How to avoid pajama syndrome when working from home

Working from home is one of the possibilities that is having more success today, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which causes many non-essential workers to find new ways to continue their work activities. This is a modality that, according to the Infobae media, "companies embrace", since it generates certain comfort advantages for employers, such as the fact of not depending on a physical workplace for all employees.

The media Clarín mentions that "the home office is here to stay", because many companies will maintain this type of work, even after quarantine. The comfort benefits of working from home also pose new challenges, such as avoiding pajama syndrome . Let's see what this is about.

What is pajama syndrome and how to avoid it

Working from home is a change in the structure of our day. For this reason, the Vogue website mentions the importance of creating routines so as not to be in pajamas all day. That is, the fact of not leaving the house -or not having any video call scheduled-, can generate the temptation to be disorganized all day.

It is a situation that, as mentioned by the Creativos Online website, usually affects “freelance workers”. However, now it is extended to a series of people who were used to continuous socialization with their coworkers.

Basically, the pajama syndrome refers to the change in our work schedules, where we do not know how to separate the responsibilities from leisure. That is, we usually get used to starting our routine at a certain time, getting dressed, leaving the home, spending time working, returning, changing clothes and putting our heads elsewhere. However, working from home can be complicated.

Mixing personal life with work can be one of the keys to understanding this situation . Even, as the Sage media highlights, procrastination can be the "worst enemy". As, to a certain extent, we are ourselves the ones who organize our schedules, we feel that there is no pressure and we tend to waste a lot of time, which makes responsibilities accumulate and we finish tasks outside the schedule that we had stipulated.

Also read: 4 ways to increase productivity when working at home

Even in terms of health, the La Nación website mentions that pajama syndrome has an ambivalence between comfort and the expression of anguish. That is, the fact of working from home generates a series of comforts, but at the same time, since we do not have the “adrenaline” for having greater flexibility of schedules, we run the risk of increasing stress , feeling that our day “ it never ends ”or that we do more things than usual.

Fortunately, there are some strategies to avoid this syndrome. The PublicidadPixel page focuses on discipline and organization, that is, organizing our schedules and activities in a similar way to what we would have outside the home. This would imply taking a regular shower, having breakfast, putting on “work” clothes and meeting objectives with stipulated schedules.

By doing it this way, we can even get to work much less time than we are used to. That is, the correct optimization of time could add a new advantage to the home-office, which in itself implies being in the comfort of home, but where we also need to restructure our habits to understand that we should not procrastinate, but comply with certain margins of flexibility.