Staying Calm during COVID

Holidays are (literally) the hot topic this week. As we approach the traditional summer holiday period, the majority of parents have already entertained their offspring for several months, often whilst juggling work and surfing the anxiety wave of the COVID crisis.

Yes, we do definitely need a holiday. But there are some people struggling with this concept. Whilst the government has relaxed various travel rules, there are many conflicting issues around whether a summer holiday is what we ‘should’ be doing.

Interestingly, the bigger questions I’m hearing from various groups is not around the safety of travel (that’s a topic entirely of its own and not one for this blog!). The dilemmas that people are bringing to me exist around the morality issue.

“When others have been working on the frontline tirelessly, who am I to take annual leave?”

“But I’ve been home working for months, won’t taking a holiday seem ridiculous?”

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I recently heard someone say ‘People won’t remember what you did during the Coronavirus crisis, they’ll remember how you were.’

Never was a truer word said. At the end of the day, our attitude and the way we treated or family, friends and colleagues people will trump any amount of productivity and performance

A friend recently described to me how she had struggled with a really bad boss. Though he was a remarkable man with numbers, he was utterly terrible at anything involving people. 

He lacked empathy, patience, humility and was rather fond of belittling people for pleasure. 

The business itself was filled with some truly wonderful and talented individuals and his behaviour actually created a uniting force between the teams, a common enemy so to speak. 

She stayed in contact with many of her former colleagues and sadly, like many companies, theirs has been negatively affected by the COVID crisis with redundancies, displaced working and...

The term ‘infinite present' is actually pretty bleak and could signal despair for some people who have struggled with the situation more than others so far.

In essence, infinite present means we still don’t know when this will end, when (and indeed, if) things will return to normal. All we have is what is here and now. 

Making future plans often creates excitement and motivation in some people, so it’s not surprising if you or someone you know is feeling more flat than usual. For those stuck at home, you can add in the lack of stimulation and repetition each day compounding that growing sense of futility.

Anticipating joy is one way of helping shift your brain into a more positive frame. We have talked previously about gratitude forecasting.

How about creating a list of the small but abundantly joyful things you would like to do when this starts to ease? Share this with friends, enjoy their list - talk about the times you’ve experienced these things...

It’s so important to remember that this pandemic is  “a marathon, not a sprint”. It is also most definitely not a competition in who can come out of this with the most successful transformation.

If you’re one of the people confined to your home, it is important to not judge yourself and your response against others.

We all have friends who are promoting their efforts to beat their 5km pb, learning Japanese, perfecting their home baked Croque-en-bouche or community volunteer championing. 

The people who are struggling in some way or far less likely to share this. Picking up a book and finding your attention wanes constantly, that’s ok. Thirty minutes into a box set and not sure what happened in the past twenty? Perfectly normal. 

Fatigue has a huge impact on our ability to concentrate. Be kind to yourself.

If a friend approached you with these concerns would you be frustrated with them in the way you might be towards yourself? Absolutely...

I'm sure we're all guilty of once having uttered the phrase 'practice makes perfect'. But what does perfect look like, and why do we often view it as a goal to strive for?

In metric driven models such as sales, perfect could be regarded as the most purchased product in a line. But, does that make the product perfect? It may just mean it's cheaper, more available or has smarter packaging design.

Car rental firm Avis ran a hugely successful advertising campaign where the toted the line; "We're number 2, so we try harder."

Having a goal to pursue is an invaluable motivator, provided you have a healthy understanding of goal achievement. 

A goal of; I will run 5km in under 30 minutes is a great example of a healthy goal. 
Whereas a goal of; I will be the best 5km runner in my age category in the county is pretty unhealthy in many ways.

Your idea of best here, means fastest. However, comparison to others, poor form, an injury or poor support materials could derail you and damage...