WFH & Technology
The only thing that made WFH feasible is technology.
The last pandemic that the human species experienced was the Spanish Flu when technology was not in its boom. Most people in the Spanish Flu lost their jobs. Still, in Covid-19 we experienced that, but this time many lost their jobs but not most. We had Work From Home and Online Studies this time as a solution. We will be discussing some of the wonders of technology that helped us in WFH and also we will be discussing what challenges we were facing with this new system.
Online Meetings
This is the number one thing to remember about WFH. Whenever in the future we will tell the new generations about the pandemic, it will remain the number one. In the days of the Spanish flu, no one could’ve imagined this. But we were blessed to have this chance.
The challenges we face with regard to online meetings were that we were not able to focus as we were failing to establish a workable environment. As I am a student, I tried to concentrate on the lectures in the early days of the pandemic, but later I was unable to focus and many times I fell asleep or got away after joining the meeting.
Cloud Computing
Although, most of the companies were already used to it. But the point is that they probably never thought that they will use cloud computing on this scale that even for a minor task, they will use it. The challenge that most of the people faced here was that they got to work in the off-hours. They had to send a file at the time when they were asked even if it is 8 o'clock in the evening.
E-Learning
This point is about online studies. As a student, I got to experience it. We were used to getting online notes and E-books. The concept of E-books was not new, but the challenge we faced, in this case, was that we were not able to ask comfortably anything that we do not understand. Even if we try to ask questions to the teacher it hardly turned satisfactory. Neither we could comfortably ask our questions nor we could get the point of our teachers. The screens were somehow a hindrance in this learning process.
Online Exams
The online exams were one of the biggest chapters of E-learning in the days of covid-19. Online exams cannot be that transparent and hence, cheating was an inevitable thing in them. Almost everyone did cheating in the online exams which was actually a challenge for the education departments and teachers.
Procrastination
It has always been the biggest problem of all for human beings. The only undefeatable hindrance on the road to success has always been procrastination. But it can be reduced, as, in an office setup, it is hard to fully procrastinate. But as during WFH people were not in offices they were in their bedrooms on their bed or in the sitting room on a comfy chair or sofa. It was way too easy to procrastinate in this environment. So, this was also a challenge that we were facing in these WFH conditions.
Netflix
Though it is not directly related to the Work From Home. But it was an indirect part of Work From Home. It played a significant role in the days of the pandemic. People after getting frustrated with the Work From Home got away to Netflix to enjoy. It proved to be a nice break from the hectic schedule of Work From Home. The Netflix subscriptions in the days of Covid-19 significantly increased according to a survey. Almost everyone was watching Netflix. The most popular show of these days was Money Heist.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the pandemic is about to be over now. We will be coming back to our daily routines very soon. But the time we had in this pandemic is very rememberable. The things that we never thought of using this much frequently we started using. The WFH did not prove to be a perfect solution to stop the work but was a better one. As they say, “Something is better than nothing.”