Life during lockdown…
Over the last two months, we have seen a complete transformation in the way that people are working and living. There are great stories emerging about people spending more time with their loved ones and getting round to doing the jobs that have been put off. I remain amazed at the resilience and positivity that exists amongst sadness and difficulty.
Two months ago, my husband and I were having some challenges in our relationship but being forced together 24/7 for the last two months has given us time to talk. This has brought us much closer together as we realised how precious our lives are. We know we will come out of this much stronger but I know not everyone is as fortunate. The UK’s largest domestic abuse charity, Refuge, recently reported a 700% increase in calls to its helpline in one day, identifying the serious risks this situation poses.
So, I first would like to take this opportunity to raise awareness about Refuge’s 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline 0808 2000 247. https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/.
One of the things that has changed during lockdown has been the way we are engaging with technology. Can you imagine being in lockdown without the internet? Naturally, it is challenging to keep being told that “Andrea Wilson is a hacker” by people who don’t know that this has been circulating for several years and seeing so much fake news even from public figures who should know better (she says doing that cough you do when you say a naughty word at the same time). Needless to say, I have been visiting Fact Checker websites more frequently try https://fullfact.org/
Despite the challenges technology brings, it has played an incredibly positive role in our lives, particularly in helping us to stay connected. Whilst I’d love to talk about goats running through the empty city streets, I can also see a significant increase in the use of conference calls and webinars for group meetings. Whilst we already had several team members who work from home, technology has been vital for our office-based team who have had to transition to home working. I am grateful to those who have borrowed furniture and screens from the office and turned their homes into a working space. We have shown resilience and embraced the status quo (not the band!).
We have also seen a significant increase in the number of people engaging with our eLearning courses and management development webinars which is keeping us busy. I know from the fabulous feedback we have received that being given that extra little push into engaging with online learning will have a permanent impact on people’s lives. Earlier this week, I spoke to a Registered Manager who told me he did not previously use eLearning or webinars but his recent experience had completely changed his perspective. The biggest impact was the amount of time he saved by not travelling, which we are hearing a lot more lately. Learning by technology, for example via eLearning programmes, has seriously improved over the years. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go – you might be surprised!
If you haven’t already, take a look at our free Stress and Resilience course. There’s no need to sign in or to give us your personal details although you can do this if you would like to do the assessment and receive a certificate to evidence your CPD. The last person who gave feedback on this course a few days ago was incredibly complimentary, so much so that I blushed – don’t do that very often! So, I’m proud of this piece of work and am keen to share it. It’s all yours – enjoy!
