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Adv Jaspal Singh

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Keep Preparing Yourself for Better Days

Jaspal Singh - 6 May 2020

Updated on October 3rd, 2024

Today in the morning, one text by one of my friends, Nikhil, motivated me to rethink that life is never so dark that you can’t see any ray of light. Darkness and light are two sides of the coin in life and it is up to you whom you pick to affect your thoughts and finally what manifests in your life. Most of us are afraid of darkness as it may frighten us, but it is not always bad, so many times you get the greatest opportunities only in the dark phase of life. Preparing yourself for any situation is the only way to stand for the challenges of life.

When you face the darkness in life, you must try your potential to its maximum. Your entire existence gets more activated and you get wonderful results that you never thought would be possible. Quoting from somewhere, I can say, ‘ I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light. Things that have saved my life repeatedly, so that there is really only one logical conclusion, I need as much darkness a much as I need Light.

Facing global pandemic COVID 19

Today, most countries are struggling with a global pandemic, COVID-19. It has affected almost every part of the world. This virus affected worst even the developed parts of the world. Cases are rising daily everywhere. We Indians are also affected by this spreading disease. Everybody seems worried and governments are continuously trying every step to control the worsening situations. Complete lockdowns are announced and people are sitting in complete isolation in their homes. Life has come to a standstill. All activities of life are stopped and uncertainty of the future has chained our thoughts.

We can say we are facing the biggest health crisis and challenge of time after world war second. This crisis has the potential of creating devastating concern over our social and economic facets of life. Authorities in every country have ordered social distancing, quarantining citizens, limiting travels and cancelling large gatherings, closing of schools, offices, and more activities of life.

Start working on your future plans

There is no doubt left that situation is really tough, we are getting bad news every moment; we are losing our business, losing breadwinning jobs, getting tight with money. Mentally we are getting down and depressed with every news. In such an unpleasant atmosphere, the only way is to get ready more confidently. And try to work out some resolutions to face the real problem. Self-meditation and the right focus of mind can change the perspective of the situation and we would be able to see life with more positivity.

No doubt we all are worried, and it’s very tough to estimate when and where all this will end, but there is another way to see life. Life has faced such disasters so many times and every time it came out with more flying colours. At this moment, it is more important to keep our self positive and inspire our surroundings so that we all can be winners in situations.

As in the very start I mentioned, my motivation to write up this article came from the small text of my friend. The theme of the text was to keep you busy with positive things and keep preparing for bigger challenges of life to come. Quoting the same text, I say, ‘when fishermen cannot go to the sea they mend their nets, so when you see no work you can prepare yourself for better things. There can be so many activities that you can plan. There can be so many dreams and hobbies in life; you never got time to fulfil them because of the busy schedule of life. Now, in this free time, you can choose a few of them and work on them.

so many things we can plan

Reading some excellent books, writing few blogs, if you have such passion, planning your future concerns can be few activities that you can work out. I agree all have different choices in life and everybody can plan what he likes more. Working from home is a new concept of today’s age and those professionals who are in the learning and education sector can design their activities accordingly.

As I am from the education sector, I know, few of my friends have worked from home. Universities, colleges, and other institutes have started their lessons, training programs on different online forums. Keeping yourself engaged in such activities will help you spend your time in home isolation. And it will create better results in your business or profession. Many institutes run many online programs, you can also choose any of your choices and upgrade your career skills. We have options of internet-based apps like Zoom, Skype, Webinar that can be helpful to interact with your staff and your clients.

I agree we are in a time of fear and uncertainty. With a slight change in attitude, we can make it more productive.

Taking care of yourself, physically, emotionally and even spiritually, can be your plan. You may work on improving your family relationship by spending a good time with them. Learning some new things can be an opportunity to add better aspects to your personality. Watching good movies that you always missed due to your working pattern can be the best thing to use your free time at home. These days we have many options like Prime Video, Netflix and so many Internet-based choices.

Isolation can be utilized for great things as well

Isolation is not always bad; it has positive qualities as well. You get more time to introspect and review your own thoughts and feelings. Many of you must know the writing of outstanding books from prisons. Conversations With Myself is a collection of Nelson Mandela’s writings, many of which he composed while he was in prison. King James threw Walter Raleigh, in prison where he wrote a History of the World while locked in the Tower of London for 13 years. Marco Polo is famous for travelling in the 13th century. But not as many people know he was arrested in Genoa on his way back. While he was captive, he narrated his journey to his fellow prisoner, who turned the stories into a book, named The Travels of Marco Polo.

In the Indian context, Mahatma Gandhi spent a lot of time in prison for civil disobedience. And he did a lot of writing while he was in prison. My Experiments with Truth is one such example. Similarly, Bhagat Singh, a revolutionary wrote a book titled The Jail Note Book. The Indian Struggle is the work of Subash Chandra Bose. The Discovery of India, (1944) was written by Jawahar Lal Nehru in Ahmednagar fort prison between April to September 1944.

There is a long list of such books written from behind bars. Giving reference to such books here is just to say that isolation can be used for great things as well. Writers, Poets, Spiritual people have always done great things when they were alone.

Keep faith and right attitude

I believe if you keep your faith and trust and you have the right attitude, life will certainly open new doors for you. Difficult moments are as much part of life as good ones, so we’re not supposed to quit believing and growing. Sitting at home, on one side you can spend quality time with your family. And on another side, you can use these moments of struggle and frustrations to motivate you rather than annoy you.

Keep your face towards the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you. History is full of examples where great things happened in the worst situations. Tough situations make outstanding personalities.

This darkness (COVID) will not continue for very long, as it’s not the rule of life. Good days will be there soon. Stay positive & keep yourself safe.

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Working from home is the future of work

Jaspal Singh - 6 May 2020

Updated on August 6th, 2023

We all are passing through a worldwide pandemic, named COVID-19 and the situation has compelled us for working from home. Almost and every part of the world is severely affected by this health crisis. The numbers of causalities are rising day by day, although few nationalities seem to have controlled the spread of disease to some extent. Governments have ordered the complete or partial closures of life activities; businesses and offices are shut down. And still, there is no certainty when life will come to its normal routine.

In this scenario, when we all are sitting at home, few new ideas are also developing. Life never stops for anyone in any situation. It always creates new tracks and better opportunities. No matter how many setbacks you get but the basic principle of life remains the same. In today’s situation, we are learning new things. Technology is playing an important role these days.

Working from home is not a new idea to us, but it has become more focused nowadays. I have felt and learned from the present situation that working from home doesn’t mean that you lose your job or professionalism; rather, it creates a better work environment. The idea of working from home is awesome. You are sitting with your family surrounding you. Your cat or dog is staring at you, and you are involved in your official work. Such an environment is never boring; rather, it increases your productivity.

During my travels and meeting different people, I always heard the concept of working from home. I was thinking about the concept and believed it is not for everybody. Sometimes professionals from the call centre sector, some other consultancies, and a few more used to work from home and at different hours due to time variation between nationalities. Being in the sector of International Education consultancy, I tried this concept with few staff members. Reasons for trying this concept were different, including changed family circumstances of staff members and not losing my performing staff. I experienced that idea really work, and those staff members are still working for my office and really performing.

Successful people are always focused on their work, so staying at home cannot stop you from being more productive. So many different modes of communication are being used to operate work activities while sitting at your home.

In the present scenario, it is a new way of working. I have seen in my circles that everybody is discovering new methods of working remotely. Today we have so many options like Zoom, Skype, Facebook LIVE, Webinars, and other such options to interact with clients and staff. Many professionals like doctors, consultants, IT people are already using these tools, but the present situation has given a big boost to shift on these modes of communications. Many Colleges, Schools & Universities have started online lessons and video conferencing classes. There is nothing wrong if I say work is changed forever. The concept of working from home can boost productivity if we learn the right ways on how to set up our working style at home.

Fixing schedule for the day

While working from home, you get more flexibility to manage your time. In the early morning, when you wake up, you can easily switch on your computer and check few things like emails received and plan to reply to them as per your priority. As you will not get ready, dress up for the office, so you get plenty of time to schedule your tasks. You get the option to put on a pot of tea or coffee and start working. Same you can add a few tasks before going to bed at night.

Here I would like to suggest few tips. Start doing some things, what you normally do, when you are working from the office. Setting alarm in the morning, having breakfast and coffee, wearing a nice dress up, and fixing the schedule of things. Feeling like you are in the office is really important; otherwise, homely things will start distracting you.

Fixing a schedule for each day is significant to make your work and effort really productive. I agree we can’t generalize challenges that everybody faces while working at home. For some, it may be straightforward, and few may feel it challenging to stay focused. If we fix a fixed schedule, it will certainly help to maintain a working environment. Fixing things like coffee breaks, lunch timing will be supporting things for better coordination between team members.

Make list of task and update your status

When you are at your home office, no one is watching you. There is no boss, so you don’t feel any pressure to get stuff done immediately. But you have to keep in mind the necessity of completing that work done on time.

When you are sitting in your home, a lot of distractions and temptations may affect your work. Being transparent to your manager or other team members is essential; otherwise, the team’s productivity will get affected. In case, because of some reason, you are not on your computer, your team must know it. Making a list of tasks and sharing it with team members can be helpful. Updating your status regularly through any mode of communication will develop more confidence with team members.

Few brakes are necessary for better performance. Having tea or coffee breaks will improve your productivity, but you must manage your connectivity with your team during such breaks.

Choose right place and tools to work

Here I am going to share an essential aspect of working from home. Working from home doesn’t mean that you are not as planned and scheduled as others sitting in the office. It would help if you had proper space and working area that supports your effective working. This purpose needs a particular room or space. All this will help you get into the right frame of a working mind.

The working environment certainly affects your performance, so you must choose the right place to work from home. I agree everybody is not having a home office. We need to set up some right place to sit and work. The room should be with minimum distractions and with unnecessary noises. An easy sitting place will be helpful.

Other tools like computers, cameras, and headphones are also important. Headphones can add more quality to all conversations and staff meetings. The selection of communication software should be easy to use for everybody. In short, we can say that working need support of working tools and we should select best one.

While concluding my article, I would like to add that working from home is the future of working. Even after the fading of the COVID crises, people will not stop working from home. Rather, few will adopt it as a new way to work. I feel I will not stop going office, but I will still fix some days in a week to work from home. It is easier, more productive, and relaxing as well. If you give the same privilege to your staff, they will feel more attached to your company, and there will be very few chances of their leaving your team.

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