Whether this series ends up being 1 post or 12, no one knows. However, the drive that pushed cavemen to draw on walls seem to simmer within all of us. Here's my wall!
WFT tips:
Having a desk set up is key
Yes, you can start your day early with no commuting but make sure you ease into the day - for me that's reading my kindle for some time before getting into the "office"
Invest in good lights around your work space. Smart lights that can replicate nature light are a good investment
Take your usual coffee break, lunch break. Good time to hang with others in the household or to go outside and stretch your legs
Clock off as if you have your commute ahead of you, don't be tempted to stay on till 9 because that's when you normally arrive home
Background noise might be the BBC news although I would suggest easy listening. We're being bombarded by the news non-stop between colleagues, email updates from work, starting and ending most meetings and even in some cases working on the emergency planning for your company or your client. We can easily get overwhelmed
Adopt new routines, my husband and I spent one evening listening to cheesy 70 music (having started with staying alive, followed by Rasputin the night fever before closing with take a chance on me)
Last but not least, embrace how working from home and connecting with colleagues and teams remotely is helping us build a new relationship with those we work with and clients we continue to support.
Suddenly, you get to see a different side as we interact from our home environment with children, dogs, partners and families now blending into our workplace. The meetings are lighter, the comradery is implicit and awareness of the wellbeing of those on the other side is top of mind at every point.
Reflections
In the UK, the debate rages on a what social distancing actually means and the prospects of maintaining such an extreme measure for up to a year!
There isn't an easy answer, here's my 2 cents worth of thoughts:
It all depends on the speed by which a number of items come on line:
1- more capacity at the NHS with beds and ventilators--today's announcement that private hospitals will be servicing the NHS at cost is first step
2- a mass testing process, apparently that's a few weeks away which would allow better evaluation of who actually has had COVID-19. The thinking is that many people have had it and didn't realise they were ill. This will help assessing peak sickness levels and managing them to align with NHS capacity
3- a vaccine which is 12-18 months away
There isn't a right or a wrong way, there is simple math to try and ensure the system isn't overwhelmed and doctors aren't forced to triage patients deciding who gets a ventilator and who doesn't
We as humans will need to learn a new reality that will transform how we operate even if the measures end in 1, 2, 3 or 12 months. If 10 years of civil war in Syria taught us anything it taught us that we are super adaptive and new habits will form delivering this new norm.
The aim now is to maintain the bones of the society and the economy so that we can bounce back from this.
Meanwhile, technology is finally proving its worth as a social tool. I'm talking to my parents through Facebook portal, to my colleagues through Teams and clients with Skype and zoom. I've learnt more about them as humans as we merged our work space into our family homes and people are kinder and more understanding for the totality that is us than ever before.
And in the words of my favourite quote: " “You say we’re on the brink of destruction and you’re right. But it’s only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve….”
