Lockdown: A tale of challenge and blessing in disguise
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The lockdown has brought us significant challenges. But there have also been unique and precious silver linings.
Fact has become stranger than fiction. We are living through that famous opening line: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
The lockdown has been a tale of challenge and blessing in disguise. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.
Working from home is so different from working in an office. Just getting used to it is a challenge. But adapting while also being unable to do our normal non-work things makes it doubly difficult.
Gone are Sunday lunches with family and Wednesday night soccer. I can’t go for a morning run through the park. My wife and I can’t go out for dinner or to visit a bookshop. And the list goes on.
But there are silver linings. Plenty of wonderful things we get to do now precisely because we can’t go out. More family time. Truly restful, lazy weekends. And the idea of being stuck in traffic for an hour suddenly seams absurd.
It’s also a leveler. Everyone has to dial into the meetings from their home. I’ve been in video conferences with ministers, executives, contractors, vendors and colleagues.
I’ve seen these people in t-shirts and in their gardens. I’ve seen their spouses pop into the room with a quick question. I’ve met their kids, seen their cats run across the screen and heard their dogs bark in the background.
Every one of us has been forced to let our guard down just a bit. In that way it’s been a great leveler and an eye opener.
Working from home is so different from working in an office. Just getting used to it is a challenge. But adapting while also being unable to do our normal non-work things makes it doubly difficult.
Gone are Sunday lunches with family and Wednesday night soccer. I can’t go for a morning run through the park. My wife and I can’t go out for dinner or to visit a bookshop. And the list goes on.
But there are silver linings. Plenty of wonderful things we get to do now precisely because we can’t go out. More family time. Truly restful, lazy weekends. And the idea of being stuck in traffic for an hour suddenly seams absurd.
It’s also a leveler. Everyone has to dial into the meetings from their home. I’ve been in video conferences with ministers, executives, contractors, vendors and colleagues.
I’ve seen these people in t-shirts and in their gardens. I’ve seen their spouses pop into the room with a quick question. I’ve met their kids, seen their cats run across the screen and heard their dogs bark in the background.
Every one of us has been forced to let our guard down just a bit. In that way it’s been a great leveler and an eye opener.