What do people do in bed, other than sleeping ? Should be an easy one, isn't it. Well, it turns out not to be so easy. No, it's not what you thought. Apparently, the activity that is most often done in bed is working !
This blogger has often moaned about the complete encroachment of the office in to the home. The awful mobile phone started the trend. The tyrannical Blackberry, despite offering the serious affliction of arthritis of the thumb, turned zillions into addicts. The tablet completed the victorious rout. The office has completely taken over the home. Wife and kids - can you move to the garage please.
You know that working in bed is a reality when you see companies offering products that "improve your productivity" while in bed. I had thought that such a claim would strictly be in the realm of the magazines of a certain slant, but apparently these come with a U certificate. Take the example of this bed (online price $5,999)
No, this doesn't rock and shake. Apparently it has more prosaic qualities. It has power sockets built in and one side of the bed can be propped up to let you work while the other side remains flat for your spouse to continue sleeping.
Or how about this laptop holder from IKEA.
Or something called the "Pyramid Pillow". While it helps you prop up the tablet, apparently its USP is that it can stop pens from getting lost under the sheet.
What is the world coming to ? The future of the human species is under grave threat, if the result of groping in a dark bedroom yields a pen ! If the dominant sound is a ping, instead of what you would expect (no; not a snore !) . When you missed "action" with your spouse (or the significant other) because it was not on your Outlook calendar ? All right, I shall stop here.
Isn't there anything sacred anymore under the onslaught of the office. Can't you retreat into a private sanctuary of your bedroom, without the office crowds joining you. That is why I am dead against the promise of video calling. If I have to do a call from bed, I would rather not have the calling party see me in my pajamas, or worse ! And I certainly don't want to see the other in curlers - and I thought she was very pretty.
Do me a favour. Erect a minefield around your bedroom and shoot the office if it tries to encroach. If your guard is slipping, remember this blog post. And remember that we would all not have been born if the second most common activity that happened in the bedroom was working !
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22 comments:
ROFL LOL cheesey cheeky post :))
Right now in the dorm literally there is no privacy.
Most of the times study happens on the bed. you can find more than a pen on my bed right now!
one of my slipper was missing and my roomie found it after two days of course in his bed! #true story
so we will be glad to buy the prop and the bed if te price is little cheaper.
rotfl :D:D:D attagaasamaana post..as usual :D officela nalla sugama thoongidrathalaa..veetlayaaachum vela paakalamnu nenakra makkalukaaga create panna bedsa irukumo? #not sontha story :D
ROFL! Over the years I have brought myself to shut down my work brain at home. Of course there are days of relapses depending on the situation. But I'd rather slog during weekdays and leave the weekends out of the deal. A Big lesson learnt you-know-where ;-) ! But makes it easier coz of the work culture in the country that I am. I always think I would fight for this cause once I come back too. And not just for working women but men too. Someone I know put it very well once- if u have to kill yourself over work everytime, either you are not doing your job well, either your job is not the right fit for you or you need more people doing that job. And these things need to be fixed.
@ Appu- Finding your slipper in your friend's bed is taking it a little too far, almost 'queer' ;-) ;-) !!!
//@ Appu- Finding your slipper in your friend's bed is taking it a little too far, almost 'queer' ;-) ;-) !!!//
rotfl :)))) awesomatica of the aaromale comment :))
@Zeno - Well, students in hostel are apt to do strange things. But a slipper in the bed takes the cake !!!
@Gils - Are you in the category you yourself described ???
@Deepa - Very true. But the work culture is rapidly evolving into a 24 hr workday - you are just expected to be available 24 hours a day. Its almost impossible to shut down. Society will see profound social consequences of this in the years to come.
Ha Ha Ha.
But there is another angle. walk into any public sector office and you will how much personal life can enter into work. Starting from catching up on the missed TV episode to buying and selling amway products. some work will also happen in between.
but the moot point is whether you discuss bollywood in board room, or clear emails in the bedroom, an individual needs to find the balance. the balance not being X hours but balance being contentment at work fulfillment at home.
oh very very true! it is so irritating when the phone beeps through the night whenever a mail pops.
I am sure it happens in most homes.
In my house for a change the dining table is the work table and the bedroom is the dining room because we had a TV set there. it also doubles up as a homework table. Sometimes i havegot compass too. yes all in the past tense, because the culprit was the TV in the bedroom. I gave away that second TV two years back and now only one TV in the whole house.
I think it also happens because we work with the western countries time zone. Most video calls and conference calls happen after 7 or 8 p.m and stretches beyond our yawning time.
@Sandhya - Oh yes, so very true. The picture in my mind is aunties in a LIC office !!
Balance is the key. Easy concept, very difficult to achieve.
@Asha - Yes, time zones are a major problem. As I keep saying this is a profound social change with massive societal implications.
I rarely work from home after R was born....I've stopped procrastinating things while I'm at work...and I take minimal breaks at work to finish things while I'm there....here's hoping I can keep it that way ;)
On a related note, even internet or any kind of screen time should be limited....TV inside the bedroom is a strict no-no for me.....if I visit someone's house and find the TV on, I politely request that it's turned off. For the limited time I'm visiting, I rather focus on meaningful conversations than the noise/distraction from the tele....
Hmmm .... I can see this as a "problem" only if we want to make it a problem. In my classes, I refer to "problems" like this as evidence of the kind of economic affluence that the world has never seen before. A poor person in a village without electricity doesn't have these problems, and I would rather not be live in that poor person's village, and would prefer that the poor also have choices that they can then worry about.
Maybe over the years I have become more and more of a libertarian thinker, which is why I wonder why this is not within an individual's control to a large extent. If people want to use the bed for work, too, well, it is their call, right?
I think the problem arises when those working from their beds at 2:00 am expect others to work at similar ungodly hours. This doesn't apply to my professional responsibilities, but I can imagine it being the case in many others. And, therefore, the external pressure to check that email or watch out for the phone buzzing. But, in reality, ignoring those are within our control too, yes?
@Shachi - As long as your work is concerned with one geography, then managing time is a bit easier. As Asha says, when you have to work cross border, then it become inevitable that the bed becomes a work place - Alas !
@Sriram - Yes and No. Many professions these days simply demand a 24 hour work day. Some are because of geography and time zones. Some are because that's the job (think currency trading ). Its very very difficult to say no and compartmentalise our lives into work and leisure. I believe its a profound sociological problem that isn't understood very well and that the consequences will be huge on the society.
The bed is a good one and as for the second pic I'll just be my cheap self and be content with the pillow I use;-D.
I'm guilty of using my bedroom to talk with family & friends on video chat...only because the rest of the house is very noisy;-P.
With the Indian population bursting at its seams the last para is like a...like a....;-o.
Hehe just joking, totally got ur point:-)).
@Reflections - Plizzz to post picture of N reclining on the bed and chatting away !! Love the allusion to a new family planning tool :)
Cheeky title but so very true. When I work out of home the bed is the office. The only hitch is when you are on video calls, you gotta make the bed look like an office!
work is for work, home is for home. It's as simple as that and its a choice we all make !!
Trevor Down Under
hilarious post. had me smiling at the pun that you played all along.
only after you pointed out, i realised that i have used the sacred bedroom as an office many a times - mostly for want of a silent space at home.
I have taken some drastic steps to stop all the calls that i take at the ungodly hours in the night (like changing the organisation i was into for more than a decade :-) )Totally worth it.
We need to have our priorities right and then everything falls in place. :-) ( easier said than done)
Totally with you on erecting a minefield around the bedroom and am ready to shoot the encroachers :-)
@Vincy - Yes, finding a silent space in the house isn't easy - somebody yelling in the background in colourful language while on a conference call is one of the more embarrassing moment ! I can completely understand thee changing organisation bit ; there is a limit to taking calls in the night.
@kiwi - Video calls from the bedroom is an extremely dangerous thing !!!
@Trevor - More difficult for you in Oz - almost every call is a late night or morning call. Where else to take the calls from .....
yaroo eppozhutho bathikka pattathin osaiya ithu :) absolutely ramesh pun :)
long long ago i was taught to be fierce on field and forget everything outside the field. exactly he said to be a human with all joy and taste of life after official time. next to army and police my field is one where personnel time and official time all are same, now-a-days if i try to follow that advise i am sure my office will show the way for outside door. will i be able to tell those bedtime stories to my children in future, big question.
@Venkat - Brilliant pun :)
As you say, even if you want it is very difficult to separate official and personal. I suppose its all part of evolution, but its one change I find very difficult to accept.
:)
Nice post.
But what is worse than taking work to bed, is if the other activity (which resulted in all our births) becomes work. ;-) :D
@Preeti - Ha Ha Ha
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