Your wellness while working from home is a combination of mental wellness, physical well-being, and understanding the impact of Covid-19 on our children (for parents).
I was recently made one of the wellness champions, and was having a discussion with my boss about an upcoming event. I kind of recommended that, we consider dressing up for the event. Pre-Covid, the event would naturally have a theme, and we always all look forward to dressing up, and having fun together, so I figured why not? I also thought about the fact that, most of the team have been working from home since March, and with the Covid numbers erratic charade, people have not been leaving their homes as often as before dressed up, so l felt it would be a nice opportunity to do so.
Work from home has been promoted before Covid-19 but definitely not at this magnitude. It was kind of reserved for a few sets of people, but suddenly, due to the pandemic, people were compelled into it. It was unexpected, and most people expected to work from home were not ready for it. It was a huge CHANGE that must be adhered to immediately to keep us safe.
People struggled and are still struggling. Some don’t have the space to work from home, some have WIFI issues, others have children at home, who loved the fact that their parents are at home, and expect to play, relate and spend time together, but instead, they are working from home. Lots of disruptions from various quarters, everyone is experiencing stress at diverse levels, but work, and life must go on.
Then came the new vocabulary, mask, social distancing, physical distancing, nimble, fluid, agile, hand sanitizer, 2 meters apart, essential workers, resilience, hybrid learning, wellness, quarantine, lockdown, red zone, empathy, self-care, virtual, hand hygiene, super-spreader, PPE, asymptomatic, droplets, please add to the list. Some absolutely new, some not so new but now everyday lingo.
Some of us were still going to work, but it was different strokes for different people. People going to work wanted to stay home, those at home, miss not going to the office.
It was scary, still is, with so many infected, too many dead, but a lot more recovered, but again, we cannot just lie down and expect whatever is coming our way, we have the responsibility to do something. Time is still on the move, and nothing can stop it.
Since the pandemic, l have been going to work, but effective November 16th, 2020, I started a new role and now work from home.
I was opportune to attend an event organized by Council of Nigerian Professionals Inc. (CNP) in Ottawa on Saturday, November 14th, 2020, where we had great minds in the health industry, and an educator in the school system share insights with us on how to maintain our mental and physical wellness, and supporting our children in school.
Some of the tips I took away includes:
- Having a warm lemon water drink in the morning
- Having a schedule or routine
- Getting ready to start the day (shouldn’t matter where you work from)
- Having a separate office space (not using bedroom, dining room as office)
- Not work in your PJ’s
- Having breaks and lunch
- Not working 24/7
- Know your limits
- Eat lots of fruits
- Do physical activity that you love
- Allocate time for working and for resting
- Keep up with personal hygiene
- Eat your dessert before the real meal
- Be involved with your child / children schooling
- Do something creative with, and spend time with your children
I could go on and on, the workshop was that informative and impactful. Also, it is important not to boil the ocean but pick a few and start doing something, then you can build on it with time.
The speakers also stressed the importance of being happy and or comfortable with our 4 core areas namely:
- Relationship
- Health
- Career
- Faith
They talked about how these areas affects our total being. I was talking about this to someone about why most people (especially in my community) do not try to create time for these types of workshops/seminars. And she answered, and I quote “they’re more focused about settling down, settling in, having their career on the go before thinking of other things”.
That statement just confirms that, if one of the core areas is not well aligned, we may not be able to be our best self. Having said that, it is important to put in the effort to understand what it takes to have holistic wellness, than focus on one area now, and leave another area to suffer. Everything needs to go pari- passu.
We all need to be intentional with our holistic wellness. I hope to use a couple of the ideas above at a time, and then build on it.
As the year draws to a close, I wish you all nothing but wellness, safety, and a holistic healthy living.
