Business as Usual?

On 23 March, the UK went into lockdown. Our lives changed overnight and we all had to adapt quickly.

Photos of home offices and the phrase “Business as Usual” were displayed on posts across social media.

For me, and I’m sure many others, these past 5 weeks have been anything but “usual”.

I’ve had 2 family members in hospital, another unwell at home. We’ve had the challenge of finding respite care for a relative with a positive Covid-19 test result.

Adapting to working from home has, at times, been frustrating. Initially, basic tasks took longer and I felt like I was working twice as long to achieve the same results.

Face to face meetings are difficult to arrange. 

The simple task of signing and witnessing documents has become a challenge.

Parents are juggling work with home schooling.

Some of you have been ill, or are caring for or worried about loved ones who are. 

Business owners have had to make difficult decisions.

Difficult restrictions have been imposed on us all.

Many have seen a drop in their incomes, and are fearful about what lies ahead.

And sadly, some of us are dealing with grief at a time when we can’t give a much needed hug to the loved ones left behind.

So why the “Business as Usual” mantra?

We want to demonstrate that we are doing all we can to maintain the high standards that we and our clients expect of us, and we are. But it’s definitely been more challenging than usual to do it.

So as lockdown week number 5 comes to an end, I want to say THANK YOU to everyone who has shown kindness and offered support.  

Thank you for your patience when a task has taken longer than expected, and your understanding when I don’t know the answer because these are unprecedented times and there is literally no precedent!

Thank you to the key workers, thank you to the volunteers, thank you to those contributing towards the community spirit, both real-world and online.

I hope you, your loved ones and your business come out of this crisis unscathed and I look forward to the day when the world really does get back to “Business as Usual”, hopefully with a new found gratitude for the little things and bit more compassion for those around us too.