Master this lockdown

By Tom Chrysostomou

The pandemic is certainly a strange time for many,especially when thinking of thosewho are infected or have died of the illnesss. Hearing of the events happening all over the world, makes it worrisome; as the take home message is money seems to be more important than human life. People are worried of the time being wasted in playing party politics than taking action to combat the effects of the virus, by imposing control strategies.

Although we live in a new century, unfortunately the defunct thinking of the last century still persists. We as civilians cannot control the situation, instead we can stop falling into the trap of negativity and remember a famous quote by Albert Einstein,“Think of your humanity and forget the rest.” Taking the quote further, I think it extends to suspend judgement and to accept people regardless their background. Accounting a personal experience, the first and most important step for me was to avoid the “Boris [Johnson] hating”. I admit I never thought he was capable of carrying out his duties as a prime minister; instead he did his job and has overcome a bout of the Coronavirus crisis. Initially, it was difficult to change my perception about the PM but it helped me keep calm and get on with my day.

Currently, being able to work from home is a big boon for some, yet can be very significant for those who cannot and I can sympathise with those who have been rendered unemployed due to the pandemic. Many years ago, I was unemployed and unable to go out; combatting the boredom was difficult and so I forced myself to plan my days. Back then, I used to plan my days around by doing various chores around the house, read, watched some tele and so on. Writing down your schedule could help and makes it easier to get things done. Borrowing some wisdom from a Lateral Thinking tool called FIP (First Important Priority); listing out priorities for the day or week helps. Remember this schedule is fluid and can be adaptable to changes which may crop up. Be aware to not overload your schedule/timetable, remember to first get the most important task done and for me it used to be the household chores.

If you are isolated with family, make sure you spend all meals with them; additionally, use technology to maintain contact with other family members. May be try connecting with aunts, uncles, cousins etc to organise a quiz and nominate a quiz master to generate questions. Last night I spent a wonderful four hours, with my wife, daughters, nephew and my sister on a quiz. A quick and easy activity to bring everyone together; It does not only have to be with online games, you can use board games too. I also find mastering a new skill beneficial, which helped me gain transferable skills for my current job. Platforms like Coursers (www.coursera.org) has free courses which people can do to get started to acquire a new skill. Make it a daily activity to learn something new or carry on learning something you have a keen interest in. One skill that a lot of people gain pleasure from is drawing, teach yourself how to draw and you won’t regret it. Music can also play an important role to keep you going during this time. If you play an instrument then play it for the family or make a video to post on YouTube and let your family know, so that they admire your skill. On the other hand, if you cannot play an instrument, maybe set aside some time to listen to your favourite artist/bands. There are a couple of chill-out tracks that I recommend listening to [Chi Mai by Ennio Morricone; Unchained Melody cover by Jo A Ram (violinist)].

Amid uncertainty make sure, you keep busy, support your family, keep communication channels open, improve yourself and learn a new skill. By being my more adaptable, life would become easier when the world opens up once again. Although things might appear to be bad on the outside; look deep within, there is unlimited power and strength within you which can help you and your loved ones through this time.

About the author

Tom Chrysostomou [MSc, MBA, AUH, MOS (Excel)] (London, United Kingdom)

Tom is a safeguarding researcher looking into family dynamics, child abuse, domestic violence and autism within a family framework. From the last 25 year, he has been working with unemployed people, offenders and carrying out research within these contexts. Additionally, has coached people mainly in IT concentrating on Microsoft Office, with first-hand experience of using statistical packages such as SPSS and R. He is also a seasoned public speaker from the last 15 years in front of a variety of audiences, both academic and industrial. At the moment, he is preparing a doctoral proposal to pursue a career in academia.

*Disclaimer: The opinions in this article reflect the opinions of the writer and not necessarily the opinions of Copingwith_COVID- By Tom Chrysostomou*