We have lost track of time by staying at home

Betting and wagering of any kind are not allowed. But I bet there are so many people out there who have lost track of things. For example, since the pandemic has played havoc with our normal existence who here has often lost track of what day of the week it is? Take today, for example, is it Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? Who can remember without looking at their phones? Sometimes I don’t even remember what date in the month it is. Everyday feels the same now.

All right, who here has tried to stick to a routine and failed? Again, I’ll bet we all tried our best in the first week or so but now that you’ve been working from home for weeks on end, and, as an added bonus, getting on the nerves of your fellow flatmates or housemates, who usually stay home during the day, I guarantee you’re still in bed at 9 or 10 in the morning.

There’s another supposedly funny stay at home photo going around on social media with a supposedly funny caption. A dishevelled looking young girl is in her pyjamas hurriedly running down the stairs and the supposedly funny caption reads, “I overslept and now I’m running late to do nothing.” That is not funny.

I suppose that if you’re out of work or lost the consultancy or job you had won before the lockdown, then I’m afraid everyday is the same now. Whereas before your days were probably marked by other people’s calendars, but because everyone is home all the time now, you probably can’t tell one day to the next or a weekday from a weekend.

Moreover, you’ve probably lost, not just track of time but probably what you eat on what day or time of day. For example, in our house Friday is, and has always been, a roast chicken with roast potatoes and gravy day and Saturday a chicken tikka with steamed rice and a side salad day. For some reason the latter is now a rarity in our house.

In addition to that, you’ve probably lost track of time on specific days for certain activities. For example, normally lunch might have been between 12pm and 2pm, now it’s very likely you are lunching at 3, maybe even 4pm?

Now there is a difference between genuinely losing track of time and losing the habit of doing certain things. For example, if you’re really busy with something, you might lose track of time and miss another activity, a meeting  or a meal. This can happen in normal times as well but might be markedly increased by this stay at home malarkey.

Whereas losing track of time can self-correct when things return to normal, losing the habit of doing certain things is far more difficult to overcome and may even persist long after this pandemic is over. But the biggest thing you can lose track of is how important certain things in your life were.

I think working from home is overrated. In order to have a work-life balance, a clear demarcation line is required between what’s work and what’s home. If you’re working from home all the time now, you’ve probably lost the appreciation of being able to get home and have quality time with family. There is no such thing now. You are there all the time. The line between work and life has now been greyed out to such an extent that it’s just one big blur.

I’ll bet that, when things return to normal, every single person, or at least a fair majority, who were forced to work from home will jump up with glee when told that everything is fine and they can return to their desks. No offence but I’ll also wager that their housemates will also jump up with glee. Finally they’ll get their space back and maybe even be able to mend a few fences.

Like I said, working from home is overrated. In order to retain your sanity, that one thought should not be lost in all the things we might have lost track of.