COVID-19 – THE ROAD TO RECOVERY –

WORKING FROM HOME AND RETURNING TO WORK

The Rules of the Mind:

• Our minds like what is familiar and dislike the unfamiliar. A change in routine often feels like a threat, or feels uncomfortable because it is unfamiliar.
• Our thoughts and self-talk influence our emotions, so if we have a negative thought about working from home, we are going to feel negative about the experience. And the opposite is true.
• These influences determine our focus – are we focusing on the negative or the positive?
• Nothing in life has meaning or significance – only the meaning or significance that we place on it. We get to choose whether this is going to be a disaster for us or an opportunity to do things differently, or better!

How Does This Impact Working from Home During Lockdown and Beyond?

At the start and during Lockdown, many people were worried about working from home. It forced a huge change to the normal way of working.

However, some adapted better than others, probably the folk who enjoy working alone, without interruption because they can get more done. Others – who enjoy the sense of belonging that working with a team brings, will have found it more difficult to adapt to the change. They will be more likely to feel isolated and alone and may be susceptible to giving into the games their minds will play. Negative thoughts and emotions will lead to increased anxiety and feelings of helplessness.
Which comes back to point 4). We can decide whether it’s a good or a bad thing, understanding that we are influencing ourselves every day.

How Does This Impact the Eventual Return to Work? Will we be able to return to old routines and perform as well as before?

Again – these are natural fears but they are only thoughts in our head. We are responding to our internal noise & chatter – not a tested reality.

REMEMBER – in only 3-4 months, we adapted to a new way of working – without colleagues unless via a virtual technology. We will adapt again – to being together and we WILL be able to perform as we once did. We just have to get used to it again.

WE MUST TRUST OURSELVES and BELIEVE in ourselves. We did it before, we will do it again!

REMEMBER: EVERYTHING IS A CHOICE. We can choose to view the return to the office as an exciting time of re-connecting with colleagues and the support network and a greater sense of the FAMILIAR

Or we can choose to view this next change as something to fear.

 The most fundamental point of all is that it is merely another CHANGE and we can adapt to CHANGE easily and cope with it. We did it in March and we can do it now!

TOP TIPS:

MAKE FRIENDS WITH CHANGE – IT IS THE ONLY CONSTANT IN LIFE;

BE AWARE OF YOUR SELF-TALK – ARE YOU FOCUSING ON THE NEGATIVE OR THE POSITIVE?

NOTHING IN LIFE HAS MEANING – ONLY THE MEANING YOU GIVE IT

So CHOOSE to feel excited! CHOOSE to feel confident! DECIDE that you can cope/behave/perform in your role just as well as you did before.

TRUST YOURSELF.