I don’t want to forget these lockdown lessons

Adaptability is key to success

A friend of mine changed his really popular wine bar into a take away coffee and jaffle shop during lockdown. 

I learned to use my CRM properly as in the absence of face to face contact with my staff I had to take my to do list out of my head and share it with my team.

Another friend moved her whole business from a face to face personal training to a massive online subscription business.

So many businesses had to pivot overnight from who they were to what they needed to be to survive, and so many did it well.

It reminded me that at any moment something can come along (like the GFC, Banking Royal Commission had before) and turn everything we think we know on its head, and if we adapt we can survive. In fact some can thrive!

Work is flexible

Any parent with a school age child who had to do the massive juggle of home school and work knows now that work can be flexible. Things can wait. It is possible to prioritise and sometimes when our lives pull us in a million directions we can focus better and work smarter than we did before. 

I saw it with my team and now I know we can be flexible, if we communicate well and manage expectations.

We need to acknowledge we are not always coping

The flip side of that is the massive feeling of overwhelm that took over sometimes. I was part of a zoom call with a whole lot of other business owners during lockdown and learned that someone you just have to hold space for each other, see each other, listen and just be. We don’t need to fix it or solve it or even understand it. 

Keep it simple and save money

Home cooking, going for a walk with a friend, gardening, all the simple activities I never had the time to do before Covid became and they remain my pleasures. I feel like home has become a divine sanctuary rather than a place I keep my stuff. These things are also all accidental money savers.

Shop local

The millions of small businesses that were kept afloat during Covid by people deliberately shopping local tell us they are so grateful. Shopping local has the added advantage of getting to know all the amazing people in your neighbourhood. After the most recent Victorian lockdown I have seen one of our favourite cafes close. Keep supporting them if you can.

Being grateful for what you took for granted

There were times, pre covid, where I would be practically dragging myself out to dinner with friends, or hating the idea of sitting in the hairdresser chair. Seriously! Now I am grateful. Human connection, life’s little luxuries and looking after myself are all the small things that I missed in lockdown and am so grateful for now. 

Time is valuable

Chose who you spend time with, love what you are doing, love who you are with and do not waste time doing or being something you don’t want to be or do. 

Phoebe x