Staying Calm during COVID

A few weeks ago, during the grip of a heatwave (ah, remember those days!), my friend’s daughter threw open the patio doors and marched into the garden armed with a blanket, book and speaker. She settled in the sun with a beach soundscape she discovered online and declared; “Well, if we can’t go on holiday I’m going to make it feel like we’re at the beach!”.

What brilliant, innovative thinking! When she was physically trapped, she mentally escaped and discovered some tools to help her do so successfully. 

For some of us, the chance of taking any annual leave may not possible right now (although for most people it should be possible to get at least a couple of days off - take them if you can!). And the humble social media brags of friends in relaxing holiday poses is likely to lead us to that dreaded feeling of FOMO, or worse - resentment.

But, let’s take a lesson from a 10 year old and look at what we CAN do to make the most of what we have and try to ensure that burnout isn’t inevit...

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?”

“My team has been through so much uncertainty, I can’t possibly t...