Coronavirus: A Year in Lockdown

We will never forget Coronavirus and the Year 2020, that has bled into 2021 and, it seems, beyond; it will be in our history for years to come…sadly this virus has not yet become history and we are still living with it daily.  Along the way there have been lots of twists and turns. For example, back in August 2020 we thought we were going to break through this, particularly when Scotland even dropped down to a Level 1 at one point.  However, this all changed again, proving this virus to be so unpredictable.

We have been back in a full lockdown since Christmas 2020 and we are approaching a full year of this virus, as it was on 23 March 2020 that we were all directed to work at home.  With the arrival of this sad anniversary, this will create some extra bad feelings, stress and anxiety.  Therefore, I wanted to write this short blog to remind us all that we are not alone in this and one day this will all be behind us.

Whether you live alone, with family or are feeling the pressures of home schooling on top of your home working these all come with their own complexity.  People who live alone have been faced with spending all day on their own, not seeing friends or colleagues for a chat, feeling very isolated and lonely. However, people who do have their family around do not find this easy either.  For instance, trying to homework with your partner in the same house, while you are both on Team meetings can be challenging too. As for home schooling your children, well let’s face it no parent signed up to be a teacher and while trying to homework too and make sure they are working is very difficult and adds a lot of pressure.

I have had to help home school my niece and it is hard trying to get them up to speed with their school work so they don’t fall behind. You feel like you do have to put a lot of time into them and it does bring added stress. I personally was feeling like ‘ok, what’s my niece got to do this week?’ and feeling stressed at how much she was getting through and she’s not even my own child. ?

Although there are now timelines in place, we are likely to still be home working for a little while yet in some cases, so it is still extremely important to try differentiating between your home working and your home life.

Over the last year I have had to discipline myself by setting myself a few goals:

• Please try take regular breaks. I like to set my Fitbit every hour to remind me to get up and move around a bit, perhaps do some stretching.
• Take time to call your colleagues, always keep talking to each other.
• Go out and get fresh air, please don’t feel like you must be at your desk for every second of the day.
• If you don’t have a spare room to have you desk in and you are having to work in your living space, it’s important to clear your work things away at the end of each day and the weekends.
• Always try and stick to your regular working hours, it is so easy to end up working longer and not take any breaks.
• Always remember that if you need to deal with your home life (home schooling a child for example) this is ok and never feel guilty about this. Our Board has been very supportive of us during lockdown and we should remember this.

 

Remember: things might feel hard right now, but this situation is unusual. And it won’t last forever. We can already see some light at the end of this tunnel. ?