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Corona:Advantages in the home office, It’s finally time for selfcare

March 26, 2020

In the series “How I Met Your Mother” one of the characters, Robin Scherbatsky, who works as a news anchor, has a colleague and co-moderator who thinks his job is a professional siding. Because he doesn’t think he can tear anything in this station and at this brutally early time anyway, he doesn’t care about anything. And because the viewers only see him from the navel upwards anyway, he wears nothing under his news desk. So, a pair of underpants. That’s it. A chic shirt and jacket above, a white, unsightly men’s panties below. Now that many of us have gone to our home office, we face similar challenges: What do I dress when nobody sees me anyway? What do I wear when I’m only seen upside down in video calls? And do I have to get dressed if it is much more comfortable in my pajamas?

Now there are, of course, different personalities and, accordingly, a varied approach to the clothing issue in the home office. There are people who get up at seven in the morning, do yoga and greet the day with a sun salutation, shower and sit afterward as if they had been peeled from the egg in a stylish study, into which golden daylight falls. There is also a homemade smoothie, of course.

The normal mortals, however, only get up shortly before the start of work, quickly make a coffee and shuffle at the desk in their pajamas, the hair stands tangled on both sides, as if it had had a party of its own at night, woolen mice hanging from the slippers thrown over cardigan has long since had its best days. In the end, it seems, at least, you sit like the “dude”, the main character in the classic film “The Big Lebowski”, at home in your bathrobe for days and drinking White Russian. In such cases, one can only pray that the spontaneously scheduled meeting becomes a call, not a video call, and sometimes wishes for better self-organization back to the usual four walls of the open-plan office, which is actually not particularly popular.

You can’t always choose that at the moment. In the Corona crisis, many companies send their people to their home office indefinitely, and many employees welcome this: To get away from people as little as possible, which also means not sitting in crowded lanes, touching various escalator railings and possibly coughing up allow. “For people who are not used to working in their home office, this is the real challenge,” says Cornelia Seewald. She is a qualified psychologist and coach and advises companies on change processes.

Is it bad now, as a person who is not tried and tested at home, not to get into gear in the morning in terms of fitness? “The day starts later in the home office and is more comfortable. You can start the day more relaxed, ”says Seewald. In her experience, many enjoy the quiet in the morning and also the convenience: not just having to sit in an uncomfortable tie or tight skirt, not wearing makeup. Taking time to arrive in everyday work. So that’s not bad, it’s normal. And even helps many people to start the day more relaxed.

Dilnaz Shaikh

Dilnaz Shaikh

Dilnaz Shaikh is a journalist at The Eastern Herald covering current affairs, politics, climate, environment, and international news with a focus on planetary issues and global governance.

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