3 Ways to Allay Cabin Fever

For those of us who still have a job,  get to stay with our families and work from home, I’d say our life is a far cry from a horror movie, but then again, Cabin Fever can’t mean a happy one either! Now that the novelty of buying office furniture, decorating your work space, buying stationery for work from home is slowly wearing off, how do we fill the lacuna that’s left by not going out in the world, not bumping into people at water coolers and washrooms, not getting to share food and birthday cakes with our teammates, and last but not the least, not being physically present around our people and bringing out the best in each other?

Call it luck; call it foresight; call it what you will. Four years ago, I left my job and decided to be a work-from-home Leadership Coach. A day in my previous role was full of people. On any given day I was talking to humans ranging from 6-year-olds to 80-year-olds, all the time. My day was spread out with meetings and interactions inside and outside the office. I would travel to a corner of the city for a one-on-one meeting and then walk into a room to problem solve through a crisis with a group. My team would meet and communicate a lot, sometimes even on Sundays! It was fun, challenging and exactly what I wanted back then in my life. So, going from that vibrant hustle bustle to the corner of a room in my hometown, Chandigarh, felt like losing the sense of hearing, for the lack of a better analogy. The silence was deafening, and the absence of humans milling around me was glaring. 

What I faced back then is being faced by many of us right now. At times like this, it is easy to forget that we, as humans, are programmed to figure things out; what we need to do is observe and not panic. When things get too much, when something feels amiss, your body will give you signals, and you need to listen.Think about how you move deftly about your house in the middle of the night. It’s dark, but you know your way because your body has spent time registering and storing signals. Something similar needs to happen now, and it will. In due course, you will recognise the signals, whether it’s lack of motivation at work, missing travelling and talking to people, irritation, burnout, depression etc. Over the last four years, I have found 3 things that really help me deal with such times.

1.Awareness and Acceptance

There are days when I am not at my best. For example, last month I could observe myself feeling sluggish, taking too long to complete tasks that generally don’t take much time, and simply put “just not feeling up to it.” The Saahil from four years back would have fought these feelings, might have put himself down for not giving his 100% all the time, but not anymore. If there’s anything my experiences have taught me, it’s that awareness alone is never useful. It needs to be followed by acceptance. So, this time I gently told myself “It’s OK. Happens.” Once I accepted what I was feeling, it didn’t seem insurmountable anymore. This acceptance was followed by action.

• I reached out to my team at Co.lab^x and communicated that I’d be taking the next couple of days slow.
• I decided to push back my negotiable deadlines to a later date and asked them to step-in for me wherever they could.
• I read, watched a series (something I don’t do in normal times), exercised, and also worked a little bit, but only on things I felt like working on.

The way I know a recourse is working for me is that in a couple of days the clouds start lifting, and in 3-4 days I’m itching to get back to work. I am now self aware enough to take this recourse only until I need it to strengthen me and not let it become a crutch. This brings me to my next point of having a community of like-minded people. 

2. Being Part Of A Community

Over the years, I have understood and come to appreciate the value of community. All of us need a community of like-minded people; people who share our experiences, values, dreams and aspirations, and also understand our fears and moods. We need people to talk about our progress as much as we need someone to talk about our pains. Otherwise, being in your own head and echo chamber becomes very lonely and confusing. I constantly stay in touch with such people and nurture such communities now. My circle includes coaches, facilitators (people who understand the kind of work I do), old friends, clients etc. There are online groups I am part of where 60-80% people turn up every week to talk their heart out! You might find such communities online or you can take charge of building one; either way, some effort will be required. To say that this has been helpful would be an understatement. I understand that I can’t meet my people as much as I’d like to, but I also am grateful for the fact that I don’t have to send them a telegram!

3. Challenging Myself

The last thing I do to beat cabin fever and keep myself motivated is have things to look forward to: these could be goals, milestones. I try to challenge myself, push myself out of my comfort zone, look for something new even within the restrictions set by Covid. In the last six months, I have become comfortable with webinars, started my own newsletter, and am now working on some videos. I had never done any of these before. One of the ways to challenge yourself could also be to follow or reach out to people who are slightly ahead of you on #Linkedin and ask them to mentor you or set up a time for a call. You’d be surprised at how many people are willing to help! Asking yourself “What is the next stretch for me?” could be helpful. You don’t need an outrageous challenge; a small nudge out of your comfort zone is enough. 

These are unprecedented times, so be kind to yourself. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, remember change takes time! The next time, you feel your temperature soaring because you got a case of cabin fever, just remember A2C2 - Awareness, Acceptance, Community and Challenge. 

Thank you Visalam for reading through versions of this piece, editing and contributing to this write-up