Alisa Postma, a PhD candidate in FABI and a research assistant at the Centre for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, relates her experiences of working from home during lockdown.

As we pass the (planned) halfway mark of our lockdown period in South Africa, I find myself making mental lists of what to do when I get my freedom back. As a mother of a small child, staying at home is often my first choice as going out with a two-year-old holds many challenges. As a bioinformatician, I find it easier than some others to work from home. On a personal and professional level, the lockdown has mostly been less challenging for me: no more mad morning rush to get myself and a tiny human ready for the day, no frustrating commute to campus and no tedious preparation of take-along meals every day. 

That being said, finding a work-life balance with none of the external help I usually depend on has not been easy. I often find myself reflecting on the necessity of others’ help for me to be able to live my life. On the one hand, I dearly miss having help with teaching my child as much as possible about the world, on the other hand I am grateful and I recognize this time as an opportunity to get to know him and myself a little better. At first, I was worried about how I was going to fill all the waking hours with stimulating activities for my son. As many other scientists (control freaks), I like organisation and lists (control). On Wednesday 16 March, I made many lists: daily routine, weekly meal plans as well as to do lists for personal and work-related tasks which I would like to get done. Guilt is a common emotion for most working mothers. When spending time with your child, you feel guilty for not spending time on work, and vice versa. As the lockdown progressed, I no longer felt guilty about not spending enough time with my son or work, but about all the expectations I had not been meeting. Expectations I had been burdening myself with. While I believe it is always good to have goals and plans, one lesson I have learned from this pandemic, is that we have to be flexible above anything else. While we are locked up inside our houses, our minds are unlocking innovative ways of navigating our lives and world. My shortlist for things to do when the lockdown is lifted: 1. Stop making lists 2. Go to a hair salon.