Lessons from Lockdown #1

My last ‘live’ training was on March 10.
That is exactly 117 days ago (I did count).
I think that’s long enough to come up with some evaluation of what worked well to deal with the stress and overwhelm of this situation. Has it been a challenge? YES! I am not going to lie. Did I come out ok? YES!

Challenge #1

Everything went from ‘live’ to ‘online’. All courses had to be ‘zoomified’.
This was a lot of work. This is not just a matter of installing yourself in front of the computer. No… content needed to be adapted as well as the training methods, etc…
While I did/do not miss the commute to Brussels (not sure I want to go back…), this drastically changed my hours in front of the screen…

  • Trainings = zoom = screen
  • Meetings about the trainings = zoom = screen
  • Preparing the trainings = screen
  • Admin and mails = screen
  • (Checking in on friends = zoom = screen)

 

Spending a lot of time behind a screen is tiring.
Only interacting with people on a screen (sometimes even with their camera off) makes it much harder to really get the ‘full picture’ and is much more tiring for the brain.

My tip

Regular breaks (away from the screen) and ideally at least 1 longer break outside, in nature.
Even when the lockdown rules were still quite strict in Belgium, we were allowed to go for a walk. It was a bit unfortunate I live in a city and we were not allowed to take the care to go elsewhere but … there was always some ‘green’ to be found.
Walking in nature and opening your senses to what is going on around you is just what your brain needs after focusing on a screen for too long.
If on top of that, you make it a ‘slow’ walk, it kind of calms down your nervous system after all the stress you went through during the day.

If you want to know my other tips, make sure to stay tuned…