WFH déjà vu: How to reorient yourself as you switch to WFH (all over again)

Constant change can be disorienting. But setting doable targets to rebuild a strong routine can help you get back on that WFH horse faster.

Back in March 2020, many of us began working from our homes. As we learnt to be more comfortable with work from home (WFH), we mustered much enthusiasm for creating ‘our space’ and trying to make the most of the saved transit time.

In 2021, some offices tried transitioning to hybrid work or back to office full-time - with mixed success (remember the Great Resignation). After a rollercoaster of a two-year period, having switched from WFH to hybrid office to working from office, many of us are now back to where we began nearly two years ago: working from home.

If you’d managed to create anything resembling a routine in these months, it’s gone out of the window, perhaps one too many times. So, what is the toll this takes on us and our productivity, and what can we do about it?

“Human mind works best in predictability,” Bhagwagar says. “Waking up at a certain time, going for a short walk or, really just having a cup of tea before you set out for work sets the tone for how your day will shape up.”

Routines anchor your life. They give you something to look forward to – this could be a daily morning walk, a mid-week dinner with your friend, or a weekend movie date with your partner.

Specifically, morning routines help our brain perform some of our earliest tasks of the day automatically – walking the dog, going for a run, having coffee – this helps us redirect our attention to non-routine or more important tasks. It’s not unlikely that you’ve found inspiration for your marketing deck during your morning walk. Contrary to popular perception, routines do help creativity. Importantly, they’re central to productivity. Take out the routines and you’re at sea.

Three American researchers, Shawn T. McClean, Joel Koopman and Junhyok Yim, conducted a series of tests on nearly 400 administrative employees to quantify the effects of routine disruptions. They discovered that even a small change in their routine – something as minor as missing a morning cup of coffee – resulted in people starting their day less calm and more mentally exhausted. The ripple effect of the missed coffee or waking up late, was leading them to be less productive.

Anything that disturbs homeostasis – the self-regulating process which helps us maintain stability in our lives even as we adjust to the ever-changing conditions outside – leads to anxiety, says Malvika Fernandes. “These last two years have been doing nothing but that. Just as we were getting settled with the idea of the pandemic, the second wave hit. Just when we were adjusting to life after the second wave, comes the third wave. This relentless uncertainty leads to feelings of helplessness and lack of control. All of this can affect productivity or, worse, lead to mental health illnesses,” she says.

Back in the innocent pre-pandemic times, entropy was a word liberally bandied about in corporate presentations. Today, it’s the state we’re living in.

“No matter what we may want to believe, human minds thrive under structure,” Bhagwagar says. “For most part of human history, these structures were imposed by our work schedules – leave in the morning, return home in the evening. With no one imposing these structures, we’re either becoming too lax or too strict on ourselves. There are those who’ve been treating the last two years as one long vacation and others who’ve regimented their lives to such an extent that they’re getting burnt out. Neither, of course, is ideal.”

Turns out, as with everything else, balance is key. But the most important aspect in being able to strike it is to set a series of small routines that’ll serve as anchors to your day.

1. Wake up at a fixed time

5 am club is all very good but is it really possible for you to wake up that early? Set a realistic expectation – it could well be 8 am – but stick to it. Snoozing your alarm does more damage than waking up late.

2. Map out the first hour (or two) of your morning

The first hour of the day is usually the time you have to yourself. Since it’s back to WFH, it’s safe to say that the first hour of your morning is largely in your control. Even if you’re in-charge of kitchen duties (as I sometimes am), much can be achieved by planning ahead the previous night. Our lunch, for instance, is ready the night before leaving me with a good hour or more to myself.

It’s ok if you cannot squeeze in a workout or a walk – let’s face it there’s only that much you can do if you wake up at 8 am – but be mindful of that first hour of the day and map it out. Can you savour your breakfast instead of pounding it? Can you schedule a 15-minute meditation routine instead of mindlessly scrolling on Twitter? Can you actually have a relaxing shower instead of rushing through it? You get where I’m going with this. Truth is it is possible to map out the first hour of your day instead of just rolling out of bed and walking over to the laptop.

3. Avoid overscheduling

Once you’re able to wake up at a fixed time and map out the first hour of your day, you would have successfully anchored yourself and the rest of the day becomes somewhat easy to conquer. Yet it’s important to not go overboard with your scheduling. Set some time aside for things you like. It’s ok to watch Netflix during lunch with your partner and maybe return to work 15-20 minutes later than you otherwise would have. Why not squeeze in a nap if you can. Feel like taking a short walk in the apartment complex? Go for it. Afternoon sex? Why not! The point is you don’t need to be strict about every single hour of every single day. You can afford to go easy on yourself. But…

4. Don’t treat every day like the weekend

“Because we’re at home, our brains don’t necessarily think of it as a workday,” says Bhagwagar, “So it’s easy to slip up and treat every day like Sunday. Avoid ordering take-out every other day. Watch your alcohol consumption. Don’t stay up beyond a certain time if you have work the next day. Even if you’re taking it easy, you must be able to impose some discipline to your day before it goes out of your hand and spirals into an unproductive week, month, or worse, year.”