Work and life has integrated deeply in WFH, important to set boundaries: Basis CEO

Hena Mehta shares her wfh schedule and how she is being more productive while away from the office.

Hena Mehta, Founder and CEO, Basis, finds working from home fairly easy to adapt to.

She told ET Panache, "Being a small tech startup, our method of working is designed to be flexible. So in a lot of ways, we are plug and play. We miss in-person interactions, especially whiteboard discussions. Now that the lockdown has lifted, we are looking at meeting up potentially once a week, with appropriate social distancing in-place of course, for in-person discussions and meetings. To ensure smooth communication, we do two team calls a day, with video calls for our evening catch-up."


Productivity wise, Mehta's primary hack is to follow a structured schedule every day.

"I wake up and exercise at the same time I used to pre-lockdown. I have a dedicated workspace at home. With dressing up, I focus on comfort. Athleisure and casual are what I go with by default. Of course, if I’m doing a live video chat, I make sure to put on something dressy or a bit more formal, depending on the nature of the chat," she said.

As a business, the company is going ahead with their roadmap as planned. "Managing money and making sound financial decisions has become top of mind for most people, and we’ve been excited to see significant traction. There have been a few minor changes in our strategy - we’ve had to cancel offline community and marketing initiatives, but overall the impact to our business is minimal," Mehta said.

She says that recently she read somewhere that we should stop calling it 'working from home', and instead call it 'living at work'.

"This one really resonated with me. Because work and life has integrated so deeply, it is more important to set boundaries. I stop working around 6-6:30 pm, and take a break for dinner and spending time with my family. I then log back in to work later in the evening to wrap up the day, and prepare for the next day. I make sure to find time for self care and exercise as well - without which my productivity would take a major hit. Lastly, for friends and family who I don’t get to meet in-person, I make it a point to check in with them and catch up over a video or phone call," Mehta said.

Weekends are tricky. Due to work and life now being completely blended and in-person social lives being fairly restricted, weekends don’t look very different from weekdays for the Basis CEO.

Yoga, dance fitness and walks are how Mehta keeps fit. "I try not to let my work schedule disrupt this part of my day. I’m also mindful of my eating habits. With working from home, popping into the kitchen for a snack is far too easy - and I make sure to limit these kitchen visits," she said.

Mehta has started reading a lot more over the past few weeks. "I recently finished Bob Iger’s The Ride of a Lifetime and Stephen Schwarzman’s What it Takes - both inspiring biographies of leaders who built incredibly successful companies. Cooking and baking are hobbies I’ve reconnected with," she ended.