Working from Home; Memoirs

“Redeeming the time because the days are evil”. Ephesians 5: 16

COVID-19 brought in its wake a total or partial lock down in many countries around the globe. In areas where there was no lock down, there were restrictions on public gathering and social distancing became the new normal. As a result schools were closed, churches were shut, bars were closed and many employees had to work from home.

Unfortunately, for many of us, working from home was a situation we were not well adjusted to. For those of us who have had to combine working from home with managing children and supervising e-learning it’s been almost a nightmare in many instances; mine being no exception. In this piece, I would like to share with you, some of the lessons I have gleaned along the way.

In my situation, I discovered that it was good to start my day off early. I had to make use of early hours as often as it was possible to do so. Of course, it got a bit chaotic on days that I woke up early to get some work done only for one of my children to rise early too aarrgh!

I also learnt that it was good to have a schedule in my mind or a to- do list of a sort as well as a time – table for the children.

This helps to put things in perspective and creates order. We can easily lose track of how fast time is running when we are home with children. It also helps us to check the child’s usage of time and ensure that it is profitable, otherwise there would be endless times spent the television, tablet or laptop.

Schedule times for physical exercise. Engage yourself, and your children if you have any, in regular physical exercise. Choose what works best for you. I decided to adopt a three times a week physical exercise regime with my children which varied from going for a walk, playing ball or allowing them to cycle. We are all aware of the incredible benefits of physical exercise – weight loss or management, fresh air and good exercise for the heart.

I had to learn not to get overly upset when I didn’t achieve ‘my goals’ for the day. In the normal scheme of goal setting, one must make room for interruption. You need to appreciate the fact that life happens at times and things don’t always work like the clock; more so in a season like this!

Finally we need to well appreciate the fact that, the child’s world has been disrupted even as ours has been. This certainly is not their normal. And even if you have a child who was not a fan of school, you may have found out by now that he or she soon got tired of being at home and being unable to visit others as often as he  or she could.

The Bible entreats us to make the most of every opportunity (Ephesians.5:16).  Let’s enjoy this period and make it worthwhile.