I think it’s safe to say, the Chinese curse, “may you live in interesting times” has more than come true right now. As we go into our seventh week on lockdown in France, it’s becoming clear that this isn’t a situation that is going away any time soon.
The “new normal” whatever it may look like, is on its way, but it feels a lot like it’s far away on the horizon, just out of reach right now. When it does get here, what it looks like is anyone’s guess right? From what I read and watch it seems to change on a near-daily basis, with information and misinformation doing the rounds and slowly it’s sinking in that this isn’t going away any time soon.
I posted an article the other day, 5 Things To Do During the Lockdown, not as any kind of inspiration to others, but more as a reminder, to myself, as to what was happening and what I was doing during these crazy times.
I’m continuing to keep a routine, and albeit frustrating that we can’t go out, socialise or anything else, I know and recognise just how lucky I am, to have ended up in the south of France during this lockdown.
The world, the universe, karma, whatever you want to call it, has a funny way of making things happen. Sometimes for the worst, but this time most definitely for the best.
As a team at Social INK, we’ve worked remotely since 2016, so work hasn’t been too affected by WFH, but again, as I’ve said to lots of people online, this isn’t normal WFH conditions.
There are no, popping out for a coffee break, meeting a friend for lunch, or simply going for a wander in town to help clear your head.
This is very different from how working from home, or working remotely, used to look for me and for many others out there.
Whilst talking to a good friend the other day, I realised just how important what he was saying is right now. “It’s OK not to feel great during these times”.
There have been so many posts online about what to do with the “downtime” people have by being at home, but the reality just doesn’t look anything like that. For a lot of people, they have kids at home, all the while they’re trying to manage their WFH schedule, the kids and keep everyone sane during a time where you can’t even pop out easily to get some fresh air.
If you’re not feeling up to using this time to learn a new language or a new skill, that’s not only fine, it’s completely understandable. The whole world around us, that we were so used to, just crumbled, almost overnight.
It’s also OK to have good days and bad days. I mean, after all, we all used to have them when life was normal. Don’t be too hard on yourself if one day you feel like you’re on fire and the next day you want to take some downtime. It’s normal.
I’ve spent a lot of my time reading, talking to businesses, understanding what problems people have been facing for work, and it’s simply a brutal time we’re all living through at the moment.
There is so much uncertainty about pretty much everything that it makes it almost impossible to continue working/living/functioning 100% normally.
So, if you decide you do want to learn something new, that’s great. If you decide what you need is a glass of wine and something about tigers on Netlfix, then that’s fine too. But try to find a balance that works for you and your own well being, especially mentally during these whacky times.
The usual signoff seems appropriate at the moment, so, stay safe and stay home.
