Isolation
2020 has been an unusual year already and it’s only 1st April. The current situation feels like a serious April fool’s joke. Central London during rush hour is home to just 5% of the usual commuters. What they call ‘key workers’. Along with an entirely new vocabulary - phrases like ‘social distancing’ and ‘isolation’ being used more in the last month or so than in the entire last century most likely, our behaviour has had to change drastically.
From being out and about 6, sometimes 7 days per week, I now find myself spending 75% of my time in my room. Our mindset has had to change. Now that we are a couple of weeks into lockdown, we are now beginning to accept that this is how things are going to be for the foreseeable. Along with this I’ve noticed a change in what I deem important. Things once taken for granted are no longer available. Of course there are many downsides to this but I happen to think there are a number of positives to take away from this too.
TAKE TIME TO REFLECT - Personally this has given me an opportunity to do things that I put at the bottom of my ‘to-do’ lists. Writing this blog, considering changes I could make to my website, focus on my branding. If you run your own business this may be relevant to you. If not, perhaps you always wanted to learn something new? It’s a brilliant time to do an online course, practice an exercise that you’ve never been able to do before - push ups or pull ups perhaps. If you always fancied yourself as a budding writer this could be your chance!
GET PROPER REST - Getting up most days at 5am for some years has taken its toll on my body. As I get older those early starts seem to get harder and harder for myself. This time available has given me the chance to sleep properly. I have online clients but as many of them are now at home in the day I have the opportunity to train the early morning and late evening guys at more social hours. Clearly this is something I’ve needed for some time - despite getting up to 9 hours sleep each night, I feel more tired than usual. I think my body is lapping up the opportunity to rest and repair properly and now it wants more and more. I suspect that after another couple of weeks I’ll find my groove with my new life approach but until then my body is making the most of the rest and on the whole I’m feeling much better for it. So far no massive energy slumps in the afternoon! Fingers crossed!
EAT WELL - Though morons have emptied the supermarket shelves for now, things will even out again. There will be more time and opportunities to cook better food. You’ll have more time and energy to have decent meals and you’ll be less likely to eat on the go. You’ll appreciate cooking rather than coming home and deciding you can’t be arsed.
SPENDING TIME WITH YOUR PEOPLE AT HOME - Whether they be family members or housemates you will have more time to spend quality time with your people. You might find they’re getting on your tits right now but as you get used to each other’s behaviours and rhythms this will be a great opportunity to have quality time together. Come up with new activities you can do together - be that walking the dog, playing board games or exercising.
Essentially this is a rare opportunity to appreciate the simpler things in life. I write this with feelings of positivity, anticipation but general optimism. This might be different to how I feel in a month or two….watch this space!