Everyone’s taking to the circuit breaker measures very differently, even within the HW team. We share with you what we love and hate about working from home, and the little discoveries we’ve made about ourselves.
Do you enjoy working from home?
I wear makeup a lot lesser now (I happened to have it on for this photo because I was going live on Instagram on @herworldsingapore with actress @sheila_sim) but the upside is I now actually use a facial mask everyday! It used to be just once a week if I remember to. What I really miss is a dining experience, whether it’s at restaurants or just at the office canteen! I no longer have lunch breaks cos I eat my lunches at my desk while working. I do eat dinners with the family more nowadays as I used to hardly get home before dinnertime. But no more spontaneous “oh let’s go to this restaurant for dinner later” moments with my husband.
Am I the only one who realises that #WFH feels like you work, well, more hours? Actually, I do get more things done thus that sense of achievement, but I also need to learn the discipline to stop working by dinner time. And surprisingly, what I miss more than anything is the normalcy of commuting to work. The other day, I found out that my children are not shy to share their opinion about my work, especially when they glance over of my monitor showing pictures from the shoot that are going to print (I guess there’s no harm in starting them young). I’ve also learned to multi task, that is attending online meeting on my AirPod, presenting Google Slides on Meet, while feeding a 2yo and a 5yo at the same time, which I’m sure a lot of us picking up this new skill. Jiayouuuuu.
Guess I could be in the minority, but #WFH is a dream come true for this introvert. I’m more productive, I don’t waste time commuting, and I get to spend more time with the people who matter (hubby and 2 kids). And with all enrichment classes cancelled, we have more time for bonding, especially during weekends. Last Saturday, we even baked a cake together! While it can be a bit of a hassle to juggle HBL and meetings/deadlines for work at the same time, I’m just grateful that we are all safe together at home.
CHAOTIC. I can’t even begin to describe how crazy #WFH has been. I started working from home as part of our Split Teams operations back in February when Dorscon Orange alert was first raised. Then, the kids (I have two) were still in school. Now that they are being kept at home for E-learning, the home is often crowded and noisy. #WFH with kids can be extremely stressful and while I love my kids & seeing them 24/7, I miss adult interaction and all my lunch buddies. To maintain my sanity, I take actual breaks away from my computer and lock myself in my room, leaving the kids to run amok outside. That’s the time I try to tune out from them, work emails and WhatsApp chat alerts out and tune in to a different rhythm of calm that I need even if it is just for 10 minutes. And in the evenings, I workout to decompress. One thing this Circuit Breaker period has done for me is that it has made me more active – I’ve been exercising more than I ever did in the past year.
WFH is proving difficult for this introvert. Why? I really enjoy going out to eat with my friends and my usual gym routine. So I’m trying to keep sane by running to the supermarket, running around the neighbourhood and doing yoga at home. One way to beat being lazy at the end of the work day is to wear my exercise outfit once I change out of my pyjamas -and this minimises the amount of laundry I have to do.
I’ve discovered that working in front of natural light actually hurts my eyes (my table’s facing directly at the window). Hence, I’d wear sunglasses, and sunscreen, while working. And yes, my team knows that I’m just a very extra individual, so they’re okay with it during e-meetings.
I have a thing for matching pyjama sets, so being able to work in them is a dream come true. Throw in the fact that I get to tuck into my favourite homecooked dishes everyday, and work with my dogs beside me – I’m pretty much having a ball. But what I miss are the late night dance sessions I used to have with my friends. While dancing together online is the new norm, the lag really challenges our patience. However, I did recently discover how liberating it is to dance in pyjamas.
I’m discovering just how explosive it can be when my work and home lives collide in the same small space, day after day. When WFH and HBL meet during CB, sparks don’t just fly, an inferno happens. There is no schedule, there is even less order – and there is just So. Much. Noise. Amazingly, a full day’s work still gets done, and no one has gotten hurt. Yet. To stay sane, I open my beauty closet to my kids. They get to open media drops and they can test anything. They’re learning about skin science and I get to take a work break. No snacking in my house, product testing only!
In the grand scheme of the Covid-19 circuit breaker, worrying about my roots or the state of my eyelash extensions are fairly inconsequential. Having always been a homebody pre-WFH status, I have nothing on the scale of trivial to complain about. What I do love is the copious amounts of trips to the fridge and having more time to try out the skincare and makeup press drops I receive; something I didn’t always have time to do. I did, however, look at my gala gowns in my closet. Might just wear it tomorrow. Why not?
Going au naturel makes every day a little less stressful – I don’t have to worry about my eyeliner wing or my smudged eyeshadow. Other than that, everything is pretty much the same. I’m also getting into a more elaborate self-care routine (i.e. putting on a a face mask everyday before I go to bed). To keep myself productive, I still make schedules, a daily to-do list and set small goals I have to accomplish every week.
