staying motivated

I was very happy to be approached by the BAJ to record a podcast with them, as part of their ‘Lockdown Series’; my topic was ‘Plan, Organise and Stay Positive’.

The weirdness of DOING A PODCAST aside, it was an interesting opportunity to reflect upon how the lockdown has changed not only my perspective, but also the perspective of the clients I work with - and society as a whole.

thinking back over the last few weeks,

it has become more apparent that for me, it is important that we work to live, not live to work. An enforced isolation for many of us has made us question what is really important. It has also enabled many employers to test out whether it really *is* possible for their employees to work at home, without their productivity being compromised. And guess what, a lot of the time, it is!

Whilst there are of course sectors and forms of employment that don’t fall into the ‘work from home if you can’ bracket, I would argue that there are a lot of ways in which more flexible working could be applied to a lot more jobs, if we could start to think about ways to make work more fit for the way we all want to live. Hopefully lockdown will enable us to feel that we now have a space to explore a more connected work and home life.

For me personally,

I have experienced a change in my priorities. I have been spending more time at home with my kids, and whilst the challenge of simultaneously working and teaching is never to be underestimated, it has been good to connect to them with more continuity. I have realised that I do enjoy my work - I miss it when I don’t have it, and the structure that goes along with it. But I have also realised that I can let it overtake my life. This is not unusual for someone that works for themselves (alongside working for someone else); the desire to keep it all going at the same rate as before is so strong, it can be painful.

I have had to realise that sometimes, I won’t get everything done - sometimes I get nothing done at all - and, right now, that’s OK. I haven’t got as far with a diamond commission, or with the writing of this blog, or a million other things,

but I have successfully grown veg from seed, and managed to gain a very regular and diverse group of animals coming to my garden that now use me as a regular feeding stop. I have explored my local area much more than I ever have, and have realised that there are some really beautiful places I simply didn’t know existed.

Time and time again during my mandated outdoor exercise, I’ve overheard people talking about setting up more permanent home office areas, and their desire to not return to the commuter rat-race as diligently as they once used to. How wonderful would it be, if this horrible situation could have a positive outcome in the end, on how we work, how we live and how we communicate with each other.

Anyway, have a listen and enjoy!