The Lessons I Learned In Lockdown

And how I am trying to live my life now.

It is indisputable that the Covid19 pandemic has changed our lives in countless ways. And as is my way, I was recently reflecting on this altered world.

My life has changed dramatically in the short space of time since the global pandemic began. I left a corporate career of 22 years and have started up a new business, I am finally pursuing my dream of getting my coaching certification, I have re-ignited my passion for writing and have conquered my fears and published articles and poems and have started writing a book. I have dealt with the immeasurable pain of losing people I cared about to this pandemic and have been learning to live my life around those now empty spaces in my life. And to honour these people I have been focusing on reconnecting to me and valiantly engaging with my new world.

These are things that would not have been possible in my pre-pandemic mind.

My reflections led me to the lessons I have learned during this pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns. Here are my top 5.

Lesson #1: The Power of Ruthless Prioritisation

Covid19 made it abundantly clear that the rules of how work gets done have changed. Lockdowns meant that we all had to adapt. We had to schedule our time differently. For those who are parents or caregivers, these elements took preference, or at least they did in my world with my twins who turned one on the first day of lockdown in South Africa.

I am fortunate enough to have wonderful carers for my girls, so pre-lockdown I would happily kiss the kids goodbye, get in my car, and fight the traffic to arrive at work. However, with lockdown, my carers were not allowed to come to work, and my work was at home and so were my twintastic two. And my girls came to work with me.

I had to work my schedule around my very busy twins. That meant a lot of strange working hours and not enough sleep, but it also meant that I had to ruthlessly prioritise what was important and let the rest go. I had no choice; I simply could not do everything. Instead, I prioritised the most urgent and important things, told the team what I was and was not going to be doing, and the rest of the work was delegated or pushed to a different time frame.

Two things specifically stood out to me here:

I was amazed at how much “urgent” work disappeared without negatively impact overall quality.

Because of the context of covid, no-one insisted that I complete the items I had relegated to the Not To Do List.

Lesson #2: Prepare Fully & Then Adapt

My twins were present during many Teams meetings, with my personal highlight being me presenting a business update to the Division president with my video on while rocking an upset toddler on my hip!

The choice was either try to reschedule (but toddlers don’t really care about your schedule and are just as likely to have a meltdown at a later date as they are to be angelic), or continue as planned.

So I continued as planned and got through the presentation and all was well.

Not ideal, but due to the lockdown circumstances, everyone was extremely understanding and actually very positive about the situation.

The lesson here was to have your plan, fully prepare against that plan and then be sufficiently flexible to adapt when circumstances change. I could not have anticipated an upset toddler at that exact moment, but because I was fully prepared and knew what I was going to be talking about, I was able to adapt.

Resilience and adaptability are key capabilities to embrace in this new world.

Lesson #3: Empathy & Mindfulness Matters

While we were disconnected physically, I became closer to a lot of my colleagues as they went through similar scheduling challenges that I was experiencing. I met spouses and other family members both human and animal through the magic of Teams and Zoom video. We learnt each other’s schedules to avoid setting meetings when our teammates were doing life, like home schooling their children, and we managed to get the work done despite tremendously difficult circumstances.

We were mindful of others in a way that we hadn’t needed to be previously.

My house is busy, even in lockdown. I have 4 dogs, 3 cats, 2 kids and a husband in my house, and my parents live on the property with us. So some days I would pray for some peace and silence. But some of my colleagues lived on their own, far away from their families. They experienced days of endless solitude.

Knowing this, I tried to connect with those who I knew were alone on non-work-related chats, just to check in.

Without the lockdown circumstances I would probably not have thought to do that.

This lesson taught me that authentic empathy drives true connections, and these connections build solid relationships. And everyone has their own context and soundtrack playing out in their minds and lives that colours how they approach every day. Understanding this personal context, and truly caring for people drive engagement and motivation.

Lesson #4: Work is Important, but Life is More Important

(I was tempted to call this lesson Life is Importanter but the grammar constable in my head wouldn’t let me!)

My girls reminded me of this every day.

They called me to play often. My husband and I would take turns working and playing. That playtime with my girls is still precious to me. I watched them grow and learn daily which as a working parent I would not have had the privilege of doing without lockdown. I experienced first-hand how they were flexing muscles, on wobbly legs, with garbled words and cheeky laughter.

These were joyful moments, even if they were viewed through the filter of exhaustion on some days.

These are the memories I take with me as they grow up.

This lesson was a reminder that while work is important, life is more important, and we are more than the sum of the job we do, the company we work for or the projects we run.

Lesson #5: Don’t Neglect your Passions and Dreams

Being economically active in a rewarding job at a company you love is important, especially for those of us who have bills to pay. But we can get sucked into our jobs and they can consume us, especially when schedules are tight. We can lose sight of our dreams and purpose with our heads down getting work done.

Looking back on the whole lockdown period, where we were scrambling to change plans, find solutions to move the business forward and make sense of this new world, we were all busy “doing”. And this busyness left us little time to attend to our passions and dreams.

What you contribute at work is part of who you are, but it is likely not the only descriptor of your life. Take care or your passions and your dreams. Tend to them so that they will help you grow.