For many people this is an overwhelming time. How we choose to approach it will, we believe, help us navigate the coming weeks and months.
A few weeks in, we are looking to take some positives from the situation.
Yes, business is tough, but the most important thing is people’s health. We have taken stock over the last couple of weeks as a team and we have identified some benefits and learnt new things as well.
These are some of the things this current situation has taught us.
Firstly, we are all in this together. This is a phrase we have heard a lot, but it is so, so true. Therefore, let’s embrace it, not fight it. There are so many uplifting stories out there about how people are supporting others – so let’s feed off this positivity and emerge stronger for the experience.
It is rather refreshing not to have a long arduous commute now – all we have to do is negotiate the movement from one room to another in the house. This is saving us both time and money and we feel more relaxed once we arrive at our workstations as we are not frustrated by traffic jams and school runs.
At home we can select our own work environments – home office, kitchen table, dining room – whichever room we want to work from, and with the radio station we want to listen to as well!!!
Apart from children and pets, we are having less interruptions to our working days which means we can retain our focus and make fewer mistakes. We also have the flexibility to adjust our working day to suit our needs and those of our clients. So, by being at home, we are enjoying a better work/life balance, allowing us to manage our days more effectively given the time savings we are making by not travelling anywhere.
And we are using this opportunity to invest in our own personal and professional development. We are all logging on to webinars, listening to TED Talks and learning new things with the time now available to us.
We have also learnt some very valuable life lessons and in some cases, revelled in a glorious sense of achievement.
For example, last weekend when we moved to British Summertime, we taught ourselves how to change the clock on the oven. We have joined a large proportion of the country and learnt how to make a banana loaf – thank you Mary Berry.
We have embraced technology – we are all over Houseparty, Zoom, Workplace and Google Meet among others. This has rapidly become our new norm.
We are really understanding how important it is to spend time connecting with friends and family. This is where technology is playing such a positive and important part of our lives. This situation is demonstrating how valuable our family time is and it is something which will not be taken for granted again.
We are pleasantly surprised by how tolerant we have become, even when our daughters cut their brother’s hair.
But most of all, we are really beginning to understand exactly what the essentials we need in our life are.
We are going to do our best to remain positive and tackle this with a smile on our faces. If we can help you do this, then let us know. We are always available for a chat and are becoming experts in the virtual cuppa. And you know we can do the technology.
Stay safe everyone.