Work From Home Induces Lethargy Things to know while working from home

The pandemic caused by novel coronavirus has turned the world upside down. When everyone was confined to their homes to contain the spread of COVID-19, technology came up as a savior. Our daily routine from visiting the gym to the office has completely shifted to working out at home because the passionate minds had found the alternatives of every task virtually. But we all know, extremism is always harmful. And this extreme utilization of technology has proved as evil to our healthy bodies. You might be thanking internet technology to allow you to carry forward your work. So you might be wondering how it is evil! Therefore, the work from home induces lethargy.

Here’s how work from home induces lethargy?

Owners or handlers of all the companies, gyms, institutes, offices, stadiums, halls, cinemas, etc. were supposed to shut down their premises in the lockdown across various countries. To continue their work and activities, people have started seeking alternatives. Approximately all the teachers, employees of IT Companies, Businesses, etc. have started working on their computer or mobile screens to earn the bread. And they continued ignoring the inducement of lethargy in their lives.

1. Changed Routine: Instead of going out and greeting friends, we all are stick to the screens of mobile and laptops. The lack of social contact through video conferences has snatched the social aspect of social animals. Some people might be navigating a new environment to spend time, but they would get confined to the four walls. The lack of access to go out to freshen up makes you feel exhausted. Sticking at the imbalanced and staggered routine of eating, bathing, chatting, or sleeping makes you feel overwhelmed. For example, there is no fixed timing to reach the office and hence no rush and hurry to finish other tasks. There is nothing new or fresh in an upcoming day, and, conclusively staying at home induces lethargy.
2. Environment: While you have access to the internet, software, and hardware needed to complete the work, the milieu of the home still cannot match the Environments of the office or workplace. Due to the different and lazy homely environments, it becomes difficult to endure yourself to work. In some cases, the situations are not suitable for work due to a lack of equipment. The distractions of family members, personal issues, or lack of equipment can make the environments inappropriate for work. You might get frustrated as you do all the work while sitting at the couch, bed, chair, etc. and there are no opportunities of rushing to co-workers to share any problems, etc.
3. Bad Habits: While staying at home, one keeps sticking to the bed or couch due to full access to snacks or pantry anytime. The need to work from home can force you to indulge in bad habits of staying inactive sometimes. Due to the less commutation, the body becomes exhausted and lazy. In this lockdown period, people did not have any fixed period of splurging Netflix, or other activities. According to a neuropsychologist, Richard Chaifetz, “They tend to stay up late, change the routine, eat a lot of junk food because it felt it fulfills a need immediately. That’s the worst thing you can do.” This disturbed routine and mismanagement have led to extreme frustration.
4. Overwork: One may feel the double pressure of work while working from home due to the additional burden of the family. In a survey, the Blue Jeans reported an extra work of 3.13 hours daily from remote workers due to the pressure of showing productivity when they are working remotely. People might feel anxious and overwhelmed due to this situation of overwork. According to some psychologists, people get drained and hence lazy due to overwork. The Fast Company says that according to some reports of Digital Ocean (infrastructure provider), over 82% of remote tech workers felt fatigued in 2019.

One must be wondering, what is the harm in lethargies if I could do my work by sitting at home. So here’s how laziness affects your physical and mental health. 

Similar to masks and sanitizers, stress, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, backaches, etc. have become the new normal during this pandemic.

1. Procrastination: Fatigue and laziness lead to procrastination, and procrastination further leads to laziness. It is the vicious cycle of lethargy that becomes active during work from home. The complete dull environment at home due to lack of social contact, commutation, natural enthusiasm, and excessive work and sleep requirement can urge you to procrastinate that ultimately harms your mental and physical health. According to some researches, it causes a danger to health and life by inducing numerous problems, including digestive issues, chaos in the head, cold and flu, insomnia, stress, anxiety, lowered self-esteem, damaged relationships, career setbacks, etc.
2. Chronic health problems: According to the Independent, physical inactivity can lead to diabetes, obesity, depression, dementia, and cancer. While we were talking about laziness leading to physical inactivity, there is a need to consider it’s an attack on our self-esteem by making us feel guilty and frustrated.
3. Change in Lifestyle: The laziness may push people to a sedentary lifestyle and gradually disconnect them to the outer world. People may develop these lazy habits for a lifetime and becomes less associated with physical activities, outdoor plays, and social environment. This lifestyle of couch potato may become full of fear and risk of going out of home or living life.
4. Shortens life: To move is the nature of human beings, and hence stillness may not uncover the necessary aspects of life. According to BBC, “a sedentary lifestyle is undeniably an environmental disease in its own right – with countless unpleasant signs and symptoms, which all lead to an early grave.” Thanks to science and technology, our lives have become much easier. But, simultaneously, regrets becoming dependent on them while reducing the amount of time to be spent on moving.

After knowing the harms of laziness in our lives, one must be wondering for some ways to reinvigorate. The following are the simple tips: 

Now when everything is getting unlocked, some people are still working from home, and hence it becomes inevitable to avoid laziness.

1. Manage the new normal routine: Anyone staying at home might be fascinated by binge Netflix or spend time with family, but he/she might not do it due to excessive work and followed laziness. People can work more actively and concentrated if they schedule a specific time for those distractions and entertainment purposes.
2. Workout: The movements and physical activities are the nature of the human body. Our body and mind both need daily exercise. To stay physically healthy, one must devote 15-20 minutes a day for body movements, including jogging and other physical activities at home.
3. Gratefulness: To keep the brain healthy and fit, one should feed it daily with positivity and grateful affirmations. The preferred activity for that can be meditation.
4. Finish off work: Procrastination is evil to personality as well as health. To finish the tasks on time, one can have short intervals to re-energize and work again with full enthusiasm. Divide your tasks into a shift and make the work structure similar to that of office by inducing regular intervals in it.
5. Innovate: To bring energy and freshness in your working environment, you can bring some innovative changes at your home by inducing new rituals. For example, you might shift from the Study room to the Guest room and get a new environment, or you may change the direction or position of the study table. Bring transitions that motivate you.
6. Do the things you love: You should not forget devoting some time to yourself. That ‘Me Time’ can help you re-energizing and utilizing your time efficiently. Follow your passion or hobbies that may include cooking, painting, dancing, or so on.

 We cannot change the challenges thrown to us somehow can change ourselves to adapt to the environment. It is necessary to mold yourself accordingly to survive. But, shaping yourself innovatively and interestingly is also a need of the hour.

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