This Is How I Stay Sane In These Work From Home Days

Our never-ending to-do list has become overwhelming, thanks to work from home (WFH), household chores and childcare! It feels like we're knee-deep in work 24/7.
I can say that I am still doing fine, trying to keep a balance between my job and chores at home in a whole new situation. But then, as my sister says, "Of course, you'll do fine! You have only one child to take care and who'll turn ten shortly. Yes, you still have time to catch a movie as you don't have to be a referee when children fight." (My poor sister has to witness everyday battles between her two children and make peace between the warring parties amidst cooking and cleaning!)

Yes, I admit, managing a home with one child is way easier than making sense of sibling rivalry. My husband is a hands-on partner too when it comes to sharing responsibilities. But still, there are days when I have it all sorted and then there are days when I am totally stumped by the enormity of cooking, cleaning and parenting (read helping my daughter with her lessons or devising ways to keep her away from gadgets).

The pandemic has changed many things in every household and ours is no exception. The maid has vanished; there's extra focus on hygiene, which translates into more washing and cleaning; and no more outside food, which means a whole lot of cooking!

Striking a right balance

Disclaimer: I strongly believe that every household runs differently. How you manage your office and home during the pandemic greatly depends on the kind of job you have, how old your child is, whether you have good support at home and many such factors.

Now, here are some things that are helping me maintain some semblance of order amidst all the chaos the pandemic has unleashed. These are not one-size-fits-all tips; kindly use the ones that work for you.

1. I try to get up early before everyone else. I know its difficult to motivate yourself in the morning, especially when you don't have to pack the tiffin boxes and rush to office. But getting up early has helped me immensely. I utilize the morning time to prepare food(or at least pre work for cooking) for the whole day. I also try to finish other household chores like disposing waste, tending to flower pots, sweeping and even mopping the floor twice a week.
2. This is how I try to save time in the kitchen. We usually plan our next days meals the night before. In fact, planning next days meals is our favorite dinnertime conversation. I use a lot of ready-made masala powders, I even use ginger-garlic and tamarind pastes for regular cooking! I follow the One Pot, One Shot (OPOS) style of cooking to make some of my sabjis and dals. For the uninitiated, OPOS is a hassle-free cooking style that uses only the pressure cooker.
3. I shell peas and garlic in big batches, mostly while watching TV and then refrigerate them in transparent plastic containers. (By the way, I use a blob of toothpaste to wash my hands after peeling garlic. This gets rid of the garlic odor and my hands smell nice.)
4. Dinner is mostly leftover rice from lunch turned into some variety rice. Puliyogare (tamarind rice) is the current favorite, as I have stocked up some masala for it. Sometimes, I make fritters as a quick snack out of leftover dal and sabji mixed with onions and gram flour, and fried.
5. I use many gadgets and tools in the kitchen to save time — grater, peeler, grinder, blender are always handy in my kitchen. I also use an egg boiler and of course microwave is there for reheating. I try not to feel guilty about taking some cooking shortcuts. Instead, I tell myself, "You're a working mom, you can't cook like you have the whole day." Cooking something elaborate is reserved for weekends.
6. Doing the dishes can seem like an endless task. To minimize the number of dishes I need to clean, I have asked everyone at home to at least wash their own plates. Using fewer vessels to cook is another trick to help you cut down on the number of dishes you do every day. Also, I don't keep dirty dishes for later. The sooner you do the dishes the better. We wants to see a sink full of dirty dishes first thing in the morning?
7. I use the washing machine mostly at night. Next day morning when the clothes are dry, I fold and keep them in their designated space. I don't like hearing someone yelling 'Where's my towel?' even if I am working from home!
8. Experts suggest that moms should indulge in self-care once in a while. Whenever I remember this, I apply a paste of milk and besan (gram flour) to my face. Don't know about my skin, but my soul glows after this treatment!
9. Inspired by the numerous home chefs on social media, I tried my hands at baking during the lockdown and the results surprised even me! I got my daughter to help me with baking. No, not with actual baking or folding cake mix but with baking measurements. I ask her to translate some of the measurements to something that I can understand — I am still bad with 'three ounces of milk or 150 grams of flour'. She helps me google these. Baking is a big stressbuster for me.
10. I try to watch at least one kiddie movie with my daughter on weekends. Sometimes, I find them boring, once she caught me checking WhatsApp messages during our movie time. Still I do it religiously. The last movie we watched together was Scooby-Doo. It's not always movies though. Sometimes, we play a game of Monopoly on evenings — our way of bonding!
11. When my husband and I started working from home and our daughter started her remote learning through online classes, we invested in a better broadband connection. Also, we got some foldable laptop tables to make our work-from-home days glitch-free. Having a power backup is also an important factor. Once these things were taken care of, its been a smooth ride barring occasional hiccups.
12. There are some things I have learnt the hard way while working from home. After a few angry reminders,  I avoid using the pressure cooker and mixer-grinder during hubby's office call or when daughter is attending her online classes. During important office calls, nobody wants to hear your cooker whistling!
13. And when I have video calls for work, I try to keep my back to the wall. This way, you can prevent the accidental entry of family members in the frame. (By the way, like many others before me, it took me quite a few days to realize that sometimes I forgot to unmute myself or my video was still on during office calls!)