5 Deeper Connections I’ve Built During the Lockdown

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So it has been hectic in the past few months with all the tension and chaos due to the pandemic that has affected every nation worldwide and while a lot of us are lucky enough to be confined in the safety of our homes, most of us can rediscover ourselves in different ways. Let me share to you here, 5 deeper connections I’ve built in my life during the lockdown.

Connection with Body

In times like these, don’t let any circumstances allow you to give up on your fitness routine. And for those who don’t make exercise a habit, time now is allowing you to do so. Not being able to go to the gym is never an excuse. You can always exercise in the comfort of your home. We all know that staying fit can keep you healthy physically, but exercise boosts your mental and spiritual health, too.

Also, since most of the cities are on lockdown, food deliveries are seldom now. That should not keep you from cooking healthy food for you and your family. Our situation today reminds us that keeping a healthy diet is important as it aids in keeping your body fit and strong. Good food is essential for good health and it protects you against many harmful diseases.

Connection with Mind

Just because the world has stopped, doesn’t mean our mind stops learning. Reconnect with hobbies and discover new ones. Listen to what your mind truly likes. What you choose to learn about and discover can morph into a passion that will get you excited. While waiting out the pandemic, hobbies will help you recover from a long day and it gets your mind working. That’s why hobbies and learning new things is important, it helps you boost the quality of your life. Henceforth, don’t wait for another pandemic to happen, invest time in reconnecting with your mind every day.

Connection with Soul

When we see what’s happening around the world, we become to understand that, truly, life is fleeting and no permanence is ours. Realizing this, we start to connect with our soul and it opens our eyes to see all the things that have been given to us – access to food, shelter and more time with family. Because of this, we become thankful to God and nature. It’s become more obvious that the world today wants to teach us gratitude by connecting with our soul. Connect with your soul and be grateful!

Connection with People

With what’s happening presently, it’s like the world is trying to force each one of us to be with our people to face the darkness together. We now have so much time in our hands to spend it with the people close to our hearts, like family and friends. Cooking today, cleaning tomorrow, most of us would while away the hours swapping stories and doing fun activities with family. With friends, we find ourselves online almost all the time, creating chat groups and killing a couple of hours on FaceTime. Soon, we become more aware of our neighbors, greeting them and asking them how they are doing. The current situation has left all of us to feel more connected with our family, friends and the people around us now and more than ever.

Connection with the Environment

Taking care of the environment starts at home. During these trying times, we are forced to stay home to keep safe, but this also makes us realize that Mother Earth is fighting back. Nature is giving us a once-in-a-generation chance to take care of our environment and what better way to start this than by taking care of our own homes. A clean house is important for the health and well-being of the entire family. Get your family to pick up a broom and assign each member a household task to help tidy up the home and keep it in order. Doing chores together as a family can be a fun interactive way to feel a part of a team. Remember, a messy home invites nothing good and only bad news. On the other hand, having a clean and organized home keeps everybody happy and it eliminates the stress caused by a chaotic environment.

As we learn to take care of our homes, we should also learn how to look after our natural environment. Our environment is responsible for our plants, animals, water and much more. The more we ignore our environment, the more it will become polluted and it will bring about devastating effects to our ecosystem that will equally harm our health. You can take part in protecting and sustaining our planet by recycling, using less paper, using reusable containers, saving electricity and water, and many more. Today, Mother Earth is indeed fighting back. Let this be a lesson to all of us. Always keep in mind that a clean environment is essential for healthy living and a healthy ecosystem.

3S to Effectively Work From Home

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If you just started to work from home, you’ll find it’s not always easy. It’s nice to be able to lounge on your sofa and relax in your bed with your laptop, just typing away, or to be able to prep some snacks and eat it while working at the same time in your dining area. Sure! But then you begin to notice that you’re unable to finish your work on time. At one point, you’re happily typing up a report to present at the meeting tomorrow and the next thing you know, you are staring straight at your TV getting all hyped up with the soap opera only your mother was so excited about. You have practically jumped from one area of your home to another but for some reason, your attention keeps getting diverted to somewhere else that your mind finds more entertaining. You soon realize that it is more chaotic working at home than it did when you were working in the office.

So let me share with you what worked for me before and up to now, as I, too, have had some difficulties working from home.

1.    Space

Society has a fixed and oversimplified image or idea of how a person working from home looks like. Work from home advertisements would picture somebody drinking coffee on her favorite sofa chair fiddling on a Tablet. In reality, it’s more complicated than that. As much as you’d like to move from the living room to the dining room and vice versa, you’ll always find it hard to concentrate on your work.

Give yourself some space, a dedicated workspace. It can be a small separate room in your home or a small area inside your bedroom. Ensure its cleanliness and orderliness. Just as Marie Kondo would say it, “Discard everything that does not spark joy.” Declutter and then organize. Keep it minimal by only having the stuff that you think is required in your office. To list down your goals, create a scoreboard, and To-do List by getting yourself a Writing Board. Don’t forget to add a table, chair and other useful fixtures such as a stand-up desk or a cabinet to keep your files and book in order.

Another thing to consider when working from home is a High-speed Internet. You’d need good quality internet to connect with your clients and managers. Avoid using pocket or mobile Wi-Fi connections that’ll cause any latency problem and will only add to your worry. Pocket and mobile Wi-Fi connections are best as back up connections in case of any downtime in your high-speed internet connection.

Lastly, you’d need to invest in good quality hardware and software. Get a laptop with a webcam and a good quality microphone. Download the latest updates for your software and other tools required to execute your work properly. You’d need these during meetings, transferring files online from one person to another, and sending out information to clients and other work staff.

2. Schedule

Follow a schedule. Dedicate time for play and work. Depending on you and your family’s lifestyle, work according to what is most convenient to you and your family. You can split your hours or work straight on a set schedule.

Once you have established your working hours, stick to it as much as you can. It is essential to follow a routine. Start your day by checking daily goals and comparing your yesterday’s tasks from today. This way, you’ll be able to map out your work hours and follow through easily.

When the day is done, make sure to quit working. Have a method to break your work hours when the time is up. Some people would change their clothes, others would drink tea to relax, and I’d turn off my work apps on my phone and simply shut my laptop off.

Another way to start your day right is to get dressed for work. Wake up, take a bath and dress for work. It doesn’t need to be formal, just as long as you’re not in your pajamas and you’re feeling fresh.

Most of all, turn off all phones, unnecessary apps, the television, and close the door if you think it will add a distraction to you and your work routine.

3. Support

Seek the support of your family and friends by making them understand the importance of your time when working and the value of work you need to put in. Explain that you have a special time for your work just as you do when you are spending quality time with them and that during those work hours, you request not to be bothered by anyone unless it’s an emergency.

And there you have it, the 3S to effectively work from home.

With the right space, schedule set in place, and support from family and friends, you will find working from home is as beneficial as others would say it to be.