“Don’t worry if you are not being as productive as you usually are in the midst of a GLOBAL PANDEMIC!”
While lost in the twittersphere last week, I came across the above tweet and found it somewhat reassuring. Having just finished my third week of isolation, I am still somewhat trying to get to grips with this bizarre new reality and world we live in. Until earlier this week, I had spent most of the time questioning myself on why I was not being as productive as I usually am, with work, with studies and with those 400 projects I keep meaning to start. I felt that if anything, this was the perfect opportunity to do everything that needed to be done and smash them out one by one. The truth is though, the uncertainty of our current situation carries a weight with it that I’ve been feeling but trying hard to ignore and maybe this is the same for you reading this. As such I have decided to be less hard on myself given the situation and I’m now slowly adjusting to the new normal - fortunately it appears the rest of the world is too.
This week I hosted our weekly coach corner series, this is where we bring everyone together once a week and discuss a different topic (every Thursday, 2pm - 3pm). On Thursday, we were joined by most of the CoachBright team, along with several coaches and focussed on how everyone else has been adjusting to their own isolation journey. Together we shared tips, advice and stories on what we’ve personally been getting up to, from learning a new language to just taking some time out to breathe and relax.
Although society has taken a pause for the time being, both people and organisations from across the world are demonstrating their resilience during this time and changing the way they do whatever it is they do. For example, the talented body coach Joe Wicks has been leading the nation in virtual morning workouts helping millions of people in the UK stay fit (albeit, I am not one of them yet!), the UK based Stand Comedy club is streaming live shows every Saturday to thousands in their living rooms and virtual pub quizzes have taken off with some small local pubs now hosting their weekly quizzes to over 300’000 teams across the world. At the end of the day, we are all in the same boat and people are coming together to make sure that we stay afloat and eventually get to shore intact.
As a team we all took something away from this week's coach corner and I wanted to share with you some of what was discussed so you can hopefully take away something too. See below for our collective decisions and ideas:
Take time to join a fitness, exercise or yoga class. Whether that is inviting friends to work-out with you (virtually!) or joining a streamed class, there are lots of options available during this time. From Joe Wicks mentioned earlier to a range of personal fitness trainers and closed gyms streaming live from instagram. A list of 25 different online fitness classes can be found here.
2. Reconnect with old friends and family members. Use this opportunity to get in touch and check on those people you haven’t spoken to in a while. I’ve personally been doing this a lot over the past few weeks and it’s really helped in adapting to the situation. Send them a message or an invite on houseparty! (auto-correct wanted me to change that to ‘invite to a houseparty’ - definitely don’t do that)
3. Do a quiz! So many quizzes have gone online and can be done by yourself or with a virtual team. Check out some topic specific quizzes live streamed most days here (from Harry Potter to Friends). My local quiz from back home is now also online and attracting thousands of people every day, check it out here. Alternatively, why not write your own quiz and invite friends to join? Find some questions here.
4. Go for a (socially distanced) walk! Make sure you get out if you can, even if just a short walk around your neighbourhood or a small park. Breathe that fresh non-polluted air in.
5. Get into cooking or baking new recipes! If you’re like me and not the world’s greatest cook, now could be a time to learn a couple of new recipes. The Vegan Chef kitchen has launched daily live streams here, as have Bread Ahead Bakery here. Even Italian Michelin-star chef Massimo Bottura has started hosting himself cooking dinner for his family each evening here.
6. Learn something new. I have recently purchased a Ukulele guide for beginners (I actually think it’s aimed at children) and plan to spend some time kicking off my professional musical career (or more likely just learning one tune to justify my spontaneous Ukulele purchase 5 years ago). During our coach corner, one of our team members suggested learning a new language through the various lessons and cartoons available on youtube or by downloading duolingo (or downloading duolingo yet again..for most of us).
7. Don’t be hard on yourself. These are strange times and it’s important to accept that you won’t always feel 100% - that’s the same for everyone else. If you want to do something new then go for it, if not, then just take the time to pause, relax and take it slowly in what is usually a very fast paced world.
You got this!
Seriously, you’ll be fine :)
William