Looking back, buying into this idea was my biggest mistake -- life did not actually come to a standstill. People lived, died, celebrated, and suffered in different ways, even if I was witnessing it from behind a screen. The interfaces of work and leisure were so similar that relaxing felt like 'work' so I was naturally inclined to reject it; whereas working on a Google doc felt normal, and explains why it was easier to accept even past working hours. I have now understood that everyone deserves rest, appreciation, and kindness. We're not machines, we're human beings just trying to do the best we can, every day," shares Lalwani.

Shanaya Sharma, 26, associate - private equity and hedge funds
Mumbai

With an experience of five years in the finance sector, Shanaya Sharma was filling big shoes at an international investment market research company. The Breach Candy resident fell into habits that led to her exceeding expectations, but were a result of her inability to switch off. "The comfort of being at home and being able to reconnect with family was the biggest benefit of working from home. However, the inability to step out of the house did raise the bar when it came to expectations of being available. Work-life balance definitely took a toll as I was working round the clock. I over-performed and it became a habit to work round the clock. I got used to checking emails till I slept off. In the office when you step out, you're tuned off for the day. At home, there was no stepping out. Being trapped inside the four walls of my room in the middle of a pandemic wasn't exactly vacation time," shares Sharma.

Elaborating on the vicious cycle of overworking, she adds, "A lot of people chose work to be an outlet for the pandemic frustration and those people didn't realise that not everyone would choose to cope the same way. Not just internally, even clients would burden us with the pressure of getting work done post 10 PM on weekends since we had nowhere to go. But that didn't mean I had nothing else to do--with the already constrained locked down life--I got further locked down to my room, in front of my screen. It was a cycle since clients over-worked, I over-worked."

Managers who were used to micro-managing and keeping a close eye on everyone's work schedules were grappling with remote monitoring. "My manager used to call people if they're offline on slack even for an hour to check whether they were working. He was hyper for the first six months till he realised that people are adults and can work without being watched. "

Neha Gupta, 24, writer
New Delhi

Delhi-based Neha Gupta creates content for a web portal. While she was used to looming deadlines, the pandemic and consequent working from home left her struggling with increased anxiety and exhaustion. "With life suddenly coming to a halt and being locked indoors, the initial days of the lockdown were marked by frustration, anxiety, and fear of the pandemic. I struggled with sleep - my sleep cycle went for a toss - which impacted my energy levels and ability to concentrate. Add to that the expectations of working longer hours because we didn't need to commute anymore."

Elaborating about the impact of increased workload on her already-stretched mental health, she says, "I found myself constantly worrying about the next task at hand and felt perennially exhausted. My shift effectively increased from nine to eleven hours, but that wasn't it. I remember designated holidays started being skipped since our physical presence wasn't required anymore and it was manageable because what else could we be doing at home? This led to increased frustration and a feeling of hopelessness. I felt trapped in a job that I loved due to what can only be termed as inconsiderate management of resources. I felt creatively drained because my mind was occupied throughout the day even when I wasn't actively working. I realised if I continued working this way, a breakdown was imminent, and conveyed the same to my colleagues but in an environment where everyone is overworked, my valid discomfort wasn't paid any heed."

Suhasini Khosla, 27, lawyer
Bengaluru

Suhasini Khosla is a 27-year-old associate at a Bengaluru law firm. Used to pulling all-nighters when closing deals, working from home pushed her boundaries even further. "There was no semblance of night or day. I was expected to be around 24/7 since it was a given that one cannot step out and therefore presumably have nothing better to do other than work, even at odd hours. Work-life balance in the corporate sector is a bit of a myth on a normal day. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that during this period little to no heed was paid to work life balance."

Three years of burning the midnight oil as an associate didn't prepare her for the toll this additional pressure took on her performance, "Creative thinking took a backseat and every day became about getting through that one day. Long term goals seemed far-fetched, since all I felt was that I was stuck on auto pilot mode, doing the same thing day in and day out, with little or no break. In a larger scheme of things, I may have closed several deals in these two years, but at what cost, one wonders."

Dr. Ruhi Satija, psychiatrist and counselling therapist
Mumbai

Finding it harder to mentally switch off from work has led to the disruption of quality time spent with family members according to Dr. Ruhi Satija. Pic/ Ruhi Satija

Establishing boundaries is necessary when it comes to working from home. It might be difficult for many to communicate the same to bosses and peers. Dr. Satija shares actionable steps which can be taken to ease the workload and strike the right balance.

1. Have a clear goal and agenda for the day, so it's easier to understand when the work is finished and can be wrapped up.
2. Putting your work phone and computer away once you wrap up work and during the weekend. If your work emails come to your personal smartphone, then remove the account, or get a dedicated phone for work.
3. Having a dedicated digital detox time when one does not access the phone or social media. It is important to focus on non-work related activities.
4. Communicating the work and break time to colleagues well in advance. You can also establish boundaries by stating you will not be checking emails during the weekend and put an out-of-office notification to remind people.
5. With responsibilities increasing, it is helpful to identify one day per week which is ‘chore-free'.
6. Having a dedicated space for work helps. A physical demarcation between your spaces of leisure and work helps your mind switch off. It is advisable to avoid working from your bed and keeping your sleeping area gadgets free.
7. Incorporate a mental health routine by starting some mental health practices such as breath work, guided meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, journaling, reading etc.

Also Read: World Kindness Day 2021: How eight young adults learned to be kind to themselves