COVID-19 Time for self-...

My sincere condolences to those who have lost their loved ones during these difficult times and to those who are going through any hardship, stay strong and remember that we’re all in this together.

TL;DR ??

During these difficult times, it’s easy for the mind to fall into a pessimistic state and develop negative habits. The hustle and bustle of city life has pushed many to a mental breakdown or burnout. There is a lot of great advice out there to cope with the current situation, one of which is to reduce and manage information exposure (as suggested by the great Stephen Fry). I invite you (although it may not be for everyone) to take this one step further and capitalise on the opportunity of self-isolation and revel in the solitude — to practice a calm and steady mind, slow down your lives and find enjoyment in living with yourself. 

If this has piqued your curiosity then read on as I share my experience of self-…

What’s with the self — … ??

This is simply to denote that there is much more to yourself, I will mainly be covering self-development but that stems into many other areas such as self-actualisation, care, respect etc. These are some critical areas that we need to focus on to start feeling wholesome, which in turn should allow us to help others.

I have been craving for solitude and self-isolation for a while, obviously under better circumstances, and I would’ve preferred it to be in a quiet sunny rural place like the mountains of Italy with a nice glass of Port; not when the whole world is under siege by a deadly virus. But alas, we must make the best of the situation. So here’s what I think is helping me...

A bit about me ???????

I’ll try to keep this bit as succinct and relevant as possible, leaving you wanting to know more.

I’m very grateful for the fortunate career path and industry I have ended up in, which is software testing in technology. As children we’re naturally curious about how things work and always experimenting, when we grow up we usually develop habits that prevent us from being too curious. My job encourages me to always push to experiment and learn new things.

Early on in my career, I learnt the hard way that the tech landscape is always moving forward and if you don’t continue improving you’ll be left behind. I was made redundant in 2008 from my first proper tech job, yes partly it was due to the recession but if I’m honest with myself it was due to my static mindset, I got too comfortable. I vowed that I would never get too comfortable again, which then lead to burnouts and mental health issues. It was like Kobayashi Maru (Star Track — no-win) scenario, it felt like either I had to coast along or face constant burnouts?

Fortunately, there is a way (no cheating required), when you hit the rock bottom the only way is usually up. Oddly if you listen to the people who’ve been at their lowest point and come out better for it, they are usually the ones who experience epiphanies — I had one of those. Mine took me to study subjects about the workings of the human mind, body and all things related. The trick to avoiding burnouts is self-discipline and understanding how your mind works.

360 self-development ??

Education doesn’t stop with school. This is something that we’re not told enough in our lives. The formal educational system doesn’t prepare us for ever-changing life.

One of the key subjects that I’ve identified as critical to sustaining a stable life is the study of philosophy. I follow the works of Alain de Botton, he is a founder of the School of Life, which is a great organisation that teaches practical philosophy in a modern way. I would recommend checking out Stoicism (from Ancient Rome) and philosophies from Ancient Greece (i.e. by Aristotle). Deep diving into this subject has helped develop my character, moral compass, self-discipline, self-awareness and much more. My go-to youtube channel for Stoicism is Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and this recent video - “The Stoic Response To The Coronavirus Pandemic” hits the nail on the head when it comes to applying stoic philosophy during the global crisis.

The other subject that is tightly coupled with philosophy is psychology. One area specifically that fascinated and helped me is habit development as this drives our everyday actions and decision making. Why wouldn’t you want to understand how your mind works and what you can do to make improvements to your well being?

One of the most critical discoveries for me was keystone habits, such as how having a good sleep or regular exercise will have a positive knock-on effect and help naturally develop other good habits. A really good book to get started with is The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. There are plenty of other books and resources online that you can find to help you continue to explore other subjects in psychology, here are some that I’ve read or am reading.

Combining these two subjects and applying their teachings in your everyday life can have tremendous benefits to your mental, physical and social self. Making decisions like not stockpiling during the crisis, helping a fellow human or self-isolating becomes a breeze.

As a result, through conscious decision making, self-awareness and self-discipline, my partner and I have been exercising, reading books, trying to complete a Rubik’s cube, gardening, finishing those little jobs around the house and much more.

Technology has played a central part in all of this, don’t shut yourself off from the world but at the same time don’t spend all your time on it. Ration your news intake and socialising online. Instead, utilise it as a tool for self-development and don’t forget to schedule in some downtime — meditate, tai chi, bath, power naps, etc.

One of the key things that I’ve learnt from working in the tech industry in an agile environment is retrospectives. I apply these in my personal life and I encourage you to try it out. It is an act of reflecting on things that have gone right, wrong and in need of improvement during a set time frame — you could try this at the end of the day. The result should be a set of actions that you would take to resolve things that have gone wrong and the ones that require improvement.

That’s a wrap ??

I hope this has been useful, and that some of you see this time as an opportunity to start your journey on continuous self-development. As with anything, it’s important that you take these or anyone else's opinions with a pinch of salt — do your own research and make up your own mind. 

Please do leave comments and share your thoughts, I’d love to hear how you’ve turned these strange times into an opportunity for yourself.

Stay safe and look after each other ????