Uncertainty – the real second wave from the Corona virus
“But nothing is solid and permanent. Our lives are raised on the shakiest foundations. You don’t need to read history books to know that. You only have to know the history of your own life.”
― Ron Rash, One Foot in Eden
Each day my wife and I watched the news to monitor the voracious appetite of the corona virus in New Zealand. My wife studiously reviewed the world statistics. We did not know what was going to happen.
As the number of people with Covid-19 rose each day the discussion regarding Alert levels increased. The future was uncertain. Stress increased.
The first case of the disease in New Zealand was reported on 28 February 2020.
The four-level alert level system was implemented on 21 March to manage the outbreak within New Zealand. The four-level alert, initially set at level 2, was subsequently raised to level 3 on the 23 March.
On the 25th March, the alert level was moved to level 4, putting the country into a nationwide lock down.
As my wife and I went into lock down we chose to stay positive. We felt safe taking refuge on our 12 acre lifestyle block away from the city and away from supermarket panic. There was at that time a slight sense of adventure that counterbalanced the concern.
The country moved down to level 1 at 11:59 pm on 8 June except for border controls. All borders and entry ports of New Zealand were closed. Returning citizens and residents were required to self-isolate since 10 April, and must go into two weeks of supervised quarantine.
What are your level of stress?
Stress – What is going to happen?
My contract facilitation work quickly transitioned to leadership courses via Zoom. This was a new and uncertain experience.
This was a different experience to usual days working from home. On a good day working from I would not be in front of a computer screen from 8:00 am until 4:00 pm. A normal day affords me breaks and distractions. There exists flexibility to engage my interests. This includes time to attend to our stock on our lifestyle block. There is flexibility to prepare for Jiu Jitsu coaching sessions. Time to walk our dogs plus the flexibility time to write and think.
Workplace stress and uncertainty.
The facilitation of my leaderships courses has always been done face to face at a suitable venue. How was I to engage a group of adults for a full day from my office via Zoom?
Many questions passed through my mind.
Would this work?
How do you use Zoom with a large group of people?
How do I show the PowerPoint slides?
Anxiety and concern were rising. The voice in my head was making the statement that I make on day one to the course participants;
“90% of what you worry about never happens”.
A conversation was going on in my head. “90% of what you worry about never happens… that is easy for you to say. This is serious.”
The organisation I contract to quickly arranged a Zoom training session. Many aspects of Zoom were revealed.
What was the outcome?
The execution of the Zoom sessions was a great deal better than I thought it would.
I could hear my own voice making the following statement that I make on day one of my leadership courses…
F.E.A.R. The acronym represents False Expectations About reality.
The trust of the matter was that the courses not only progressed far better than I had originally thought they would, but most course participants now preferred Zoom in favor of face to face sessions.
It was not all smooth sailing. A number of courses were put on hold as one organisation I was delivering to demanded face to face sessions. These sessions were postponed. The potential income from these sessions was not but now differed. What I did not know was how long would the postponement be.
Our home has survived quite well. At the time of writing, my wife still has work and there is no indication her work will cease. That said we are not naive. The business my wife works for is not immune to market forces. The future is uncertain.
Let me go back to the day we went into lock down. Cladding renovations on our house had been progressing for two months. On the day we went into lock down the work was completed. What good fortune this was for us. While it was good fortune for us it was not so good for the team who had been working on our house. The work team were outside when I watched our Prime Minister deliver the lock down announcement. Following the announcement I went and told the team. They froze and looked at each other. The future was uncertain. I felt for them. They did not know what was going to happen.
I saw on of the team later during lock down. He was at the supermarket. I asked him how he was doing. He stated he was receiving the subsidy but did not know what was going to happen. I saw his uncertainty and stress on his face.
Uncertainty over the future creates stress.
While my wife and I are dealing with our own uncertainty and feeling gratitude for our situation we are not without compassion for those struggling. We were OK.
Well, I thought I was OK. I thought my gratitude was sitting well within me. How well I was was exposed when I attended a business meeting. During that meeting some changes were presented. I did not agree with the changes as they were presented so I expressed my concerns.
As I expressed my concerns I felt somewhat embarrassed and confused as I became aware I was shaking. An uncertainty was flooding me. I could not explain it. It seemed bizarre. My speech was at times incoherent. Perhaps it was the reality of the financial challenges my wife and I had adjusted for. I thought I was OK however things were not sitting as calmly as I thought. There were other stresses.
The stresses and uncertainties extended to my eldest son who was under immense financial pressure due to the lock down. He was dealing with a great deal of uncertainty regarding his new business him. He had a great deal to lose.
The level of resilience I thought I held was now flooded with uncertainty.
As I struggled to deal with my bizarre reaction another attendee at the meeting was able to calmly articulate what I was trying to say. It also became apparent that the organizer of the meeting was also struck with a wave of stress. At the conclusion of the the meeting we were able to support each other and connect as colleagues facing the problem together.
Life now is relatively easy for me in comparison to many who face uncertainty. I have the time and resources to write and work. There are many who are wondering how they will feed their children. I do not pretend to have the answers.
I do have some good questions. These are questions I have asked myself.
A normal day at work can produce stress. We must acknowledge the extra stress resulting from the loss of income and cash flow impacting all New Zealanders. What can we do right now to offset the work related stress?
Are you looking after yourself?
Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being. However exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits.H
Physical activity increases the production of your brain’s feel-good neurotransmitters, called endorphins. Short periods of intense physical activity allows you to forget the immediate irritations of the day.
I rarely think about the number of papers I need to mark when someone is trying to apply a choke during an intense Jiu Jitsu session.
The aftermath of physical activity is a calmness as the body naturally tries to relax. This in turn improves your mood. Regular exercise can increase self-confidence, it can relax you, and it can lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety.
Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression and anxiety. All these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels and give you a sense of command over your body and your life.
This extends to how well you eat and how you fuel your body.
Change requires energy, strength and endurance. Change is coming our way.
How are things at home?
When I was working for an insurance company many years ago I learned a saying,
“Home is where you go when you are sick of being nice to people!”
How bad is that?
If this is your circumstance than things are backwards. Shouldn’t your home be where you express your best self and work gets what is left? Many time it is the reverse. We dress up for work, we smile when we may not feel like smiling. We try to be polite and express patience at work. When we get home we grunt!
During these troubled times our homes and our beloved need our best self. To be your best self you need to look after yourself first. It is like the safety video on a plane. Sort out your own oxygen then help others.
It is a good time to learn how to talk openly. Ask your beloved, “Are you OK?” Take time to strengthen social and family connections. Not to imply you are in a terminal life situation but when standing at the edge of the grave of a loved one all you have in all the world is the strengthen of the relationships of those around you. It is a solemn reminder of what is important.
Have you talked about your finances.
We all have different life circumstances but where possible boost your reserves. There are two ways to do this. Earn more money or save money by reducing expenditure. In another article I spoke about the aggregation of marginal gains. This article discussed the concept of looking for 1% improvements. The article detailed how over time these improvements contribute to a larger outcome.
To illustrate this point lets see what happens if you buy a coffee everyday. This will result approximately $1300 a year spent on coffee, and I have not included weekends. What happens if you and your beloved buy a coffee everyday. You will spend $2600 per year on coffee. If you reduced your coffee to 3 days a week you would each spend $520 per year. A joint saving of $600.
This is a simplistic example, but it does show there are opportunities to save. There are opportunities to refinance a mortgage to reduce expenditure and ways to save by forgoing some pleasures. You cannot eat a new car, or a new carpet or a new TV. The key question is how long could you survive on your savings.
Have you reviewed your C.V?
If you were to lose your job you will be competing with a lot of other people for another position.
I have hired and interviewed a lot of people in my career. Typically an advertisement is placed and a stream on C.V.’s arrive. I did not read them from cover to cover. The pile of CV’s would be reviewed for Experience and Qualifications, in that order.
If you presented the correct mix of experience and qualifications I might read the rest of the C.V. and place you in the pile of possibles.
My point is to add value to yourself and review your CV now before you need to. It is better to creatively develop your CV before you are desperate.
When it comes to qualifications consider what you can do now while you are still in work. If I had a staff member who was interested in developing themselves I would take a favorable view to such an initiative. I would support them as long as I could see a benefit.
Have you looked for opportunities to develop yourself?
I teach two courses that are zero fees.
Introduction to Team Leadership Level 3
and
First Line Management Level 4.
The government funds these courses which are NZQA approved and result in Level 3 and 4 qualifications. It is a win win situation. There is no fee cost for you or your employer. The cost is 4 or 5 one day sessions spaced over 12 months. This type of course adds value to your CV.
Are you proactive about your life?
Strengthen your self. Reinforce the relationship with your beloved. You are going to need each other.There is no downside to this. If you survive the storm you have a stronger relationship. If you have to face the storm you are better placed.
Develop a plan of what you will do or what you could do if your lost a stream of income.
Look after your mind and thoughts.
Worry is praying for what you don’t want. Jen Sincero, the Badassery author.
Read good books to help you weed your mental garden. Get rid of the bad or negative thinking. Replace it with good healthy thinking.