What I learnt — Lockdown Edition
I was one of the lucky few who was comfortably at home with my loved ones when the country went into a lockdown. I didn’t have any issue related to food, clothing and shelter — but sadly many people across different strata of the society didn’t have access to even basic necessities. Now I don’t want to focus on Covid-19, economy and other things beyond my control. This lockdown has taught me few things about myself and life in general.
1) Ignore digital at your own risk.
For long I have been contemplating moving away from digital resources. Not an exhaustive list but I can think of: Smartphones, Kindle, Digital calendars, Podcasts and Online classes.
Smart Phones. I cannot move to a basic / feature phone because some apps have become a pre-requisite to existing. The world expects you to have an Email address, Whatsapp access and the ability to download and use multiple other applications on your mobile phone. With an admit into the Indian School of Business, I was part of multiple unofficial groups on Whatsapp and Telegram. As much as I hated the clutter that came with so many groups, I couldn’t simply be off these groups as it would disable me from networking with other admits. Also, without a smartphone I cannot book an Uber, order food online from a restaurant or perform some basic banking transactions without switching on my laptop!
Every truth has two sides; it is as well to look at both, before we commit ourselves to either. Aesop.
Kindle. I consider myself to be one of 99.99% (bleh) people out there who prefer physical books to the Kindle. During the lockdown, I booted my Kindle once again after many months and started reading on the device again. Now Kindle is one of the best gadgets out there in my opinion. Even before the lockdown, I used the device on my travels but this time I realised that it is easier to read memos, annual reports and research papers on the Kindle vs. on the laptop simply because the kindle had a lesser strain on my eyes! Now while reading serious stuff I tend to focus rather closely on the screen and the laptop screens are just to bright for my liking.
Digital Calendars. My experiment with bulleting and journals failed. Although writing down your goals for the day in a notebook is a great way to focus your memory on these tasks, it is rather uncomfortable to carry a journal everywhere. It is easier to put reminders and events on Google Calendar and tick it off as and when you complete the tasks.
Podcasts. This was literally the first time in my life when I heard a complete podcast. I always wondered, how could someone possibly listen to a “lecture” while looking at something else. You are not watching a video with graphics or you are not looking at the speaker speak! But then I realised that I am comfortable with listening to really technical podcasts while walking in my vernadah, washing dishes or simply staring at the sky. I’m currently listening to this superb podcast on China — The China History Podcast. Although I am listening to this on Spotify, I have shared the Youtube link.
Online Classes. Digital & remote learning is the future. You cannot live without it. The era of classrooms based real time learning will face intense competition from online classes and even recorded classes. As much as I hated (and still do, to an extent) online classes I realised that it is largely my inability to stay focused and concentrate on the class which impacts my learning.
2) Few things cannot go online.
I simply cannot workout at home or even work from home for long. I must say that I have worked from home sometimes (as an entrepreneur) even before the lockdown.
Work. While the productivity is very high, you just cannot be isolated without meeting people, visiting other offices and communicating face to face for long. Yes, a lot of stuff that we waste time on in offices will be done away in the work from home format, like wasting 2 hours in the traffic and unnecessary meetings, but your mental state would be hit very hard without any interactions outside the digital world with your colleagues. Imagine if you worked at an organization for 3 years but met your colleagues in real maybe only 10–12 times, would you still have that level of connect with them which you would have enjoyed after 3 years of working in parallel cubicles? WFH is here to stay but I believe that the current isoldated model wouldn’t survive. There would probably be a concept of remote offices at suburbs, coworking spaces where people from different companies could work, etc. Work from home is probably good when you have some mundane documentation work to be completed.
Workout. You or rather I, cannot workout at home. I end up hitting the walls or simply attending the knocks on the door in the middle of my exercises. Maybe if someone has an outdoor space or a good indoor space and all they want to do is Yoga and some other floor exercises, then you can workout from home! But for me, the nearest gym is the best place to workout — simply because equipment and a proper setup. I cannot imagine working from home and working out at home day in day out for the next decades of my life!
3) Balance is the key.
As cliched and as “Oh man everyone tells me this all the time” this sounds, Balance really is the key to well, a balanced lifestyle. I have realised that instead of running away from smartphones, I should rather use it productively. It is better to weed out stuff that does more harm to you than benefit you.
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. Aristotle.
Instead of completely writing off kindles, I should use it to read technical work and some random self-help books while traveling. Podcasts are definitely not bad and if you find one that interests you then you have a lot to learn! Although there are various avenues of distraction in the online world (and offline world as well), it ultimately boils down on how I manage the noise and clutter.
