In all the years I’ve been doing the work I do, I’ve never had more emails and social media messages asking for support on a single topic than I’ve had in the past four weeks.
That subject is Covid Fatigue….or Lockdown Lethargy.
It seems as though many leaders can see their teams are flat and drained.
The novelty of working remotely is long-gone. Home schooling has taken more of a toll than we anticipated and the one-year ‘anniversary’ of COVID19 hasn’t helped our psyche.
And whilst in the UK we know what the roadmap looks like, there’s still a great deal of uncertainty about the future.
This all combines to create a very real energy vacuum and motivation drain.
Tips and idea for beating Pandemic Fatigue
What follows is a pick ‘n’ mix of ideas to help us all through the challenging times that lie ahead… until we can once again sit side by side with our colleagues and hug our family and friends.
It’s a list of ideas I’ve curated from others along with my own thoughts. Some will work for you and some won’t… but I hope there are two or three that will make a difference to you and those you lead.
I’ve split the ideas across two posts; this one full of things that we can do for ourselves and the first post is a list of idea for those in leadership positions.
Part Two – 20 tips for beating Pandemic Fatigue
#1 Focus on getting 7 – 8 hours of sleep, per night.
#2 Stay hydrated.
#3 Reduce your caffeine and sugar intake.
#4 Eat well. Focus on nutrients over calories.
#5 Exercise – 3-5 sessions of 45 minutes duration are best for our mental health and that could simply be a brisk walk.
#6 Book-end your day. Do anything that delineates the working day from the rest of the day, e.g. go for a walk and commute to and from your workspace at home.
#7 Start each day with 10-15 minutes of planning and prioritisation. Get clear on your 3-5 ‘Main Efforts’ for the day and don’t get ambushed by the urgent but not important tasks.
#8 Finish each week by looking two weeks ahead and building a plan for the coming week. (learn more here)
#9 Take regular breaks and set a timer to get up and move. (I use one of these)
#10 Reduce the amount of news you watch and read; it’s largely negative.
#11 Fill your social media channels with people that inspire you and cull all those that drain you.
#12 Focus on that which you can control and let go of everything else.
#13 Talk to yourself with the same compassion as you would your best friend.
#14 Use your own name when talking to yourself.
#15 Try Mindfulness or Meditation.
#16 Consider talking to a counsellor; many are offering walkign sessions at the moment.
#17 Get a massage or try foam rolling to reduce stress and tension held in your muscles.
#18 Unplug. Try leaving your phone at home and going for a long walk, ride, jog at the weekends.
#19 Reduce the amount of time spent multi-tasking.
#20 Bring nature into your space. Add a small plant, bunch of flowers of even a picture of nature to your workstation.
You can read the first part of this article here.
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