Working from home – Coping amidst the COVID-19 crisis

LMI UK Director, Roger Waplington has been sharing this advice with his clients and we thought some or all of it may be helpful to you as well just now.

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To be as happy as you can you must be a leaf on a tree. We are unique just as every leaf on every tree in the world is unique. A leaf on a tree feels free, and that is exciting.

Working from home feels free too, being in your own space, doing your own thing in your own way.

But the free floating leaf quickly falls to the ground and dies. We all need to be leaves attached to a tree, part of a human organism that is larger than ourselves with roots alive and still growing. That is why in good time you need to belong to a club, group, or any kind of community whether at work or outside. Confined to home it’s important to keep in touch with people – colleagues, current and old friends, extended families and your community.

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Stop thinking about yourself. That’s tough to do right now. The least happy people are found to be self –absorbed and people who are most happy are those who are most interested in other people and the world around them. Look up and out not down and in.

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“Don’t resist change” Fighting change does not make it go away. It simply makes it more oppressive. Embrace new ways of working and new technology and become an “early adopter”

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Cultivate a passion for sane survival. What’s your passion? Without a passion to sustain you then you can become easily lost.

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Audit happiness. Make a list of those things that you enjoy doing, the things that give you the greatest satisfaction. Make a second list of the things you don’t enjoy doing.

Then see if the first list is longer than the second. If it isn’t then do something about it.

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Live in the moment as we don’t have much of an alternative. Hankering for what is gone is pointless. Living for the future can be a mistake.

Right now no one knows what the future holds. All we have got is the right here right now, so make the most of it, one day at a time.

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In an odd way the worst of times can turn out to be the best of times. We all need courage right now. Courage does not mean not having no fear. Courage means acting despite your fear and when you do that seeing how that fear will dissipate.

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The best way to predict the future is to try to create it. Best done with other people around you to interact with, share ideas, solve problems, and to express your point of view.

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Each day focus on goals (outcomes) you want to achieve and prioritise them. Feeling successful is all about achieving your worthwhile pre –determined goals. Write these down each day and at the end of the day celebrate what you have achieved and feel good about it. Random activity does not make you feel successful.

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Of course after every high we know there will possibly follow a low. But setting new goals each day will give you a purpose and help you climb again to a high point of success.

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Roger Waplington, Director, Malstar & LMI UK