Work from home diary: 'Does running down to the building foyer to pick up groceries count as exercise?'

The thing about working from home is that you have to make the rapid switch from work to home mode when you get out of your study or office room! In my case my home studio.

 

Whereas at work you get out of your studio you see an ocean of people at desks, terminals and stations working away furiously.

 

The challenge for me is to make the phone interview sound personable and special. I’ve made a career out of radio interviews with celebrities, captains of the industry, citizens, humanitarians and doctors by making them sound as though they are having a cup of coffee or tea with me in my den and the rest of the world (or the city at least) is able to eavesdrop into that one-on-one conversation through a secret key hole - I mean at least each one who has tuned in feels that way. 

 

To bring that feeling into a phone conversation takes some doing and with practice I have to say I’m getting better. 

 

Most importantly it’s making a statement on the radio saying social distancing is the need of the hour and if 'we' (both the guest and me) are doing away with a time honoured tradition (of meeting and doing the interview), it is to try and set an example. 

 

What else is there to say? My home brewed South Indian filter coffee and my home brewed fresh espresso, out of my beloved espresso machine, keep me company. My wife is elated and feels she can drop our younger one, who is only seven months old, into my arms post office hours.

 

I have still kept it strictly 'eight hours a day I can’t be disturbed', so post the magical eight-hour limit it's immediately daddy time, without any lag, simply because there is no travel time back from work. 

 

The part-time maid and cook have been given off and strictly told to stay at home, so early evenings I’m helping in the cleaning, setting up and clearing up of meals. My wife is still bravely handling the cooking baton for our family of four. 

 

My elder daughter has daily art classes online which she now takes on my iPad (I normally take it with me to the radio station in Parel) and she likes the larger view of her art teacher as opposed to her mummy's phone screen, so lets say we are sharing some tech.

 

What I still need to do is meditate and exercise. I promised myself that some of the time I save from Andheri to Parel and back shall be utilised in doing some meditation and exercise, and that I am guilty of not adhering to yet, ‘yet’ being the key word. 

 

But then does running down to the building foyer to pick up groceries and basic food items left by our friendly neighbourhood store owner and then disinfecting those items and bringing them up to our 10th floor apartment count as exercise? Surely it does, so maybe I can be a little less hard on myself as far as my compliance is concerned.

 

And yes, tomorrow is another day, a work from home day. Have a safe one everybody. We will get through this.