Why You Need to Separate WFH and Living (From Home)
If you’ve felt like you’re struggling just to sit down at your desk and work after being cocooned remotely for the past year, you’re not alone. Trust me — not alone in the slightest.
Many of us were refreshed to have the ability to work from home. The office or agency life isn’t for everyone. And please, a moment of silence for those of us who had to work in a cubicle prior to the pandemic craze.
But some things are meant to be in moderation. And if this pandemic taught me anything, it’s the importance of having spaces dedicated to certain activities (i.e. working from your bed can have a negative long-term effect on your association with your bedroom, rest, when to stop working, etc.).
Battling Square Footage
I’m honestly shocked I made it this far to write this. Living in a box apartment in New York City has made working remotely the utmost challenge.
If you’re like myself, seasonal affective disorder can take a huge toll on your daily motivation. And when you add seasonal affective disorder with a dash of pandemic restrictions and self-imposed quarantine, it makes the days very bleak.
Just like Jack Nicholson says in The Shining, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well, too much of either is a bad thing. But was Jack working and playing at the same desk, staring at the same four walls for a year during a pandemic? I don’t think so.
The pandemic forced me to play Tetris with my furniture and get creative with my wall décor, as I tried to give myself new things to look at each day so I didn’t drive myself insane.
Get Over Your Mental Leash
I felt like I had a mental leash on my mind the past year. Sure, I may live on the top floor of my apartment building, and that adds an extra layer of isolation. But the pace in New York City, significantly affected by the pandemic in many areas, coupled with winter and lingering spring showers, and a pandemic? It’s the ultimate test of mental strength.
I found myself coping with feeling chained to my apartment by ordering takeout from a different place daily. This isn’t a luxury everyone can afford, and after a while, your wallet (and stomach) might start hurting.
It’s very easy to place ourselves under mental duress. We feel trapped between the walls of our home. It’s especially difficult if you live in close quarters, on top of living with other people. You may have clashed with friends, family, lovers or roommates during this time. Maybe this time forced you to be more introspective.
The most important lesson I learned was the need to get outside, in some capacity, every single day. And I had to get over the mental hurdle of rain or snow preventing me from getting fresh air.
Having the freedom to even walk down the sidewalk without wearing a mask seems like luxury at this point. The only place I don’t feel guilty to be mask-free is my home, and that just shows how this pandemic has conditioned many of us.
Reducing Decisions in the A.M.
One of the most powerful messages I read during the pandemic was related to a former practicing monk and what he took away from his time in solitude. The author explained how when he was a practicing monk, one of the major life lessons he learned was to reduce decisions required in the morning.
For example, having your uniform ready-to-go in the morning is one less stressor, at least if you’re someone prone to tyranny of choice. Even in the pandemic, I found myself wanting to get dressed up even if no one saw me besides my own reflection. Working in my PJs was great, but being young, healthy, and career-hungry, the pandemic isolation started getting to me.
I started picking outfits the night or morning before as something to look forward to each day. It helped with my mental state and productivity tremendously.
Seek a Window if You Can
One of the most important hacks I had to learn, aside from overall self-awareness, was the simple gesture of relocating to a better-lit space — with windows, if possible.
When you feel cabin feverish, especially in a pandemic where you quite literally are bound to your home, even opening a window or propping a door open can work wonders for your mental state.
There’s an overwhelming feeling of stress and pressure we put on ourselves when we’re going through times of burn out, loss of motivation, or even seasonal depression. It’s hard to even wrap our heads around looking in the mirror some days, let alone getting work done and trying to shut out everything happening in the world.
This pandemic has shifted a lot of perspectives on the interplay of our home and work lives. It shouldn’t be normal to go to your 9 to 5 and ignore the outside world. It shouldn’t be normal to neglect your personal or family needs to appease a full-time employer. And it shouldn’t take a pandemic for us to realize we deserve rest days, or to appreciate human connection and interaction.
Find Any Way to Get Away from Your Room, Even If For a Moment
The biggest stressor for me was feeling trapped and claustrophobic looking at the same small space every single day. And when you’ve spent pretty much every day, all day in your home, unless you live in a scenic home in the Hollywood Hills, you may start to grow tired of the same environment, especially if you work in a position or field in solitude.
I found even setting small goals for myself, like standing on my little patio with my umbrella in the rain, or even walking downstairs to do my laundry, made me feel so much better. It can be really hard to see past the darkness when you’ve felt cocooned, especially with pandemic paranoia (rightfully so).
But things are looking up. Vaccinations are becoming more readily available state-by-state. People are starting to feel a little bit better knowing they’re vaccinated.
It’s difficult to intake the media these days, and if you’ve needed to step away, don’t worry. You’re not the only one.
If you do anything for yourself today, know it’s okay to shut off your work brain. Or if you’ve felt burned out trying to keep a home and create space for work in your home life, just remember that you’re doing an amazing job in these unprecedented times. And that, alone, is worth acknowledging.
About the Contributor
Cassandra Arrigo-Pastore is a writer and editor based in NYC, passionate about mental health advocacy, work/life integration, and neurodiversity. Born in Arizona and raised in Florida, she received a bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations from the University of Central Florida, and post-grad remains actively involved in ethical branding and the global advertising space. Aside from her freelance and agency work, you can find Cass at your nearest aboveground train, with the New Yorker mag in one hand and an iced dirty chai in the other.
