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And also pay attention mental health. Personally I felt it’s good for me to walk outside, especially a nature trail, with woods etc.

I came across this article – Indian Man At Oracle Laid Off After 12 Years, Wife’s Emotional Note Viral: “Worked Through Holi, Diwali”. This reminds me of one thing – Over the years I recall I worked twice on Thanksgiving holidays.

Once I was single and really not much complaints, another time … it was probably year 2017, I worked 2 days out of the 4 day Thanksgivings holiday – I was married and have family everything, and I got into a fight with my wife partially due to my work load. I was not in a good mood; and then she told her friend that I was going to China etc. and said that I could do a favor for the friend by bringing stuff from the US to China. I told her that we already agreed that not broadcasting my upcoming China trip to avoid those kind of potential hassles. So I used that as an excuse of being upset: I said to my wife that you were not very considerate, considering that I was working my tail off in last few days. And now you bring in unnecessary/extra task for my China trip.

Looking back this is not a really super important issue (do friends a favor). But working itself has added some pressure to me, and working extra hours and especially during holidays not voluntarily is something I want to stay away from. Because relationship with my wife is much more important than work, at least in theory it is. I think because at that time I was the main breadwinner in the house, my job has some extra pressure. It’s still being that way for the most part, in last 10 years or so, my wife did start working, but I think I am still the main breadwinner. I hope over the time (in the near future) I can have other income in addition to work my 9 to 5 job: I am still working on that aspect too – not blogging for sure. But something else.

One was actually last year, as I recall. But I still remember: it was about a year ago. Today I received another news that one of the colleagues passed away. Note I have worked remotely since pandemic in 2020, and I only saw the second colleague in person a few times. I may have seen the 1st colleague once in office, during one of the few times I visited office – it was probably the Indian holiday of Diwali. I went to the memorial (or visitation, it was a traditional Indian ceremony at a funeral home).

As I wrote this, now I recall another colleague passed away and I went to the memorial (or visitation) too: it was almost 2 years ago – I tried to pinpoint the exact time, but I do recall at that time I was driving for Uber, and I thought about driving for Uber after the memorial service. That was a hard one because I believe that young colleague likely has depression and although they didn’t explicitly say the cause of death, I can sense it was likely suicide.

PS: I just googled “remote work toll on mental health“.

AI Overview

Remote work can take a significant toll on mental health by substantially increasing isolation, loneliness, and psychological distress, especially for employees who live alone. [1, 2]

Key Mental Health Impacts

• Isolation and Loneliness: Remote workers spend about 1.1 additional waking hours alone per day compared to on-site workers. Those living alone face an 83% higher chance of experiencing zero human contact during the workday. [1, 2]
• Rise in Mental Distress: A major study published in Science links remote work to an increase in symptoms of anxiety and depression. It accounts for roughly one-third of the overall rise in national mental distress seen over recent years. [1, 2, 3]
• Increased Medical Care: Remote employees show higher rates of consulting mental health professionals and using prescription psychiatric medications like antidepressants. [1, 2]
• Blurred Boundaries and Burnout: Working from home makes it harder to “clock out” mentally. This leads to longer hours, chronic stress, and emotional exhaustion. [1, 2]