Our mental health, and general well-being, has taken a battering in 2020, to say the least, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get much better for a while yet.
We have all had to find different ways of working but not just that, for many of us who are working from home we’ve had to try and juggle other challenges, such as childcare, making sure loved ones have supplies so they don’t need to venture out, and also discovering the work personas of the people we live with!
Our work and home lives have become intertwined, and I’m sure many of your colleagues (and possibly clients) have heard your daughter’s piano lesson, your dog barking to alert you to a delivery, or seen someone barging into the room mid-video call.
However, it hasn’t made us any less capable nor less professional, and, to some people’s horror, we’ve shown our human side. We’ve coped.
For some of us returning to our usual place of work over the next few months, our safe and familiar world suddenly seems rather alien. Reading a book on your commute on busy public transport, meeting a friend for lunch, or popping out to pick up a birthday card for Auntie Val, are all small things we may have previously taken for granted that countered the stressors of a working day that are now not possible, or not easily so, in this new ‘normal’. So, as well as following government advice, we also need to take our own steps to feel safe and to support our well-being. Perhaps that’s taking a thermos of tea and a packed lunch to work, going out for a walk, or taking ten minutes to practise mindfulness.
It’s been impossible to avoid the statistics, that seem to change by the minute and nearly always for the worse. There’s so much uncertainty and unknown around the Covid-19 pandemic and no one knows when normal will be normal again, though of course that doesn’t stop the speculation. We need, now more than ever, to take stock and protect our well-being. We need to create time in our lives for quiet, for reflection, and for our own sanity, employing our best coping mechanisms be it a chat with a friend, a run, playing the guitar or whatever suits you best. If nothing else, give into the distractions of family life, join in the Zoom quiz with friends, and arrange a virtual coffee with your best friend to discuss the latest show you’ve binged.
Globally, we are more connected than ever via our smart devices.
News and social media are never more than a click away. However, just because you can follow every news story, and more dangerously, read the bottom half of the internet – the comments section, does it mean you should?
When it starts to become intrusive, perhaps it’s time to switch off and step away.
We all need to build and fortify our mental resilience to get through these challenging times, as Robert Frost said, “the best way out is always through”.