Habits

There are two unspoken rules in my office. Both are weird, I know.

The first rule is I never have an al desko lunch.

W-w-w-w-what? You heard me. Actually, scarfing down quick lunch at our desk saves time, I have to admit. But, alas, eating is a social ritual. If time is running short, I'd rather skip lunch. If time is running just a bit tight, I prefer a run to the canteen and meet up my colleagues. It's also a good way to get ourselves out of the hamster wheel of nonstop work, according to Henry Steward, founder and "chief happiness officer" of the workplace consultancy.

The second rule: there is no landline phone in my office.

Once I'm clear on what the purpose of a telephone is, and how often the landline phone can serve my purpose, I told my secretary matter-of-factly not to install telephone for my office. No one seems more caught off guard by this rule than my secretary. She has never heard of a boss without office desktop phone. If you think that desktop phone can demarcate clearly when I'm reachable (translation: when I am sitting in my office), think twice. With the hectic bustle of clinic sessions and ward rounds, of various appointments and meetings, the chance for my butt to touch my office chair is as rare as finding an empty bed in my hospital.

Which is why, in the end, I decided to rely on and stick to a mobile phone - and forget the landline phone - lest I be fired for being never reachable.