Working from home has its own advantages and disadvantages. But if the weather is constantly hot right now, especially if you live in tropical areas where every day is hot and humid, not working in an office becomes a disadvantage.
I use special fan (a fan you can fill with water so that the air is cooler) and sometimes it’s still hard for me to concentrate and stay focused on my work. In an office, there will be air conditioners and undoubtedly, it’s a nice place to do our jobs in such heat.
Surely if we turn on the air conditioners on, it not only will make us spend more money on the bills, it will also add our own carbon footprint quite significantly, as opposed to reducing it.
Then, if fans are not enough, what do we do to stay cool during both work-from-home time and the warmer weather?
Adjust work hours
This one’s gonna be quite hard for us who are not morning people (me included). But I guess desperate times call for desperate measures. Anyway, if you’d like, wake up much earlier and start your work early in the morning as well.
Six in the morning is a great start. When we start at six, we might have finished all of our workload by noon. So when the hottest part of the day comes, we can rest for a while until it’s not too scorching anymore.
Move around
Not too much, though. What I meant is that we move according to the indoor temperatures. Sun makes certain areas inside our house hotter, so rooms or places that don’t have sun exposure may be cooler.
This is particularly helpful if you work on a laptop, so you can move around your house in order to be in cooler places. If you work on a PC, well, maybe you can do it manually first and then input what you do later on (if possible, that is).
Also, if you have a house with good ventilation and/or airflow design, then you should utilize it well. Open your windows but keep the blinds or curtains closed so you can block the sun from heating up the room.
Problems with bugs or mosquitoes? Put anti-bug screen mesh on your windows so that you can still get breezes. If you want, open the windows overnight to cool the indoor air and close them in the morning to trap the cool air.
Try to self-cool
If you don’t have AC-like fans, you can try other ways such as putting a bag of frozen peas on the back of your neck. Also, drink a lot of water, preferably cold water, to stay hydrated all day.
I do this when it gets super hot and humid; taking showers multiple times a day so that I can cool off. Combined with ice cold water to drink and clean fan, you don’t need to depend on air conditioners too much.
Don’t snack on chips
Actually, there’s nothing wrong with it, but if you want to cool yourself off, it’s better to snack on cool, refreshing fruits. So, cut and then put your fruits into the fridge and munch on them whenever you need it. The cool fruits hydrate you, and you have healthier snacks.
Being naked doesn’t help
I mean it might help some people, but for people who sweat a lot, not having something to wipe off or help absorb the sweat can be a bit of a problem too. If you’re like this, then try to put on your loose-fitting natural fabrics like cotton.
Socks can help with feet that also sweat a lot, but at the same time, they can make us feel warm. Whatever you choose, just remember to be comfortable while working without air conditioners.
Isolation is not good for me
I’m introverted so I have no problems with lockdowns, social distancing, self-quarantine, and all that. But I’m well aware that there are some people who can feel very sad and lonely during the pandemic. Well, if you’re one of them, the answer is simple; get pet(s). Have one or two already? Good!
“I think in times of uncertainty and fear, you latch onto the things that are constant. It’s that predictability when we come home from work or shopping — or even the next room — and our pets greet us like conquering heroes or rock stars. That’s rooted in unconditional love and loyalty, and laughter as well. … They’re actually good for us. It’s all about emotional well-being,” said Dr. Marty Becker, a veterinarian and founder of Fear Free Happy Homes.
Now that you only have your pets to interact with, you can turn this rather grim year into something fun with them. You can strengthen your bonds with them by spending a lot more time together. Also, if you’ve been wanting to teach your pets some new tricks, you can do so around these times.
Got kids at home who haven’t gone back to school yet? Get them engaged with pet-related activities, then! Make DIY projects together and make new toys for the animals (repurposing is even better).
It’s quite easy to make toys for cats and dogs—I mean my cats love scrunched grocery receipts and as far as I know, dogs’ favorite things are not that hard to find/make either—but it might be trickier for other pets. The internet is a great place to find good DIY projects.
Whatever ways you prefer to do, our pets’ company will benefit us. These times are quite frustrating and stressful, but your furry babies/friends will remind us to enjoy life more and take a moment to slow down.
“In many cases in busy lives, we’ve given pets the time we can spare and the love we can share. They, in return, have given us their absolute all. So maybe now is the time to return a portion of the debt we owe them,” said Becker.
Keep being green during the pandemic
Some of us have to pause being eco friendly now (like medical professionals), but the rest of us who doesn’t have any issues or the needs to do that, we should keep being green, because it’s still possible.
We can start by cutting back on food waste by calculating and using what we have in our freezer or pantry for our next meals. There are countless recipes that you can find online in order to make good food from leftovers or other materials.
As I mentioned before, medical professionals need disposables or single-use items to that they can protect themselves. However, we shouldn’t think that we must act like them and start using disposable products (unless there are health issues or others).
Surface cleaning can use hand towel and soap (or special, eco conscious cleaners), and household disinfectant is just as effective as a disposable wipe.
Also, repurposing is not out of style. We can always turn something that might not look useful anymore into something we can use daily. An easy example is spare cloths that we can turn into face masks.
Hope this pandemic is over soon, so that we can meet our friends and loved ones and get back to being eco friendly.
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