It’s been almost three weeks since the UK went into lockdown, following suite of of many countries before. There are now rules in place for social distancing, there is a limit on how many people can be together outside and there are queues to get into most supermarkets at any given time of the day. But that’s not that this is about, this is about living in the midst of the lockdown, from my point of view.
The day before I started working from home was the day the UK locked down. It was a Monday, and it was the first and only one of the Prime Minister’s daily briefings that I watched. Based on the information that was coming out that day I had a feeling that it was going to be one of those things that would be a part of our history and our story… and it was.
Anxious. That was the first feeling I had when it started. In the weeks running up to that day I had spent my time living in a state of denial as a coping mechanism. For the first few days I didn’t venture further than my front garden. Then slowly I went further, walking down the main street and going to the shops.
There are a few things that I wanted to talk about in part one. The main was work is my experience of working from home. It’s different… it’s a new experience and it’s not what I thought it would be. I enjoy being able to watch endless amounts of TV while working, and I like being in the comfort of my own home, where I’m comfortable.
In some ways being at home where I’m comfortable is the biggest downside to it all. The reason is because I’m finding it so hard to switch off at the end of my workday. In the normal world I’d switch off my PC and I’d leave the office to go home, but now in this ever changing new reality I switch off my laptop and that’s it, I’m still there in the same place I’ve been all day.
The other thing is creativity. On one hand it’s proving to be coming back to me in an old familiar way, but then on the other hand it’s dripping away slowly. I’ve taken up painting again, I’ve re-purposed a flower design that was part of my GCSE art portfolio and I’ve brought it back to life. But I can’t seem to the find the time to continue with my book, or any of my writing.
Why?
Because It involves being in front of my laptop… where I am for the duration of my day anyway.
I hope to break my routine soon and make use of the time spent indoors… I do know one thing I’ll never take going outside for granted again.
Llama Symphony 