This article is written by Taichi Ochi. He is currently undertaking a PhD investigating drug-drug-gene interactions of pharmacogenes, with a focus on depression and its comorbidities.

As we entered a second lockdown, the balancing of work and home life rears its ugly head again. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of writing about my daily schedule during the lockdown (here). The initial tinkering of trying to find some balance and normalcy helped establish the schedule on how to survive and work while being at home most of the time.

However, life at home was not as straightforward as keeping to a schedule. I found the number of hours sitting in front of a screen increasing on a daily basis (with the common excuse of, ‘what else do I have going on, eh?’) and finding it harder to drop my screen time. In short, my life became a hamster in a hamster wheel. 

I lost track of weekdays and weekends, hunkering over a screen where both my work and my social life intertwined. Switching from Teams meetings for work to Zoom calls with friends blurred my sense of work-life balance (although at least with a Zoom call with friends, you can have a drink to recreate a borrel). Soon I became exhausted from staring at a screen all day and all night and found myself turning into a zombie behind the screen. The only reprieve coming from being able to go outside for some exercise. Emails took longer to respond to, research progress stalled, and my concentration was that of a dog noticing a squirrel.

When summer arrived, I took advantage of being able to be outside (or as my partner put it, a dog being let off his leash). Although the overhanging gloom of the pandemic still lingered in my mind. While my trips outside had helped with shifting between work and social life, especially the opportunities to stretch one’s legs in finding a terrasje, it was unfortunately short-lived. 

Entering the second lockdown, I dread to think about how it will affect my work-life balance again. Sure, it is not the first time it is happening. The home-office is in place and a routine is semi-ready. But the shift in mentality of having to hunker down and stay at home for the upcoming months is hardly exciting.  

Tackling the oncoming storm

Rather than having the neat schedule I managed to work with for the first few months of this situation, I have reshifted my focus on following a handful of rules.

1. Wake up and have breakfast before 8:00

   Simple and straightforward enough but increasingly found myself snacking rather than having breakfast (and then continuously snacking throughout the day)

2. Lunch is no screen time and between 12:00 and 13:00

   With conferences being online, it became easier to continue sitting in the home-office and eat at the same time while attending events. If needed (e.g., research meetings), I will move to a different location and ensure lunchtime is preserved for only eating.

3. Finishing of work is broken up by exercise (e.g., walking around the neighbourhood)

   Something needs to be done to minimise the lockdown weight gain and monotony of sitting down all day (that or I stop snacking as often as I do)

4. Dinner has to be eaten before 20:00

   When the sun still shined past 17:00 over summer, I found myself still sitting until the sunset. Snacking mitigated the need for dinner, but then I overate to compensate for the extreme hunger of missing normal dinner time.

5. Electronics off at 22:00

   Night time is for reading and sleeping, not late-night work nor gaming sessions (both great opportunities to snack)

*Note: eating is an integral part of my day-to-day pre-COVID19, so it is essential I keep it this way for sanity’s sake. 

Hopefully, keeping to these simple rules will be easier than the previous schedule, which was a bit more meticulous and provided the opportunity for external events to affect the flow of the day. That or I will continue with my snacking and roll out of the second lockdown :)