A few years back, I wrote a blog on ethical working hours at the office and I guess, over the years, nothing has changed much and things are seemingly going in the wrong direction. While I understand that there are pros and cons in every company, this one seems to go out of the boundary and is clinging to the inhuman end of the rope. So, what’s the blog really about?
Reality: The Table World
I am a corporate person and similar to most corporate folks, I have a small world inside my big world which is being cocooned in a table, working. While my creative profession allows me to call work as ‘creating magic’, deep down, we are all in the same damn boat which is called ‘The Table World’.
The pandemic enhanced the term ‘Work from Home’ leading to most of us having a work setup at home. Mostly all the households now have a work setup at home. In the urge to create a seamless connectivity from home to work, have we, somewhere lost the connectivity to the world outside this table?
Life Outside the Table World
We as corporate employees are so engaged in shifting from one call to another that we forget to breathe and soak some sunshine in the process. We are so obsessed with meeting deadlines that after a long day of work, we get up from our seats and take a ‘Zombie Walk’. No wonder the saying ‘Sitting is the New Smoking’ makes so much sense.
Adding to this dangerous stunt is some business owners demanding that people work on weekends or cover an unimaginable number of hours a week. Despite all the struggles and sacrifices, we are not sure if the table world is safe and guaranteed. Anyone or anything can replace you. So, isn’t it high time that we come out of this cocoon and start appreciating the one outside it?
This post does not intend to say that you should quit your corporate work and start doing something, but rather a vocal reminder to take a breather. The sad aspect of being inside this corporate hole is that the special moments in life sort of become unpleasant or ignored moments.
We are getting irritated by the sound of birds on our balcony but not appreciating the melody of the sound. We are so engrossed in the corporate world that we cannot take a moment to see the calm that your pet is enjoying during their deep sleep. Just take a minute to experience these golden moments and see the magic of the four-letter word called Life!
Conclusion
I have had the opportunity to work with some leaders who truly understood and valued work-life balance and supported employees accordingly. But I have also had managers who made me feel guilty about taking time off for being sick. Having experienced both lives, the one thing that I can say with confidence is that it is your choice – staying behind the table world for life or taking time to experience the precious moments of life. The table world may not contain gratitude but the outside one definitely spreads it. Move every day, your body will thank you, spend some time with your loved ones, they will thank you, feed a puppy, oh! The love it showers on you! It’s time we spend some time in a world that has some positivity so that we strike a balance in our lifestyle and create hope for the future that goes beyond the bounds of a bandwagon.
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