What I am learning from Lockdown

It's certainly been a very strange few weeks and I know that when Leo first announced Lockdown, I went into a state of panic but then I remembered my mantra - take control of what is within your control and stop worrying about the rest!

My learnings over the past 3 weeks are therefore as follows -

1. Your mindset is key and is within your control - deciding how you will show up each day - I have had days where things have gone wrong, when I have felt unwell but ultimately I have made the decision to make this a positive time in my life - not being able to go to the office and be with my team is strange but I can still interact with them on a daily basis and it's really important to keep them motivated and positive when working in HR we are clearly dealing with some difficult circumstances.
2. Having structure to the day is essential - you can waste so much time when you don't have a plan! I am finding that planning Microsoft team calls is helping to break up the day and keep me connected and having a to do list is giving me a great sense of achievement as I tick off those items that I get done. Not having the daily interruptions of people wandering in my office is actually a benefit of working from home and I am finding that most of the calls I get are pre-booked which enables me to do my actual work around them.
3. Be adaptable - not everything will go to plan every day - things are changing rapidly and we are having to adapt in the way that we work, in how we communicate, in everything really - who would have thought we would happily stand in the street for 45 minutes waiting to get into Tesco for a few essentials? That is the way of the world now and we have to adapt to stay safe for ourselves and those around us.
4. Defining your work space is really important - I have a kitchen island that I like to work from and have my laptop and 2nd screen set up - but I also make sure that I get up and walk around during the day - in the office I would be off to the kitchen or chatting at someone's desk not sat still for 8 hours and I am trying to replicate that. Luckily I have a garden and the weather has been good so I am able to get outside and have taken some calls from the comfort of my garden lounge chair! It's also important to pack everything away when you have finished for the day - working from home can mean that the hours you are available creeps up and that isn't good for your mental well-being.
5. Daily exercise is my number one essential - it is what gets me motivated in the morning - whether it's a Sydney Cummings workout on YouTube, a circuit training session in the garden, a cycle or a run - it has to happen every day. And I have taken advantage of working from home to start swimming in the sea (it's within my 2k) - I was always very fearful but with a decent wetsuit it's actually easier than swimming in the pool and I feel a great sense of freedom being out there. I have also taken to an evening walk - anything from 3k to a 5k loop walk locally just to clear my head and make the transition from work to home time - it's like my journey home from work really - a nice time to re-set myself for relaxation time.
6. Nutrition is always important but working from home can mean that the biscuit tin is tempting throughout the day which won't be helpful in the long run! Having fruit and other healthy snacks available is really important and I have found that planning my meals at the weekend has helped to give me variety throughout the week and make sure I am not wasting food! I have also taken to doing a bit of baking - Gluten free scones yesterday went down a treat!
7. Planning ahead - this won't last forever and it I am finding it really motivating to be thinking about when we re-open the Hotels, what will be needed from the HR function and what we can do now to be prepared - we might not know when, but we do know it will happen and I want to be ready to go - when do we ever have the luxury of having time to plan and prepare like this? Very rare so I am seeing this time as an opportunity to lay the foundations for the HR function, to make sure that we have everything we need to deliver the best service to our team.
8. Communication - a previous boss once told me "Tell 'em, Tell 'em and Tell'em again" - her message was clear - you can never over communicate! And in times like these when we are not working side by side with our colleagues this is even more important - reaching out to check how people are, arranging Team calls or using Zoom to say hello - why not have an afternoon coffee with a few of the team - anyone can join and how nice will it be just to see people? We are sending out daily top tips for employees and have a newsletter that we issue monthly. Each department has their own team check-ins and as a Senior Team we had our first Team video call last week and it was really great to see everyone. More than ever, people need to feel connected - think about who you haven't heard from and reach out - they will really appreciate it just as you would if they contacted you.

So whilst we are in unprecedented times, I think there is a lot to learn from this. There is also a lot of free online training available so take the time to develop yourself - it will all be on benefit when we get back to normal - whatever that may look like!

#staysafeeveryone