It’s been a bit of a shock for many of us this sudden change to our circumstances, the uncertainty and the cancelation and reorganising of work and life. For me it came in the middle of a house move so having moved out of one house and yet to settle the new one we are displaced for longer than we thought.
It’s been an emotional roller coaster already this year and I must admit, between life events, being away from my family overseas for the longest period in my life and the general uncertainty of what the future holds both for work and life I feel tired.
It reminds me of the Kubler-Ross model I used a lot in my HR career and recently with coaching clients moving out of jobs they’ve held for years. It’s the fear of the unknown that grips us along with the natural process of change. It’s quite normal for us to go through these feelings and move up and down this curve as we get to the point where we can accept it and move on. This of course is true for any change- relationships breakups, losing our job or a Covid-19 lockdown.
It’s interesting to notice that my high achiever drive tempts me to ‘make the most of lockdown’ how much more productive can I be with all this new time? I can’t waste this opportunity, I should be putting on webinars and creating content in these moments of down time. But actually what I really need is a break. A time to do nothing, to rest, to recharge. To sit with the emotions and process the uncertainty. To know these layers of emotional uncertainty will take their toll and leave me feeling not at my best. To go easy on myself.
I have a pending trip to the UK which now hangs in doubt, another reminder that the separation from family may just be out of my control despite my efforts to make it happen.
Lockdown this time around does not come at home with my family in a familiar environment but between homes, without any of my ‘stuff’ and not knowing what’s next. So for me the real opportunity that exists in lockdown is to stop doing and use this time to rest, process, recharge. To also understand I might feel a bit wobbly right now and that’s ok.
We’ve talked about covid fatigue, change fatigue and the emotional impact of being separated from family and having a larger degree of uncertainty rest on our shoulders of late. It has become our new normal but is it really that normal?
Know that what is normal is to feel a bit all over the place at the moment, to not be at your best. To allow yourself time and practice those things that nourish you. For me this is time outside in nature, yoga and meditation.
Take care of yourself, check in with that achiever drive and know it’s ok not to be ok right now and as a result we need to be kind to ourselves.
Support is available on my Covid-19 resources page on the website
Go easy
Kia kaha