What I have learned in lockdown?
How long have I been living in quarantine life? Looking down on my fingers and starting to count, only to realize that all tens are surprisingly almost fully utilized by week, if not more.
It started when I was back in China for the family reunion in the Spring Festival - also the first time taking my Danish boyfriend home. Before setting foot on the exotic, mysterious, yet intriguing land, we were planning for the ambitious hike on the Great Wall, because - you know - it is one of the things you gotta put your flag over. Well, after two weeks’ work after Christmas vacation and hours of long flights, we made it to China late January, but failed to anticipate a global pandemic was to start and evolve into a flow-blown situation. Fortunately, we made it back to US before the horrendous wave of locking down borders all over the world - forfeited the original return ticket, booked the overpriced Emirates one-way flight, and landed in New York before it became the most hit epicenter in the States. I still could experience as if it were the moment when I felt absolutely suffocated after four hours on the plane with N95 mask - which my older cousin secured for us as a senior doctor in local hospital in China - and only to find a sense of breathing in the restroom (trust me, not the best place you would like to practice deep breathing even for Emirates). Also the bit sense of relaxation was vivid, when we finally took off the masks and wiped down all luggage with disinfectant when transferring in the Dubai airport. Although very spontaneous, we had great nights in New York with no social distancing in early February, celebrating cheerfully with the mini national wine Moutai from my family, over my joyful smiles and tears realizing we could be apart for weeks and months, when the news popped up that all Chinese flights were suspended.
Spectacular tourist site in Beijing pre and post the pandemic
So back to life. We first received the message from the company requiring two-week self-quarantine before coming back to office, Fair enough. Then things started to escalate at an unprecedented rapid speed on a global scale. Only two weeks later, I was instructed to work from home until further notice early in March. While there are so many different subjects that I am passionate to discuss here around COVID-19, I would like to share what I have learned during months of lockdown - tips that really helped me stay sane, productive, and somewhat satisfied of life in general.
Work
Turn on your cam
Seriously, phone calls are boring. Especially when the team was tasked with goals such as trouble-shooting, problem-solving, decision-making, etc. than a simple Q&A session with no discussion, calls are not only energy-consuming (imagine these meetings could easily extend to hours) but also lacking the most important human interactions, like the tiny little frown on your boss’ face even though he or she is not saying anything against the proposal. Change from voice call to video conferencing is much more engaging and interactive with your colleagues and classmates. For example, even though it is not a requirement to turn on your camera, nearly all my classmates opt in the video because we would like to engage with one another, showing interests, commitment, and respect. I have to admit it is still not the same as physical meeting, but let’s do the best we could to stay engaged!
Change from voice call to video conferencing is much more engaging and interactive with your colleagues and classmates.
Picture from Unsplash
Virtual drinks
First thing first - drink responsibly. Regardless virtual or physical, drinking with colleagues should always be a time to socialize and get noses together. Lockdown time is stressful undoubtedly, while virtual meetings tend to lose all the “human” aspects (for which please see my above advise). While all the on-ground team building activities are temporarily suspended, I find it helpful to connect with colleagues via a virtual drink session online. Nothing serious, no business mandate - although everything is about and not about business - enjoy the time and connect with your colleagues. Raise your glass and show your cares, or anything and everything that’s relevant and helpful to the larger crowds. Ps. Shout out to my boss(es) here who is(are) sponsoring the idea and get everyone together!
Plan it out and Switch it up
Plan it out - this advise is more relatable to personal working style. I would like to feel some sense of achievement by the end of the day to stay motivated, so I normally setup some concrete achievable goals of the day for myself, before jumping right into whatever comes in the last in my Outlook organized in the descending order by “Received”. Then I partition it out my day into a couple of sessions dedicated on specific tasks, trying to stay fully focused in short to middle intervals to finish the task. Don’t plan the whole day, only a few projects that you would like to push forward, so that you don’t feel overwhelmed and enjoy the spontaneity in work and life.
Switch it up - after we plan it out the draft version of the day, we need to switch it up tasks to ensure that attention is on with clear mind. Here I would like to talk about distractors - things that pop up regardless your willingness. I recommend using the Eisenhower matrix to make sense of decisions depending on importance and urgency of matters. For those that do not demand immediate attention and response, focus on the task of the session, walk up and relax as requested by your body and mind, then move on to the email-processing session. It is ok that the set goals are not fully finished by the end of the day, because no one has a crystal ball, yet at least I know what held me off.
Tasks of the day
Set up realistic goals but do not plan the full day. Leave times for urgent matters and other spontaneous ideas/ activities.
The Eisenhower Matrix
Go to work to get off work
Get yourself ready, start your pc at the time you normally would if it weren’t at home situation, and close it down when the day is over. Don’t skip your morning routines to read the important but non-urgent email. Try not to wear pajamas and start the day. Guard the last line of defense of already-blurred work-life balance, while enjoy the luxury of skipping the morning waiting line at Starbucks and make yourself a cup instead. Go to work with full attention so that you can close down that screen with affairs.
Life
Dress as you normally would
Not saying dress up as in suit and tie, but dress as you normally would if physically going to work
Picture from Unsplash
This goes hand-in-hand with the last advise. I know that a lot of you are responding emails and answering calls in pajamas with a bowl of oatmeal sitting high above the kitchen sink. Don’t get me wrong that I never do that; however I do feel so much better if dress as I normally would if not at home, feeling positive, productive, and motivated. With that being said, I would like to classify this one under the Life section, because it shows the respect and reserves the fun especially if you are quarantined with someone. You don’t want to be in the same cloths from day to night and to day with dull skin and greasy hair - remember to nurture yourself with love and show your respect for life, your loved ones, and most importantly yourself.
Exercise
This is a game changer. Get your ass off the chair. Try to find some standing position while working and schedule an exercise session - just 15 minutes or half an hour would do. You can sneak it in to the avoided morning/afternoon commute time, lunch time to get refreshed, or a late afternoon session getting glamorous. Don’t overthink and let the idea be daunting; just get started and trust me the endorphins are so worth it. I would either choose an at-home, apartment-friendly workout on YouTube (please remember you don’t want to jump too fiercely so that you neighbor downstairs are poking the ceilings), or out for jogging if the weather is nice.
Here are some of my favorite at home workout videos -
Find your passion and let curiosity be the guide
I must admit that I had a nervous breakdown a couple of weeks ago, where I felt guilty of literally doing anything, because there are so many things in the back of my head that I would like to do. After being in constant worry and anxiety, I paused for a second and decided to figure out whatever it was and straightened it out.
“Overwhelmed.”
Yes that was the word.
Just when I turned to YouTube to distract and relax, hoping everything will magically wane away from my mind, a three-minute clip from Mel Robbins showed up on the Recommended page. Scary. I know. Exactly what I needed at that moment. Here it is -
Schemes are cliche but effective. I wrote down all the stuffs that were bothering me, and started to look at my list and prioritize. Funny thing is that a lot of things were magnifying psychologically without basis, from stupid things like “did I put enough sunscreen,” “am I drinking enough water,” to more serious question such as job, moving, traveling, etc. My twenty-two items was burying my mason jar, to the point that I felt so guilty spending time doing things I enjoy.
“What is the worth of life, if I cannot enjoy it?”
Indeed. I crossed-off my list, focusing on things that are pertinent, relevant, and important to me, while let the curiosity and interest lead the time.
Life is finall smiling to me again.
maybe it is related to lockdown, as I have much more time to self-retrospect instead of wasting time on the road or chasing the hedonistic treadmill
I would really like to share that
find your passion
enjoy your life
let curiosity be the guide
Recreate your night at home
My boyfriend and I enjoy going out on Friday night. Our latest favorite is a local pizzeria downtime where we can walk up to the city in 45 minutes and have delicious shrimp polenta, bruschetta, and pizza slices with of course nice wines. Depending on the mood, we would either share an ice cream together or opt in for another bar, and walk back little dizzy with straight line achievable footsteps beneath gentle moonlight. In lockdown times, experiences do not have to stop even if restaurants are closed. Why not make it fun and interestingly challenging to recreate your night out at home? Try to decipher that dinner recipe, learn that cocktail that you both enjoy, and try to work that out even with flours on your face so all of you end up laughing out loud.
Picture from Unsplash
Rest and nothing
Yes! Rest and nothing. Clear your mind and breath out all that thoughts. Brain is a mason jar and it needs to be empty first to take more. Watching movies or just stupid no-brained television shows, sipping on a White Russian, or just cuddling together to rest and do nothing.
If you are struggling to have a “normal” life, normalize it yourself. Lockdown is difficult. Restrictions are tough. However it should not be the excuse of giving up the attempt to please yourself and be happy. Life is anything you want, if you want it enough to make the efforts. Quit complaints, which would only perpetuate the vicious cycle of blames, ending up with emotional eating and binge watching Tiger King.
