Our lockdown has been extended and we are starting a new week of telecommuting, with all its opportunities and challenges. This decision is not surprising but having expected it does not make it any easier. It is only normal to be concerned, anxious, afraid, bored, upset, depressed, tired, worried, excited, challenged, disoriented, etc. It is good that we identify and verbalize those feelings so that we can better deal with them.
This is the tip of today! Ask yourself the question: what do I feel? and give yourself a very specific, not generic, answer.
If your response is “I’m fine” or “ I’m just not ok”, or “I don’t know”… try harder! Feelings have names, force your brain to identify the right name so that you can take care of it. Once you have your answer don’t judge yourself, it is what it is, allow yourself to feel it, whatever it is that you are feeling. By the way, real men are not afraid of their feelings, it is very manly to be afraid, anxious, etc. Be gentle, be kind and be understanding with yourself even if you don’t understand why you feel the way you do. Remember that even during normal times, there are many things we don’t understand and we just go on. When you discover what’s the issue, you will know how to manage it!
Finally, if you have a couple of minutes, I think these additional tips from Harvard Business Review (HBR) may be useful: https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-transition-between-work-time-and-personal-time