How I bounced back during COVID-19

Today I was asked to share my story on how I bounced back during COVID-19 and post my session a few people asked me for the tips again and also commented that they would leverage some of this for themselves. In the spirit of sharing here it is. May it resonate with atleast some of you and be of value :)

A disclaimer at the outset is that this is not a cure all but rather a framework that one can adapt to suit your needs.

Also, as Lillian mentioned in a previous all hands is that we're in different boats albeit in the same storm.

 My story on bouncing back speaks to the self and self-care.

As the Kulula flight attends always say, you need to take care of yourself before you can be in a position to help anyone else. Put on your mask first and get some oxygen.

 To set the context I am typically a very structured person. A place for everything and everything in it's place.

I live by my calendar and had a slot for everything.

WFH brought a new set of variables into this structured environment.

With the pressures of work, having a 14m baby, a household where the wife and I are both on Teams meeting B2B, coupled with cleaning and house, baby’s items and of course the cooking.

My structure took a significant hit with just in time being the order of the day.

As we flexed and morphed to adapt to this new world order where time and activities blurred and meshed with each other a few things happened to me.

One can be overwhelmed and sacrifice to accommodate.

After 2 weeks I saw anxiety increase, stress permeate everything, arguments ensuing and energy levels dropping.

 An understanding of the self and some awareness is critically important to understand why we react in the way we do.

That was step 1. You need to make space to be a silent observer on your lived experience to be in a position to bring this into your awareness else it will pass by as existence.

Step 2 was with this awareness to then pause, reflect and mark down what I wanted to change.

Step 3 was to formulate a plan on what would help to address these and then be deliberate about it. I had to stop to sharpen the saw.

 In a space where I had no time I needed to first understand where my time was being spent. A combination of my diary, a journal log and an app on my phone called Quality Time provided me with the data points I needed.

With this I could look at how I could double up on some activities or even replace some.

Here's what I did.

 There are 3 key things I had to focus on to bounce back.

1. Body – Exercise was a key part of my daily routine and the benefits of this are well documented. I either get up an hour earlier and put in my home workout and if I can't I look for moments in where I can double up. As an example on some community calls where the requirement is for me to listen and consume vs being an active participant I stick on my headphones, put the laptop in my garage so I can follow content and then proceed to do my skipping or burpees or push-ups etc.
2. Mind - As lockdown commenced I had a vision of getting to so many of the things I had on my wish list. When I come out of this lockdown I want to be able to look back and know and feel that I didn't waste the time and have a favorable memory of the experience. A key piece is actively choosing education over entertainment. By this I don't mean it to be polarized. Entertainment is necessary but often I found myself flipping through social media channels or watching reruns of football videos. What I do now is read instead. When I am washing dishes,working out or making the baby's food I audio book or listen to podcasts. It isn't all business or leadership either. I use it to delve into areas of interest, autobiographies, spirituality and the like. Everyday I fill in atleast an hours worth of this type of education and it leaves me feeling like I'm moving towards something substantial by way of expanding my mind.
3. Soul - I'm a fan of meditation and really missed the time to do this. Over COVID I found that I had to change my associated expectations in terms of time meaning quality. I swapped the 1hr meditations for short, sharp 15 minute ones. Something is surely better than nothing :) In addition my wife put out a gratitude jar and everyday we as a family we make an effort to pause, reflect and write down an item we're grateful for. We don't share this and have a pact that we will read these back to each other at the end of the lockdown so there's something to look forward to as a family.

 The combination of this trinity brought me back into balance, anxiety decreased, stress reduced, arguments dissipated and my energy returned.

I had bounced back and continue to do so daily 😊