It’s Oh So Quiet

Last week, you may have noticed that there was very little activity from me on LinkedIn. There were no daily videos, and the weekly Leading Change newsletter was nowhere to be seen. As Bj?rk sang, “It’s Oh So Quiet.”

The following is the explanation, and the reason this week’s newsletter is a little smaller than usual.

On Wednesday 16 November, I was the opening keynote for the virtual Agile-Lean International Conference 2022.

The start of a new COVID wave here in Australia and the increase in cases and hospitalisations caused me concern that if I was not careful, I could be at risk and not be able to open the conference.

As a result, I declined an invitation to a formal gathering on the previous Friday to avoid being in a small space with a large crowd.

I had to travel to Canberra to attend a client site from Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17 and therefore was delivering the keynote out of a hotel room on Wednesday evening.

Once again, I was cautious and wore an N95 mask from door to door. Mask in Uber, mask in the airport, mask in the aeroplane, mask in the airport, mask in the taxi.

The client offices I was attending were sparsely populated and no one was wearing a mask. I doffed the mask at this point, only to don it again during taxi rides between the offices and my hotel. Hand sanitiser was in constant use.

The client visit went well, and the keynote was a resounding success.

On Thursday morning I departed the hotel, spent the morning on the client site and then ordered an Uber for a 16:45 departure to Melbourne.

The flight was on time. I have a lovely dinner at home and a well-earned early night.

At around 3 am on Friday, I awoke dripping in sweat, shivering, aching, eyes and nose streaming, coughing, and with the worst headache, I have ever experienced. It felt like a clamp on my temples being tightened repeatedly.

I had COVID-19! After 2 years and 9 months of successful avoidance, it finally caught up with me despite my best endeavours. The rapid antigen test (RAT) took only moments to show two very bold red lines.

What lessons do I have to share?

Expect the unexpected

I was shocked when I woke up feeling like I did on Friday morning. What had happened? I did not expect the symptoms to manifest themselves as quickly as they did. I had assumed that I would have some mild symptoms initially which would then worsen.

Luckily, I was prepared in that I had a stock of RATs ready and plenty of medicine such as paracetamol to relieve the pain and fever. I had hydration solutions and a two-week supply of my regular medications. I also had plenty of hand sanitiser, cleaning products and disposable gloves so the risk of contamination within the household could be minimised.

I should not have been so surprised by the turn of events but at least I was ready for them. I could do everything I could to reduce the risk of catching the virus but little to mitigate it.

The conversation I should have been having was not “If I catch it …” but “When I catch it …”

Takeaway

None of us knows what is around the corner and the best we can do is be prepared. When the unexpected happens, rather than be overwhelmed, think about the good things that will come from this change. I know that I now have around 3 months of immunity from the virus, so I don’t have to overly stress about Christmas gatherings. This doesn't mean I won’t be careful, but I will have the choice to be careful rather than cancel.

Gratitude

I had lots to be grateful for. Firstly, it had taken 2 years and 9 months before I succumbed, so I had been spared up until this point.

I also qualified for the anti-viral, which helps stop the virus's spread inside the body and helps the immune system fight off the infection. Therefore, the severity of the illness was reduced.

It was a Friday without any meetings or commitments, and I could rest all day and all weekend before deciding how to face the week that followed.

When I did have to deal with the inability to fulfil commitments the following week, everyone was extremely supportive and understanding.

I have a loving wife who took up the mantle of the nurse in charge and took good care of me.

Living in Australia, I am also subject to one of the best healthcare systems in the world.

When my doctor determined I could have access to the anti-viral, we determined the easiest way to get the prescription to the pharmacy and avoid going out of the house was to fax it. The pharmacist on the day finished work at 7 pm and then proceeded to deliver the medicine in person.

One of the best things I was thankful for was that despite exhibiting most of the symptoms associated with the virus, the one I did not get was a loss of taste or smell.

Takeaway

Even when you are feeling at your lowest, look for things to be grateful for. Gratitude is a positive emotion that involves being thankful and appreciative and has several mental and physical health benefits. It is often hard to feel gratitude when you are sick and in pain, but gratitude is not all about beaming smiles and laughter. There can be mixed feelings such as the disappointment to miss a social event but the gratitude for living in a country with a great health system. Gratitude doesn’t mean you can eradicate negative emotions, but it helps to reduce unhelpful feelings like resentment.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

Probably because I had been as careful as I could, I was curious about where I could have caught the virus.

I traced my whole journey to determine when and where I may have let my defence down and exposed myself.

I consulted Dr Google to determine when I may have caught it given that symptoms first appeared on Friday.

“The COVID-19 incubation period, which is the time between when a person is exposed to the virus and when their symptoms first appear, ranges from 1 to 14 days. Most people develop symptoms 5 to 6 days after being in contact with a person with COVID-19.”

Very useful! Could be 1 day after contact or two weeks after contact.

Also, how long could I have been infecting others without knowing that I had COVID-19?

“If you have COVID-19, you are currently considered infectious generally from 48 hours before your symptoms develop (or before your positive test if you don’t have any symptoms).

If you still have symptoms, you may still be contagious. However, people with COVID-19 can still transmit the virus whether they have symptoms or not.”

Even more useful!

The best thing I could do was to provide others with the best information I had available to me and let them determine the action they should take.

By trying to sweat the small stuff I was micromanaging the situation which would have absolutely no benefit to me or others. I could have kept on analysing and analysing whilst meanwhile others who may have been impacted were receiving little or no information from me.

For my client, I created a list of all the locations I had visited within their locale with time and dates. For example, coffee shop Wednesday and Thursday morning at 07:30. Level 5 conference room on Tuesday at 11:00. I suggested that they be shared amongst the staff so that everyone at least had awareness.

Takeaway

Use your time wisely. Don’t over analyse or overthink a situation when it is not going to result in any positive outcomes for you or others. This is often referred to as analysis paralysis where over analysing or overthinking a situation can cause forward motion or decision-making to become paralysed, meaning that no solution or course of action will be decided upon within a natural time frame.

Patience

One thing I find I am often short of is patience. I felt my recovery from the virus only started to kick in after about 7 days. Up until this time I was still suffering from what I would describe as a heavy bout of the flu. The aches and pains, the headaches, the fever, and the chills, all remained. As they have subsided, what has not gone away is the extreme fatigue and the persistent cough. The latter I can put up with. It is the fatigue that is causing me to lose my patience.

This newsletter has taken me longer to write than most. It is hard to focus, maintain concentration, and sustain any activity for a period.

There is so much I want to get on with that has been put on the back burner due to the virus.

When you ignore the signs and try to do too much, too soon, it backfires. That is what I did, and I ended up sleeping for 10 hours straight …. And that was after a good night’s sleep! My body was telling me to rest.

At this time, it is just 10 days since the initial symptoms manifested themselves. I just must be patient that the remaining symptom of extreme fatigue will pass like the others. I cannot fight it. I must work with it. Once again Dr Google has plenty to say.

“Most people with COVID-19 will recover completely within a few weeks. However, some people may continue to experience symptoms for weeks or months after their diagnosis. A person is considered to have:

·?????‘Ongoing symptomatic COVID-19’ if their symptoms have persisted for more than 4 weeks after initial infection.

·?????‘Post-COVID-19 syndrome’ if their symptoms continue after 12 weeks.”

I am not going to stress about whether I have ‘long COVID’ which refers to both the stages described above because there are no agreed diagnostic criteria at this time, and I think it is too early to jump to assumptions.

Instead, I will embrace this quote from Jon Kabat-Zinn.

“Patience is a form of wisdom. It demonstrates that we understand and accept the fact that sometimes things must unfold in their own time.”

Takeaway

Accept the limitations that get foisted upon you. Plan and devise a daily schedule.

Plan to do important tasks when you expect to have the most energy, typically in the morning. Pace yourself so you do not do too much at once and take breaks throughout the day if you feel tired. Think about what tasks and activities are most important each day, so you don't use more energy than you need to.

Find a routine that works for you, and this may take some trial and error. Experiment with your periods of activity and periods of rest. Find the cadence that works best.

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I am an organisational change management rebel?with?a cause.?

I am an author, sought after keynote speaker, coach mentor and facilitator. My latest and fourth book, "Balanced Diversity: A Portfolio Approach to Organisational Change" is available?here.

I am passionate about enabling individuals and organisations to triumph in the face of constant and disruptive change and I do so through programs regarding organisational change, resilience, agility, leadership, transformation and adaptation.

To inquire about me working with you or your organisation please contact me?here.