When famous celebrities started to post their vents in social media about being ‘locked up’ in their own houses in the current situation brought on by COVID-19, many vented against them in return, ranting and blaming them for their spoilt child syndrome. True, how could they complaint? After-all they are living in their sprawling mansions complete with massive pools, gardens, personal staff, basically everything money can buy. That is in complete contrast to us mere mortals who have to make do with our mortgage bound little dwellings in the suburbs. Lockdown has left us unable to venture freely anywhere except for occasional visits to grocery stores, walks or joggings around our area, or for lucky few beaches and swims in the oceans. Well when the disease first started to make headways, though precautionary, we were allowed to work from home in shifts. Pretty quickly that became a national order and we have our asses glued to our home office chairs since. True to its appeal, work from home, it was very exciting at first. You get to stay home and earn! Thanks to technology and my profession, it was really fortunate I could do it, since so many have lost their jobs. Economy is sliding backwards down the hill and things could start to look really ugly if the lockdown continues to keep offices and shops closed, streets deserted. Like I said, it was exciting at first, get to stay home, enjoy backyard and finally get to spend all waking hours with family instead of toiling away at work.

Well, soon afterwards though, different sets of reality start to set into your life, and this is not working from home you used to have before, not the same at all. With early morning meetings, back to back calls and not really being able to pull away from desk, because everyone is at home, everyone knows this is how it is for everyone, will result in you working much more than you were at work, from the dawn to dusk. You cannot really venture outside due to lockdown, all you have is an outing to your backyard chair and staring to far away sky, rain or shine. That is if you are lucky to have a backyard, if you live in an apartment, the only ‘backyard’ would be your balcony, so a real feeling of being trapped.

The lofty things you thought you could do working from home, like gardening, cleaning up your sheds, reorganising your closets, have a nice family lunch, spending quality time with your family, actually hardly materialize. You are home bound, but not at home really. Your life is still sucked away by work, actually end up working more hours. This is a real secret the employers should have found out earlier, before Corona happened, people actually put in more hours, more intense hours, like it or not. For parents with young ones, the little princes and princesses will appear completely different, they turn into little monsters, interrupting your calls, work, jumping into your keyboards and chucking those long tantrums in the middle of your conference calls. Suddenly you realize how the in laws or parents that you conveniently dropped off your little princes and princesses to coped with these crazy little humans :-), and how thankful you are to them now. Now that they have full access to you, you have no place to run of hide either, you have to play with them like it or not, let them climb all over you, let them hit your head or face as they show their affection to mummy or daddy the way they know best, wait for them to fall asleep during their naps in the afternoon, change nappies while clutching your mobile between your jaw and your neck, regardless of whatever you are in the middle of. Remember those families complaining, who returned from overseas flights and were taken straight from airports to being locked up in five star hotels for a two week quarantine? Imagine how they lived for those fourteen days crammed together in their golden cages, young kids and parents, with no escape, not even allowed to go down to hotel lounge or gardens.

Joy and stress all coin up together into this mushy confusing fur ball you never imagined  was a part of working from home. Hmm, it dawns on you finally, the combination of lockdown and working from home this time around, is not a holiday after-all.

But at least you have Netflix, you scan still continue to flash watch ‘Tiger King’ in the evenings, and you discover suddenly how many cats and dogs your neighbours have, how they sound, that tree in or next to your house and those birds who call those trees home. Your life starts to resemble the roulette wheel, only that it is a predictable one this time, and you know that is going to hit you in the morning, its a full circle you now know very well. Or you might feel like you are running on a hilly road with infinite number of ups and downs, sun shines, you start your day with morning Webex meetings, intermittent breaks with walks in the backyard, intense work, more online meeting, then suddenly you realize it is 5 or 6 pm, day seems to slowly fade, but your work is still humming, suddenly you realize its dinner time. Do your chores, have some TV time with your family, some more work on that laptop you have kept it humming, and before you know it it is mid night. And the dread sinks in without any warning, you have about 6-7 hours to settle your mind, sleep, and the cycle starts again tomorrow. There is no break, variety of pattern to your day. Suddenly you realize how much you would enjoy your daily drive or even that daily commute to work you hated so much, those coffee breaks with colleagues, banters, walks around work. You might still be a modern day slave that you call yourself, but now those little freedoms seem so savoury, valuable, just can’t help missing it.

With no end in site for lockdown yet, your cravings will only increase. But hope you spend your time wisely and achieve something other than lost hours at work and meetings. Make sure you refresh old or earn some new learnings, give yourself a chance to spend some time on your hobby you wanted it so badly, talk to your family, so that you have something to show for once the light appears at the (end of the) tunnel eventually. Just remember, nothing in life is free, but I am sure freedom will taste lot better then!