As the covid restrictions are lifted, I’m sure like others, I’ve reflected on the last few years and considered the positives and negatives.
My wife and I agree that we were fortunate to be in similar situations. So to a degree life continued as normal, though a very strange normal. We were kept very busy especially early on, no furlough for either of us. Unlike lots of others we did not have to find new pastimes to keep us occupied, though strangely we still got caught up in the fever to update the house and garden, making us even busier.
I was exclusively working from home, my wife one of a select few still going into her office. It quickly became apparent that being confined to home and very busy was going to have a detrimental effect on my well-being. To counter this, we started taking evening walks around the local area, varying the route to keep life interesting.
Fast forward 12 months, I’m still working from home stuck at my desk, from the start of the day to the end. I still taking evening walks, still sane and with the prospect of the occasional Covid Safe visits to the office adding some variety. We are also now discussing joining the masses and getting a Covid dog. If we are going out for regular walks why not have a good reason, so why not get a dog.
After a careful search our small furry bundle of fluff arrived to turn our world upside down.
So, to the real reason why I’m writing. Not only are we walking in the evening but I’m now talking a walk at lunchtime, only half an hour but what a difference it makes. Actually stopping for a short while, leaving my computer, going outside, breathing fresh air really has its benefits. Even though I’m not sitting looking at a screen and interacting, it does not stop me working. My mind still works, I’m still thinking but without the distractions of a computer, teams, email etc. I consider the tasks, issues, problems in different ways often returning with a different strategy, refreshed and prepared for the afternoon.
What I’ve learned is that having a break and getting away from your working environment is important. It’s something I’ve not be very good at. For years I’ve taken my lunch at my desk, head down, caring on. I still tend to eat my lunch at my desk, but I now do it refreshed are raring to go.
