Dear Reader,
I am writing to you, yes to “YOU”, not to those in refugee camps, not to those struggling for surviving in war areas, not those without electricity or water accessibility, just to you, working from home, changing your routines andliving with fear and uncertainty but within comfort. Maybe your constrains are more about feelings and emotions rather than true tragedies. You have cancelled your flights or plans for the summer, not able to do shopping or take a coffee outside. Nothing terrible….although it may be extremely stressful.
Even if in a few months we were able to go back to a pseudo “normal life”, the fear will remain. A lockdown inside, and outside home. Now and then. Despite everything and everyone the work must go on, from different approaches, resources, perspectives and focus by changing agendas substantially. Above all to switch our minds to an uncertain future. It is in that sense that self-isolation is the perfect opportunity to boost and reflect on new relationships based on virtual trust rather than presence meetings. Your intuition, feelings or bias are changing to the point that you may become more tolerant, accepting the limitation of the distance and the critical situation that we are going through.
A perfect way to continue what we have already started: a global platform of virtual networks that allow us to think and develop professional and family links around new values, although the same essence. Is it for this main reason that the way to face isolation becomes key to get through this crisis and build a resilient future, quite different from the current status quo and sense of never-ending confrontation.
Many of the tips to work from home during COVID19 are referring to keep your routines as usual: wake up early in the morning, get a shower, dress up and start working by replicating your “normal life” as much as you can. Nothing more stressful for a human being than to follow the rules that someone is forcing them to do it.
Do you love to stay at home on the weekends? A good coffee, a special place in your house, your favorite book and maybe the whole day in pijamas?, looking at the rain through your window? You can do the same now! Did you realise that many of your “new routines” are exactly what you have dreamed of every week? No more traffic jams, not boring and useless meetings, no social meetings that make you feel uneasy or the frustrated family ones that lead to confrontation. Just by your own, many of your new routines are exactly what you dreamed, it is only that you want it for a weekend or one or two days a week. So why get stressed when you are energised and healthy? It is part of human nature to resist changes even those that have looked for ages. The new, the change in itself delivers uncertainty. Within health, security and comfort inside our homes there is still a sense of insecurity that does not allows us to keep self-balance despite good conditions.
Thinking of a refugee camp, homeless people or people in war areas without basic resources as water or electricity to get an immediate feeling of embarrassment to our complaints. Is it true, we may not need to see tragedies to give value to what we have, however it seems a fact that without them we cannot see the light by ourselves. So, take this time to re-value, re-shape, re-arrange, re-set your life, not just an “stand by the time” that goes nowhere.
The sunset for our traditional routines towards new ones getting into a successful “COVIXT” full of productivity and new approaches.
Thanks so much for contributing with patience, understanding and empathy to others less privileged as you are by staying safe at home.
Looking forward to entering into a new world with lessons learned from COVID19
Yours sincerely –isolated-,
Mar. Introini
Tips & Tricks for quarantine work….. avoiding distractions:
1.- do not try to replicate your “normal life”
2.- have fewer meetings than usual
3.- make calls shorter within a focused agenda
4.- dress up for your calls (they are not part of a pijamas party)
5.- keep distance –also physically-from family-work-
6.- establish days-hours work (weekends are still weekends)
7.- be flexible with yourself, you are not “working from home” you are under quarantine and a global emergency forced to stay at home
Please….do not forget to enjoy your time at home!!
*Spanish version:
El trabajo debe continuar COVIXT (consejos & trucos para trabajar durante el confinamiento)
thesustainabilityreader 