Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of Business Over Breakfast. I am your cohost Camille and I am Jaya.
Today we just want to touch on like mental health. Just what does it mean to have real work-life balance? Some people are working from home. The majority are ever since the pandemic. Some folks are in office and that’s the expectation. So like how can you maintain a work-life balance?
How’s it been going Jaya? Great question. It’s been going and it’s been going well. However, it would be dishonest of me to say that there are not struggles that come with working a hundred percent remote. One of the things that I’ve kind of had difficulties with would be the organization of my day.
Establishing a routine and having a routine in which you’re getting up, you’re getting ready, you’re going into the office, you’re getting your coffee, whatever it may be, helps aid I think in creating a routine while working. And because I no longer had that morning routine accompanied with the fact that I also have a one-year-old, made it a lot more difficult to organize my day in a way that would yield me the most productivity and success.
So I would say that working from home is amazing and I’m so grateful for the opportunity and I wouldn’t want it any other way, but it took me a while, or I should say it took me longer than what I anticipated to actually figure out a way to make it work for me. And I realized that it required a lot of self-discipline and a lot of discomfort in the sense of
yeah, you’re at home and you can sleep in until 8:30. However, you shouldn’t because you should get up and prep for the day so that you’re more productive during the workday. So yeah. What about you? Yeah. I heard a lot of things that relate to me, for sure. Just being able to have some leniency on your schedule.
Like I’m the type of person when I wake up, I just want to get started with work. I’m of course, doing your daily routine like hygienes and things like that, but getting right into it. But what I learned is just like, when you start off the week, like that is it gets to the middle and near the end, you start getting depleted or you losing your motivation.
So like you said, you’ve got to block off some time and like get a schedule going so that you could release a little bit. If it’s all work all the time, you feel very stressed out for sure. Yeah, definitely.
So one of the beauties of Hirewell is that there is no micromanagement, which means that there is no one
watching over you or over your back. And because I was used to an environment like that, not having anyone to check in to make sure I’m doing my job, created I guess anxiety in the sense that I felt like I always had to be working or doing something. When I had first started here at Hirewell, and I remember having my one-on-ones with Jeff and expressing that I felt like was I doing enough?
And every single time he was like, you’re fine. You’re doing what you need to do. And it just made me really reflect on how micro-managing can create just such a toxic mindset that you can carry into other jobs, other corporations that really hinders how well you’re able to work.
We have a great supervisor Jeff. And similar to you, that was my whole goal was like, okay, I got to hit the pavement hard.
I got to prove to them why they hired me, you know? Be the best you can, which is great. It’s important to have goals, but they should be realistic and attainable for sure.
To have an autonomous position where you could work from home, that is a blessing, but there is a trade off. Like you don’t get the supervisor that you could speak to in the break room about, “Hey, I needed some help with this” or it’s easier to come to you in person maybe than it is an email. Email is so formal or even a chat.
I think that we do lose out on that and it’s almost like our companies to adapt more of a virtual process for mentorship. Is it on the employee to do that specific reach out to them and employee like or coworker and to see like, “Hey, what’s worked for you?” “Where do we go from here?”
Yeah, definitely. So I totally agree with the virtual mentorship program or something of that nature, so that newer people that are going into this industry or just starting off don’t feel so isolated. And I can say that as someone who is younger and still learning how to figure out how to essentially ask for help when it’s needed and not feel like you’re bothering someone, especially when it’s over the computer has been difficult. Working remotely and having to
forcing myself to be uncomfortable because I’m not in an office setting and I’m not engaging in natural conversations, it’s definitely benefited and helped my communication skills in the way in which I speak to people, ask questions, insert myself to make sure I’m getting the information that I need to be successful.
And I can’t say that I would’ve done that if I was in the office because there wouldn’t have been the challenge of putting myself in situations- not putting myself in situations, but having conversations.
I would say that just having that, the comfortability to admit that you need some help, that’s something that is new as well. Like I know it’s something that you should be comfortable to just ask for help but sometimes it could be a little menacing. But it’s something that we can definitely get over. I think that there’s some steps to take to do that just by reaching out to one or two, building those connections.
And then if all else fails, for sure your supervisor is a good help. Yeah. Definitely. That’s a good thing. I was going to ask you, what would be a suggestion for someone who is starting their first remote job, and they know that there’s going to be a lot of autonomy. What would you say is the best way to go about handling that and all of the emotions that come with that?
Yeah, I’d say get prepared. Do your research on the company but before going so deep into a company, because they already have their outline, I would say ask yourself, what is your career move? Where do you see yourself in the next five years? And then as you look at some companies, it shouldn’t just be about what they can offer you in terms of compensation.
It should be a learning opportunity and should help you grow as well to get to your achievements. So I would say start off with finding out what you want to do and then when you’re reaching out to those companies, explain to them the research that you went under to do it and ask them, “Hey, this is my first time with remote.
So what are some things I can expect from you guys? And how are you going to onboard me knowing that I’m new to this?” Or like just asking those questions. I think transparency is key.
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