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My husband Sreejith Jeevan and I have been working from home, by choice, for almost four years now. It is a system that requires some level of scheduling combined with adaptability and certainly a lot of patience. It’s easy to forget that it’s home and easy to forget that it's an office. Being able to keep both in mind and structure our activities, accordingly, leaving just enough space for the odd mix-up, is very critical.
Our home in Kochi is also the studio and office for my production company, Curiouser Films, and the former garage of the two-block compound on which our home sits is now the retail space for Sreejith’s clothing brand, Rouka. This compound and its buildings were once home to Sreejith’s late grandparents, and much of the structure and foliage that we have is a result of their planning and foresight. About three and a half years ago, when our son was born, we decided to combine the spaces into both home and office, so that we could be around for him throughout the day. Our home is based on Ravipuram road, which is a busy street off Kochi’s main thoroughfare, MG Road. Living and working in one space has shaved off a considerable amount of travel for us, and in the current circumstance, feels like a blessing we hadn’t noticed before.
This Is Our Typical Day…
My husband and I wake up between six and 7:30 a.m., spend some time doing yoga on the terrace or meditate. The place is really quiet in the mornings before the area starts to bustle with activity once shops on the street open and traffic picks up.
Work time starts at 9:30 a.m. when the team gets to the studio. Once that happens then the entire ground floor is abuzz with work-related activity. Our three-year-old son Spandan spends his day in his first-floor playroom and the terrace when there’s no playschool; of course, occasionally he runs down to inform us of his playtime discoveries. We have a nanny for him till 5 p.m. After which, if he is not napping, he joins us in the workplace for an hour.
At 6 p.m. we gather for some tea and step out into the city for a bit, before returning for the night. The store closes at 7 p.m. and by the time we return, the house, as well as the roads around, would have quietened down.
Weekends
This is when we usually tend to the house, take stock of things, what has to be fixed or cleaned, and we get to some heavy gardening duties. Since the new strictures of the Corona-virus pandemic have been enforced, it's the only family that comes round and then the entire house, except the store area which is shut, becomes the family space. The terrace is the hotspot. An inflatable pool is pulled out for Spandan and his cousins, which would’ve been filled with rainwater from that morning, a few foldable chairs and small side tables for resting and snacking, and voila, terrace picnic.
There Are Drawbacks To Living In Your Workplace And Working In Your Living Space..
While you may have set a routine for yourself, it takes time for everyone else to acknowledge and accept that fact. From casual house visits during work hours to errands, there are many friendly intrusions that you have to figure out and tactfully deal with. And it’s likely such situations wouldn’t have arisen if you were setting out from home for a nine to five job outside. The fact that anyone from work can see you at any time of the day—sometimes in your PJs if they turn up too early or when you are sick and haggard takes getting used to. Your life, you have to accept, is largely an open book.
The Positive Side Of Working From Home…
For us, the chief positive is constant childcare. The fact that one of us is always in the building, even if the other person has to be out on work. Or, even better, both of us are around even if we have help for Spandan. Our work is sometimes difficult to contain to a day. As entrepreneurs in design and filmmaking, we have to use both sides of the brain. So, on days when most of the work time go in figuring out logistics, accounts, and other mundane details, we use evenings, nights, and weekends for the creative thinking part of our work. And during such times, it is a huge advantage to be able to just go down a flight of stairs and access the studio.
What Are The Things You Should Keep In Mind When It Comes To Working From Home?
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Will you be living in your space during the renovation ?
DEC 2023
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17 Oct 23, 03.00PM - 04.00PM