Work from home
NEW DELHI, Apr 28: Insomnia, backaches, restlessness, stress and anxiety are among the side effects people are facing from prolonged work from home as the country entered the fifth week of the lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Many companies and firms shut office operations after the nationwide lockdown was announced on March 25. Initially imposed for 21 days, the lockdown was extended to May 3 as the number of COVID-19 cases increased in the country.
Suresh Sharma, a Delhi-based techie, said he spends most of his time either in front of his laptop screen or on his mobile phone, sometimes hours at a stretch. “I was initially enjoying working from home. However, with the passage of time, I realised it had taken a toll on my health. While working in my office space, I would be attending meetings and interacting with people. But, now, absolutely everything is online,” he said.
Sharma says back problems have cropped up and headaches have become frequent. For Geeta Malhotra, a techie based in Bengaluru, work from home has not only blurred the line separating her personal and professional life, but has also made her insomniac. “I am eating whenever I want. Sometimes two meals a day, sometimes four times a day. The little walking I used to do has also stopped. I have put on four kgs of weight since the lockdown and I am having trouble sleeping at night so much that I have been sleeping for less than four hours,” she said.
Like Sharma, she too complained of suffering from headaches frequently. Several large IT companies, according to estimates, has 90 to 95 per cent of its employees working from home. (PTI)
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