Emotional management during lockdown – a more personal journey

Sadly, moving in and out of lockdown, with only a few hours notice has become our normal.?Every time it happens, there is some fear and anxiety.?How long will it last for??What will the restrictions be??How much notice will I have to contact staff and customers and let them know.?Do I have enough money to get through it this time or is this the last time I’ll be able to open the doors??The problem is we don’t know.?The complexities and unknown is challenging to prepare for.

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This article will be a bit different to the previous ones I have written.?Instead of writing about what I do in these situations, I wanted to write about the feelings I feels during these times and how I either handle them or embrace them.

?The fear and anxiety

?The first gripping feeling that always hits is in my stomach and in my head and that’s ?fear and anxiety.?I try to control these feelings by logically thinking about the possibilities and what I or we as a team can do about them, but it rarely calms the anxiety.?In the first few minutes/hours after the announcement, we just don’t know and anything is just a wild guess, exacerbating the anxiety and making the situation worse, so I stop.?The best thing I can do at the time is breath, be comfortable with the thought that the answer will emerge over time, that I have to be patient and comfortable with the thought that at this time, I just don’t know.?It’s amazing how calming this can be and 100% of the time, with a bit of patience and time, the solution always emerges, often in ways I just don’t expect.

?In the last couple of lockdowns, we have established an all hands management meeting soon after the scheduled government announcement of the restrictions.?Within a few minutes (now about 15 minutes), once we know the limitations, we establish a game plan, no matter how difficult and go about putting it in place.?Within a short period of time, the staff know what to do and the customers are informed about what they need to do, with less anxiety and heightened emotion.

?The feeling of loneliness and vulnerability

?As a business owner, you are expected to be out the front, leading the way, often without the roadmap.?You may not have all the answers, but you still have to make the hard decisions, whatever they be, standing down staff, borrowing more money to get through the lockdown periods or reducing your business and personal budget to keep your head above water.

?At the beginning of the first lockdown, about April 2020, I decided that I was going to deliberately not be alone in this situation, so a did several things.

?Firstly, I established a group meeting with a few other local health business owners (there’s about 6 of us now).?We catch-up every Wednesday at 11am to 12pm via Zoom.?The aim is one thing only, to discuss our problems as business owners and find a solution together.?Sometimes we all deal with the same issue, such as the restrictions during lockdown and sometimes the business owners have a particular issue they are dealing with at their centre only, such as difficultly finding time to do marketing.?It’s been amazing how putting issues on the table, being brave enough to discuss them can lead to solutions and often easier options that I could have imagined by myself.?In addition, the ability to share information quickly, such as how and when to access government grants has been made so smooth and easy, that this meeting has become a must, every Wednesday.

?Secondly, I was also vulnerable enough to continue to invest in the use of a business coach, to work on my weaknesses as a leader and further improve personal growth.?It is easy to cut these “expenses” during lockdown to save cash, but looking back, there is rarely a better time to work on my leadership skills and my own personal development that during lockdowns, when I actually have unhurried and uninterrupted time to think and reflect.?This has helped immensely, my skills as a leader and my ability to connect with and establish relationships with my team.

?Thirdly, this was the best time to read and learn.?Almost every situation has happened before and usually someone who has been through it before, has written about it.?Reading books or listening to audiobooks about leadership and others who have faced these issues before has given me more perspective and options than I could have found just by myself.?I have an audible and kindle subscription, which I utilise all the time to learn and see things from another point of view.?It is part of my daily routine and it is amazing how much easily the world gets when you hear/read about how others have faced similar situations to you in the past

?Embrace my natural curiosity and drive as an entrepreneur

?This has been the perfect time to let go of constraints and allow my creative drive to thrive.?For me, this was the best time to learn and practice computer programming, without restriction and any pressure on myself.?I just gave it a go.?I knew that I would be terrible at it at the start and feel frustration and anger at getting it wrong, but surprisingly (actually not so surprisingly) I got better at it and was able to build things I never imagined was possible pre-lockdown.?I gave myself the freedom to just give it a go and embraced getting it wrong, being embarrassed and learning from these mistakes to learn a new skill that allows be to be more creative than before.

?Secondly, I kept and never stopped, my routine of exercise and strength training.?If I was to lead my team and myself through these times, I had to be strong enough (physically).?This is a non-negotiable and regular exercise (3 times a week) remains my normal.?I am grateful for this routine and it is a major reason why I can continue to lead today and easily enjoy the time with my family and children.

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-?????We are currently looking of a Senior Physiotherapist to join our team at Kew East as a Clinical Staff Manager.?If this sound like a place where you can grow your career, please e-mail us [email protected] or call (03) 9857 0644 to find out more

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