As we teeter out of lockdown, with restrictions beginning to lift and move forward into what will be a new world, it is good to reflect on the previous year. By looking back to this time last year I’m sure we can see how far we have all come. It has certainly been a learning process for me.
Whilst working from home this last year has been a positive experience for me, I appreciate, that for many it has been far from that. Our NHS staff have been under so much pressure with so many covid patients in hospital and are still working really hard rolling out the vaccination programme, to help us all stay well, with the help of wonderful volunteers. Infact all our key workers, correctly named, have proved essential and anyone in that group of workers should feel extremely proud of themselves, having carried on working, for us all, in very difficult circumstances.
I also feel so much admiration as well for all those parents who have had to not only work from home themselves, but have had to teach, entertain and cater for their children 24 hours a day, with no respite of play dates or the ability to relax themselves. It is important as a parent, coping with the lockdown situation, to feel good about yourself and congratulate yourself, even if you struggled, you got through it, so well done.
Even though, lockdown and the past year may have posed, big problems to a lot of people with businesses, especially High St shops and entertainment, there will be people who have spotted opportunities and new ways of working. New businesses have actually started and existing businesses have been forced to adapt, anyone doing deliveries or with online services may have thrived. It’s good to review what has worked for us and consider taking that good stuff forward into our new normal.
So, what have been the benefits…?
I’m sure a lot of people have become experts at zoom or other online meeting media such as Microsoft teams. The fame that Jackie Weaver gained after that disastrous parish council meeting, just shows that there is a skill to online meetings, though with practice, it does become easier.
If this is something you are doing now regularly, it is worth getting some feedback from a kind colleague or friend, on how you come across. Online etiquette, how we dress and look, how the meeting is organised, and your room background are all important, especially if it’s the first time you’ve met someone and you want to make a great first impression.
Online meetings are a great step forward in working sustainably as we travel less, save time and money and reduce our carbon emissions. I have hardly used my car, except for shopping as I was no longer going to the gym or yoga either, using zoom for that too. Whilst we may have missed meeting up with work colleagues, which we will do again no doubt, now at least, we have a choice. We are likely to have to social distance for some time so this provides a transition time to re-organise our new work patterns. All those crazy meetings where people travel by air thousands of miles, say for a 2 hour meeting will hopefully change to being online mainly, with travel being only an occasional necessity.
Lockdown has made me review my own Personal Styling and Coaching business ConfidentlyYou. I had signed up to an Accelerate course with Study In Style in December 2019 so was already using Zoom as lockdown struck us. I have now managed to convert my Colour and Style services to online and I’ve found I’m really enjoying this. It has surprised me how well this works for me and the client and I intend to continue working online. I’m a lot more efficient in what I do as I don’t have to travel yet can still “meet” people online. I really like Zoom. It has been robust and stable as a media and is pretty straight forward to use. It is also free for 1-2-1s which is mostly what I do or up to 40 minutes for more than 2 people. I have bought a new camera too and the resolution is much better.
Something we have had to adjust too is our work-life balance. When working from home I’ve found it really helps to get into a routine, allotting chunks of time to different activities, to break up the day. It has helped that my husband has been working from home too. During the first lockdown, with the lovely weather it was great to break at lunchtime and sit outside in the sun and listen to the birds. I’ve always worked better in the afternoon, finding I get engrossed in what I’m doing by then, so I found doing some exercise after work, such as a walk or cycle ride was a good way to stop me from sitting there for too long, so separating my work from home life. I can then relax more easily and switch off.
As we come out of our third lockdown, I’m really looking forward to enjoying nicer weather and seeing more people socially. When its sunny I think we all tend to feel happier. We are now allowed to meet up outside in our gardens and I have arranged a lunch date with a friend tomorrow to celebrate this. It really is important to celebrate these occasions, after all we’ve been through. It’s also good to know that the sun on my skin is also topping up my vitamin D, improving my health and ability to fight the dreaded covid…
I hope you’ve found this helpful and really recommend you spend some time reflecting on what you’ve achieved this last year, what has worked for you and what you plan to carry on doing post lockdown in our new, post-covid world, to live successfully and sustainably.
Katie James is a Sustainable Stylist & Confidence Coach and is based in Bramley, Hampshire
www.ConfidentlyYou.co.uk