Gratitude for a year of WFH!

Exactly a year ago, in March 2020, I ordered a standing desk for “Working from Home” (WFH). It was probably the best decision I have made in recent times, as I am still WFH. I work in the City of London and the guidance for us is to continue to work from home, if we can. The hospitality industry still remains largely closed (except takeaways and deliveries) and we are still not allowed to meet people outside of our support bubble nor mingle with other households.

I have never liked the idea of WFH. While I did work the odd late night or weekend at home pre-covid, I tended to get most work done in the office, or on flights or in hotel rooms. Now, with a year of mostly WFH (I went into the offices a few times), I thought it was time to pause and reflect on this year. For most people, as for me, it has been a mixed bag. When we think of a word to describe the last year, resilience comes up a lot. It has been a difficult and challenging year in so many ways.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing – the problem with it though is that it takes too long to realise certain lessons. Is it possible that 10 years down the line, with the benefit of hindsight, in the midst of a hectic day, I may look back fondly at the winter of 2020-21 when “holiday” meant sitting on the couch and watching “Schitt’s Creek” on Netflix – I think it’s quite likely. Even the darkest clouds have a silver lining. So, notwithstanding the challenges, I sat down to write about the silver linings, what I am really grateful for in the past year.

• Work – the fact that I had my work (and that I really enjoy my work) went a great way in helping to maintain my sanity. True, the how of work changed a great deal – instead of hopping on a plane to meet a client on another continent, we are now seeing them on Zoom; instead of meeting an investor over lunch, we are now speaking with them on Teams – but the fact that we could still carry on with our work is something I am immensely grateful for.
• Health and fitness – Nothing like a global pandemic to remind oneself about focusing on health and fitness. Previously, I would only run on the treadmill in the gym. The gyms were closed for the three lockdowns we had in the UK (and remain closed as I type this). I felt very smug at the start of the first lockdown buying the last treadmill on the John Lewis website. Only for it to arrive at my doorstep with the delivery man telling me that there was no way he could get it up the stairs to my first floor flat. I was left with no choice but to start running outside (I am not a marathon runner, just a run outside the block for me). Running outside during spring, summer and autumn was enjoyable but it took a lot of determination to keep running outside during the winter months. In addition to this change, I went from eating out 4-15 times a week pre-covid to getting a delivery / takeaway once a fortnight. I also underwent a minor surgery, did more strength training than ever before, lost over 10% of my body weight, meditated more regularly, stopped adding sugar to my tea and coffee and am currently the fittest I have been in the last 10 years.

• Contemplation and reflection – With a whole bunch of travel, socialising and recreational activities not being possible, there has been plenty of time to contemplate and reflect. As some of the yoga influencers say “If you can’t go outside, go inside”. The last time I had such an opportunity to reflect was during the second year of my MBA in 2013-2014. I was really grateful to have a look again at my values, what mattered to me and why I do what I do. It was also an opportunity to think about the future and to re-assess where I want to be in 5 to 10 years’ time. Rather than planning the next holiday or trip, I started reliving my memories from the previous memorable travels I have had. I also started finding joy in small things and simply noticing minor details that I had failed to notice before in our busy pre-covid lives. I am truly grateful for this opportunity to slow down a little. The contemplation wasn’t easy though, with the most difficult part acknowledging my privileges in a world becoming more unequal and with a lot of recent progress being reversed due to the pandemic. I am really grateful to those who are parting with their time to truly make a difference.

• A shift in gears – I literally felt as if I went from top gear to first gear (with also reversing a bit). Pre-covid, my life outside of work was planned months in advance. If I had to meet friends in London, we would all get our calendars out and decide a date within the quarter. Friends visiting London would often laugh about the planning required to meet (most) Londoners. I had one of those giant calendars (in addition to my Outlook and Google calendars) to plan business trips, holidays, theatre, restaurant bookings, parties, etc… I looked at my 2020 calendar in December and realised it had been an unnecessary purchase given the year we have had. I haven’t bought a calendar for 2021 and my Google calendar looks relatively empty at the moment.
• An opportunity to put things in order – The pandemic strangely reminded me of my mortality, and as with many other people I know, I ended up using it as an opportunity to put things in order with my personal admin and paperwork. For instance, making a will is something that was in the “important, not urgent” quadrant of my to do list. But the pandemic saw me tick that and a few other tasks off my list.
• Developed and Refined some skills – I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn’t really know how to cook until about 7 years ago. While I started cooking only in my 30s, the pandemic meant that I have now greatly developed my cooking skills by teaching myself to cook not only all my childhood favourites but also a range of different cuisines. Cooking at home has also meant eating fresh and healthy food. I also made sure I attended my Mandarin language classes more regularly. I am really glad to have had the opportunity to practice Chinese and develop my cooking skills.

• London – I am so grateful to live where I do. We started going on long walks during the past year, and to make light of the situation, we called them covid walks. Being in Central London, we walked across the City of London, Covent Garden and Soho, Southbank and London Bridge, Clerkenwell and Islington. It was surreal to see London so deserted, really calm and quiet. We explored some local spots that we never knew existed before. 
• My family – My family is split across 3 continents and I am incredibly grateful that I saw them in January 2020 just before the pandemic. My family have an amazing ability of keeping me grounded and helping me to see situations from different perspectives. I learnt a lot from my 7-year nephew who has been attending school online for a year now.
• My partner – I really don’t know how I would have spent the pandemic without my partner. He has been there not only as a romantic partner but also as a great friend, the best WFH colleague (always look forward to our tea breaks), the best IT support, amazing co-chef, always willing to try out new things and also someone to share the popcorn with while watching movies at home. He was the one who encouraged me to run outside and he remains my biggest cheerleader and de-stressor. 

There is a lot I learnt about myself and about life in the past year that I would like to take with me into the new normal.

What have been some of the things in the last year that you have been grateful for? What stood out for you? Are there any new habits you formed? Anything you discovered that you want to continue doing even when we start going back to into the offices?

Views and thoughts expressed are strictly personal and do not represent any organisation