LETTER | It's been almost three weeks since we've been working from home; friends and colleagues may be busy with work assignments and activities online.
Educators are now either in front of smartphones, computers or laptops.
The same goes for a school, college or university; the teaching setup must be robust and well-monitored by the administration team.
It's actually very tiring and exhausting.
Coronavirus and Covid-19 has caused a change in the way we work.
You may be working from home and exploring new fields in ways that allow for work to be done and you need to gain the cooperation of friends from afar and showcase your efforts in the face of many new obstacles.
You will feel tired, but you may not understand why.
After all, you're not as busy as you used to be and you "just" sit at home facing a computer or video screen.
You have access to food and drinks from your kitchen at any time, and you don't rush from meeting room to meeting room or drive to work every day.
So why are you tired and exhausted?
What happens is not our choice. One of the basic elements of good mental health is autonomy, self-expression and our ability to control the situation.
We are actually being asked and directed by the authorities and we have no choice but to comply.
We have no choice and this can be frustrating, even confusing.
We have to make the right and wise choices every time and day.
We need to set the time of our activities and control the situation to ensure that work assignments are performed.
We should be able to control the work order or daily flow.
This includes planning for us to exercise and to enable the ability to control how our time is managed.
Fatigue can also happen because not all work is going well.
You need to figure out how to get the job done automatically.
Today, activities require conscious thinking.
Allowing connectivity through technology is rarely ever smooth and you may need to learn to use new sharing software to keep you and your team connected remotely.
Learning new ways of working will be common, and as you learn new technologies, they will become more automated and your brain will be able to put less effort into it.
One of the great things about regular work is establishing relationships with people who are not necessarily part of our immediate circle.
The canteen, office dining booth provides an opportunity for us to meet our colleagues, forge relationships and maintain relationships with people we are not necessarily involved with in our daily lives.
Your network of friends is likely to decline and you may lose your friends and feel loss and sadness.
Working is essentially a social affair and even for those who are introvert, human relationships are an important part of the work experience.
You are tired because you are not able to build this relationship and to maintain it, it takes more effort.
It's best to get in touch and make connections using social gadgets like IM, Chat, text or the like.
This may seem unusual at first, but keep in mind that others may feel the same as you.
It will be easier and you will create new rules to keep in touch.
Working from home is hard. But you can maintain your sanity and effectiveness by controlling as much work as you can and keeping your process fresh by learning new technologies.
Stay in touch with friends and avoid unnecessary distractions.
Focus on others, too, and keep moving. You may think of it as a struggle, but today's challenges will shift, and we will return to the new normalcy with a whole new set of learning and reliance.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
